Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Water and Money, California Edition

So the new/old guy posted late last night that he had sent in the US Military to turn on the spigot so that Southern California has enough water. He posted about it on his self-owned social media site.

Now I actually live in California, and I can tell you that every single thing he said is a motherfucking lie.

  • Southern California has enough water. The reservoirs are actually full. What got overtaxed was the ability to deliver the water to all of the fires. There wasn't enough plumbing.
  • There is no water faucet in the Pacific Northwest to deliver water to Southern California. Their water comes from the Sierra Nevadas. It's CENTRAL California that gets its water from the north.
  • There is no fake environmental drama. Sure, the new/old guy focuses on the Delta Smelt, but without the smelt we don't have Salmon. Or the bears who eat the salmon. Everybody has enough water these days. We've been out of the drought for a couple of years now.

So what is he actually claiming credit for? The truth is that this past weekend some generators in the Northern California Water System were taken off-line for maintenance. They were turned back on yesterday. That's it.

Full stop.

The new/old guy is a lying son of a bitch.

++++++++++++++++++++++

So you might have noticed that in the process of committing more crimes than the previous administrations combined in their first week (which includes an administration of the same people) an awful lot of previously approved funding has just stopped. NIH, WHO, Foreign Aid and so on.

I learned today, thanks to my college attending daughter, this this also includes financial aid for College Students. It's currently on hold.

Fortunately for us my daughter got her disbursement before the free went into effect. She's fine for this semester. But part of that freeze is also the application process, which has specific deadlines and they're coming up fast.

If nothing is done soon an entire generation is about to drop out of college. We're only barely in the top 30 in education around the world now - we might just be about to drop like a stone.


++++++++++++++++++++++

Medicaid has been shut down in multiple states.

Domestic Abuse Shelters are in the same boat.

And the new Director of the Office of Budget Management is the guy who wrote the Project 2025 manual.

Making
America
Garbage,
Asshole

But because I love you, have some Billie Eilish. Sometimes we all need some Billie Eilish.



Monday, January 27, 2025

Radio Free California Episode 2504, the onslaught, and keeping moving

 


New music this week including an amazing album from Johanna Stahley, The Antinomy Insurgency, Pom Pom Squad, Skinner, IDER, Sam Amidon, The Darkness, Lot's Wife, Chris Trapper, Vulfmon, Seye Adelekan, Hiromi, Ice Cube and much more. Enjoy!

As per usual this playlist will be on the radio station all day Wednesday. The special show 10 at 10 airs Sundays at 10am and 10pm PST, and again at 10pm on Thursdays, again Pacific Standard Time.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Feeling overwhelmed yet? You ain't alone there. I've been looking seriously at rentals in Canada. I can afford something pretty nice, actually.

The new/old guy and his administration are throwing so much shit at the screen that even if most of it doesn't stick or is struck down in the courts the screen is still ruined. A LOT of people are discovering that the Leopard will indeed eat their faces. There are already stories of MAGAnauts who have lost jobs, lost homes, and are wondering why the price of eggs is up 40% in the last week.

Nobody is telling anyone why because amongst all the orders and directives is that nobody says nothing. Bird Flu is running rampant, but the government isn't saying a damned thing about it.

Nobody is yet telling you that the new/old guy's fascination with Greenland actually comes from an old Nazi playbook.

And late last night he signed an executive order for the Federal Government to take over the California Water System, to solve problems that don't even exist. Anyone who says that the Republican Party is the Party of State's Rights is a fucking liar.

And let's not forget all those poor souls that are only discovering now that "Obama Care" and The Affordable Care Act are the same thing. Or all the people in poor neighborhoods in Southern California that the new/old guy pointedly did not visit.

And let's not forget that in revoking Dr. Anthony Fauci's security detail might be the same as putting a hit out on the man. And so is this, Senator Foghorn Leghorn Motherfucker.

Let's not forget that Trans people can no longer get a passport unless it's under their deadname and gender. Marco Rubio has a punch in the mouth coming.

Let's not forget that women are going to be kept out of combat roles, something they've been doing for decades now. And on a side note, let's notice that some of the military members the new/old guy wants to reinstate for getting Vaccinated won't be reporting for duty, thanks to COVID-19.

And let's not fail to notice that the amount of money that United Healthcare has lost so far this year is more than what Canada spends on healthcare in a year.


Let's not fail to notice that almost every raid by ICE so far has been in Blue states.

Remember that he has already taken the first steps to get rid of FEMA. Sure, it's California under the microscope right now, but wait until Hurricane Season.

Hope you've stocked up on Coffee, now that a 25% tariff on all goods from Columbia are in effect. I don't drink coffee myself, but nearly everyone else does. Good luck. Oh, but wait! It was all a ploy to get Columbia to take in people we've expelled.

If we take military action in trying to take Greenland you realize that will start a war with NATO, right?

Remember that when he says that you can tell a good immigrant from a bad immigrant by looking at them he's talking about skin color.

Try not to be creeped out by the sheer volume of people who refer to the new/old guy as "Daddy".

How do we resist all of this bullshit?

Well, first, remember your cute winter boots. Fly your pride flag. 

Ask your kids what they're doing and emulate them. You need to keep in mind that while this is all new to us for them this is how it's always been. There have always been racists, Nazis, and fucking idiots in government. To them, a President that doesn't represent the people who didn't vote for him is normal, not mind-boggingly bizarre. How are they dealing with it? Can you do at least as well?

Support your local Inspector General.Support Ukraine - the country isn't doing it any more.

Note that ICE agents usually only carry Administrative Warrants, and not Judicial ones. The difference is that they can enter you home with a Judicial one, but they can't come in using an Administrative one unless you let them. Say no.

Stay off Facebook, Xitter, Instagram and the rest being used/owned by the various Brollionaires and Broligarchs.

But use the internet. Use it skeptically and wisely. If you find a site saying something find another - one without the same agenda/viewpoint. That's how you might learn that the largest Tuberculosis outbreak in US history is happening right now in Kansas. The government isn't going to tell you.

Punch Nazis. Hundreds of thousands of our grandfathers died trying to rid existance of these fuckers. Now it's our turn.

Support subversive media. Boycot any and all public figures who support these morons. Sorry Snoop Dogg, that includes you. I know that going against your brand is your brand, but this was too much. Boycott all stores who put money into getting these dickheads into power.

Yes, that's going to be hard.

But on the flipside, you can support Ben and Jerry's. They support you.

And because I love you, this is the band Obverse: Drums, Bass and Harp. Some nice Prog-jazz here.



Thursday, January 23, 2025

Rounding up brown people, day one.

So the rounding up of Brown-skinned people began yesterday in Southern Kern County, around the town of Bakersfield and the various farms that surrounds it. As a result, 75% of the agriculture workforce has stopped showing up for work, afraid of deportation, mis-identification and worse. There is already rampant racial profiling going on; rounding up people at Home Depot and at Gas Stations. Brown-skinned people. Even cars driving down the 99 Highway, which is the major highway through the valley, are being pulled over and detained. 

The people of Bakersfield, an overwhelmingly Right-wing populace (the new/old guy got 60% of the vote), have noticed it and are concerned. So should you, because this is going to impact your groceries.

Right now it's Citrus picking season. In this part of the state that's mostly Oranges. People tend to think of Florida when it comes to Oranges but the truth is that about 40% of the crop is in the Central Valley of California. And right now, that's work that's not getting done.

This time of year evenings get very very cold in the low desert. Not snow-storm cold, but destroy your crops cold. a workforce reduction this big at this crucial time means that the amount of Oranges available to consumers is going to drop dramatically. As per supply and demand rules, that means the price is going up. Way up.

Hang on tight friends, because Lettuce and spinach harvest start in a couple of weeks. Grapes just finished but maintenance time is underway now and that's not getting done.

Kern County has been rated one of the top three agricultural counties in terms of production in the nation, and the workforce is being rounded up to be sent to camps. Right. Fucking. Now.

A couple of things to point out here. I find it interesting that the first roundups, which everyone said would be in Chicago, are happening in California and specifically in the district that used to be represented by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and current head of Truth Social Devin Nunes. Nunes used to brag about his dairy operation in the area, which is actually in Iowa.

Everyone knows that the big dairy operation in Bakersfield is Larsen's (home of Sam the Hippo! who dies years and years ago). Side note: I remember that poor Hippo, which had been abandoned by some carnival that came through town. It was kept in conditions that would have Peta protesting for miles today. But when I was a little kid, the sheer novelty of there being a Hippo at the local Dairy was kind of amazing. 

Nobody has yet said where these people are being kept.

So how does a lefty blogger from San Francisco know all of this? Welp, I haven't always been from here. I grew up and spent a sizeable chunk of my childhood right where these raids have been happening, and while I don't go there anymore there are people in this world who think I should still know what's going on. I haven't lived there in 43 years, but still it happens.

The white middle class neighborhood I grew up in is mostly Latino now, I've been told. I don't keep in touch with anyone who still lives there. I remember book burnings when I was a kid. Nazi rallies. Fuck them. I am proud to say I escaped all that bullshit, and got most of my close friends and all of my family out of there. Okay, I mostly just shouted words of encouragement but it still happened.

But there was always a migrant worker population. I went to school with many of them. Many were allowed to come to school late because they worked on farms in the mornings. A few even got school credit for it.

None of these people were adding to the crime rate. None of these people were taking jobs other people wanted. Try farming sometime. I quit after 2 hours. It's hard work, and occasionally brutal work and I don't recommend it (I was terrible at it) yet they do it day after day after day because they want to feed their own families. Because what they had before was even worse.

A New York (now Florida) real estate developer is never going to understand the balance of migrant workers necessary to keep the food chain running. Neither is the former leader of a hedge fund, or someone whose whole farm (and/or political) experience has been talking about it on television. Neither is the white and nearly translucent Nazi fuckhead who is the new/old guy's closest advisor on brown people. Neither are the Billionaires of DOGE.

We need to let people know where the people rounded up are being kept. That's where the protests need to be. 

And becuase I love you, now that they've all left us, The Band.



Wednesday, January 22, 2025

The new/old guy is a terrorist, and other thoughts.

So the new/old guy just issued a pardon for Ross Ulbricht (and spelled his name wrong while doing so). The founder of Silk Road, who was serving a life sentence. Why was he serving a life sentence? He created a network that facilitated the sale of illegal drugs, human trafficking and pedophilia, funneled money and weapons to the Taliban and other groups, and facilitated the hiring of hitmen. 

Supporting Trump is supporting Terrorism.

Don't go to the Website of the White House. It's now a fucking commercial for the new/old guy. Also, the link to the Constitution doesn't work anymore.

For those of you who find that Facebook now has you following the new/old guy and any others in the administration, keep in mind that if you followed the Biden Administration's pages that these are the same pages. The Biden stuff should be archived to a new place, same as they did for Obama.

Should.

New/old guy has rescinded President Biden’s Executive Order which created a task force to reunite families deliberately separated at the border by the previous terms of the old guy. As many as 1,000 families remain separated because of that policy.

The new/old guy fired Chef Jose Andres from the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, not realizing that he actually quit last week because his term was up. His parting words: "May God give you the wisdom, Mr. President, to put politics and name calling aside…and instead lift up the everyday people working to bring America together. Let’s build longer tables." The famed Chef has been in Los Angeles since the fires got bad.

The new/old guy revoked the Secret Security Protection Detail assigned to John Bolton, because the new/old guy has the temper of an addled 12-year-old.

Based on what I saw of the sermon that was given at the service the new/old guy attended yesterday, he may never set foot in a church again. He called the Bishop "Nasty", which seems to be his go-to insult.

Can someone please explain to me why all these women either dating or engaged to the rich men in the old/new guy's circle all look the same? Like a blow-up doll left in the sun too long? I know that the look that old/new guy prefers but seriously, do they all have to look life that? I've seen pictures of many of them from 15-20 years ago and they didn't use to look like that!

The new/old guy cancelled flights for 1,660 refugees from Afghanistan who were previously cleared by the government to come to the U.S., according to Reuters. The 1,660 Afghan refugees who have been taken off flights include family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel, unaccompanied minors flying to the U.S. to reunite with family, and those who fought for the former U.S.-backed Afghan government.

The Fraternal Order of Police, who backed the new/old guy, are upset about the pardons. Welp, that's what the "FO" in FAFO" is for.

Today, the new/old guy revoked the Executive Order put in place by LBJ that says you cannot discriminate against any race, religion, or gender in the workplace, especially when it comes to hiring. Once a racist always a racist. Remember, this is the guy who wanted the Central Park Five executed AFTER they were discovered to be innocent. He also fired every person in Government whose job it was to enforce that order. I'm guessing that's a lot of people.

Apparently the new/old guy wants to Tariff Russia into signing a peace deal with Ukraine. I'm starting to think that the new/old guy can't learn what tariffs actually do. Besides, we trade hardly anything with them at the moment, so big fuckin' whoop.

Representative Mike Collins (Idiot-GA) wants the Bishop who gave the sermon (mentioned above) deported because their mother was Swedish. The Biship was born in New Jersey.

The new/old guy always pays attention to his TV ratings - and in fact that might be the yardstick to measure him by and what propels him to do anything - and viewership this inauguration was 32% lower than Biden's. It was about 30% lower than his own previous swearing-in and two-minutes-hate speech.

Anyone else notice how similar the new/old guy's new official portrait is to his mug shot in Georgia?

One person given a pardon turned it down. "Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation," she said. "I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon also would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative."

By the way, Mr. Free Speech has just ordered all health agencies in the government to stop talking.

Oh, and one more thing... have you checked the price of eggs? 

And because I love you, enjoy this performance by Cory Wong's band. 




Tuesday, January 21, 2025

So how was that one day of Dictatorship?

Here's a list of published on the new/old guy's first day in office. You know, the one where he promised to be a Dictator:

  • Renamed Mt. Denali as Mt. McKinley. No one wanted this. No one.
  • Renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. I think Mexico has to agree to this, don't they? They won't. Neither will anyone else. It makes us look like we're 12 years old.
  • Renamed Drug Cartels as Terrorist Organizations. We're going to invade Mexico. Mark my words.
  • End DEI as a hiring practice, which is against federal law and means only hire white people.
  • He actually signed two orders for this.
  • Declared Transgenderism as false, and that the gender you're assigned at birth is the one you have to keep. Someone please let Chaz Bono know. Or Wendy Carlos (google her - she transitioned before most of us were born).
  • And oh yes, there are only two genders. He says so. Fuckable and non-fuckable.
  • DOGE, DOGE, DOGE, DOGE, DOGE
  • America First is now to be official Diplomatic Policy. We called these folks Nazi's when I was young.
  • No one who disagrees with US Policy should be let into the country. I wonder how that's going to affect the UN?
  • Destroy the Alaskan Wilderness for oil and gas that we don't need.
  • Kick out every single undocumented person in our borders, and not let any back in or any new ones in.
  • Dismissed all existing Tariffs implemented under the Biden Administration.
  • Set up a department to collect all tariffs imposed going forward, an "External Revenue Service". Never mind that tariffs are not collected from foreign companies but from the people who buy foreign products.
  • Sets up a Homeland Security Infrastructure that takes power and decision-making away from the Joint Chiefs and gives it to a Presidentially appointed civilian board. What could possibly  go wrong when those decision makers are all people who have previously made a living as telling people that they are experts (on TV) but without experience (in reality).
  • Realign all foreign aid, and pause existing aid, to realign with new America First policies. Sorry Gaza.
  • Suspended all off-shore wind farm projects. All of them. Your energy bill is going up.
  • Oh, and we have an energy supply emergency (we blame Biden for this non-existent problem), so say goodbye to the Endangered Species Act.
  • Say goodbye to the Civil Service. We knew that one was coming.
  • Promoting Beautiful Civic Architecture? What the fuck does this one even mean? Are all Federal buildings going to need to be painted that shit-tinged yellow he calls gold?
  • Bring back the Federal Death Penalty, and reimpose it on all those Biden commuted to Life Sentences. Force the manufacture of lethal injection drugs and make certain that every state has them. That includes you, California.
  • Force California to re-route its water. He blames the fire response on this, even though it wasn't true. What he does say is that water needs to be diverted from the Central Valley to the South - never minding that they get their water from two different places. But the central valley is where the farms are. Your grocery bill is going up. By the way there is protection for the Delta Smelt in Northern California, where water is more plentiful, but none of that prevents water from getting to the central valley (which is fed from the Sacramento Delta) or Southern California (whose water comes from the Sierra Nevadas).
  • (holy shit this is only the end of page 2)
  • Close and wall up the borders.
  • Fuck the 14th amendment. Seriously. It doesn't say what we've all agreed it says for the last 160 years. I guess this means we have to deport Baron Trump. UPDATE: About 30 seconds after I published this came word that 22 states including my own sued to block this one. Welcome to day two.
  • Accept no more refugees, and maybe kick out most of the ones we took in.
  • Get rid of Electric Cars (sorry Elon) and any other policy that could help reduce out impact on the environment.
  • Deploy US troops to the southern border. We're going to invade Mexico.
  • Tarriff the fuck out of everyone. Yes, it has come up again.
  • Give everyone he appoints immediate Security Clearance, so that they can do their jobs while they go through the task of getting a security clearance. In other words, he appoints, they get the clearance. This is a fucking landmine. Some of his appointments have track records of supporting Russia, China, and Iran.
  • Oh, by the way the Southern Border is now a National Emergency. Remember those troops we're sending there. Now they can shoot at things/people.
  • Revoke the security clearances of 50 specific people. Here's the Enemies List.
  • Oh, and again the civil service is no more. Hire only people that pass our own loyalty tests.
  • We are leaving the World Health Organization. Here comes another Pandemic. Probably one that's worse than COVID-19.
  • Puts a 75 day pause on the TikTok ban. And then probably do nothing.
  • Commuted the sentences of 14 traitors, and gave unconditional pardons to everyone involved in the deaths of 5 police officers. Law and Order party my ass.
  • Reject every treaty we've ever been involved with when it comes to the Environment.
  • There is an executive order that basically just says "Prices, I demand that you get lower!" Seriously. Nothing about how to do it, but to just do it in spite of all the orders signed today that will make that impossible.
  • Oops! Hiring freeze! I’m sure he didn't mean that for your job. I'm sure.
  • Any rules about to be implemented? Fuhguddaboudit! They will be re-reviewed.
  • You can't work from home any more if you work for the government.
  • There is a whole memorandum about ending the weaponization of the Federal Government, which to the best of my knowledge never happened. They weren't against you because of your politics, they were against you because you're a CRIMINAL.
  • Revoke 78 of Biden's Executive orders. The list is quite specific and can be found here. It includes rescinding hiring protections for trans people (remember, they don't exist anymore), the Biden ethics council, all of the various COVID-19 panels and departments, and interestingly enough revoking the order that Biden used to revoke so many of the new/old guy's previous executive orders. Oh, and the price savings Biden had built into Medicare? Those are gone too. Insulin prices are going back up.
  • You can't fly flags at half-staff on inauguration day. Hoist them back up fellas. By the way, the flags in Washington DC, which is controlled by The Parks Service, were still at half-staff in honor of Jimmy Carter during this inauguration. The service said it was so cold outside they couldn't move the ropes.

I show you all of this because this is what the White House PUBLISHED. It is known that over 200 Executive Orders were put in place. We also now know that they're not going to publish them all. Nazi Skinhead Fuckface (Steve Miller) flat out said so on January 19th. This is the DISTRACTION. The real damage is as of yet unknown.

Not in those orders: The fact that he fired the head of the Coast Guard for being a Woman.

The new/old guy is a Domestic Threat to this nation, and that's just in what he says. Wait until you see what he does.. 

A quick note about the Fires in Southern California: The latest conspiracy I've seen is to blame the fires on Billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick, because they control 58% of the water supply in Kern County, which is the first county north of Los Angeles, but part of the Central Valley. Neither they nor the Governor are to blame for hydrants running dry. It's the fault of a system not built to handle the capacity of water necessary to fight so many fires simultaneously. The water was available, but the system just couldn't get it there fast enough. I know we want someone to blame for the tragedy this has been - that's natural. How about looking at Capitol Hill?

About Biden pardoning his family... I don't give a fuck about the optics, Jon Stewart. I just don't. He's defending his family against a Nazi regime. He's allowed this one. I'd rather not have future high school children learn about his descendants as if they were Ann Frank.

And because I love you and you deserve a break, here's I'm With Her doing an inspired remake:





Monday, January 20, 2025

Radio Free California Episode 2503 and a few thoughts from the Resistance.

 


Welcome to the soundtrack for the end of America! New music this week from The Amazons, Envy of None, OK Go, Elephant Stone, Baby Said, Yola, The Sherlocks, Ex-Void, Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi, I'm With Her and much more. Enjoy!

We are the resistance now. I live in California, so for me it's pretty easy. I will provide you new music from unconventional sources (and a few conventional ones as well) so that you can see that the world keeps moving while America loses its fucking mind.

Never play poker or chess with Joe Biden. In the last few hours of his Presidency he gave Pre-emptive Pardons to everyone involved in the J6 committee. Members of congress, people who testified - just about everyone involved. And while the predictable sources all screamed to the rafters he then quietly commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier. Did you have that on your Bingo card? I didn't.

I didn't watch the inauguration of the new/old guy, but I see from many sources that the richest man in the world gave a Nazi salute (I've seen the video - it's a fucking Nazi salute - PERIOD) and that one of the other richest men in the world (the one with the frizzy fright wig masquarading as normal hair and might be a T-400 upgrade) looked at him with absolute loathing. Oh, and the new/old guy didn't place his hand on the bible held by his wife when he took the oath. Possibly out of fear of getting his hand scorched, by either that bible or his wife's touch. I mean, he did fuck a sex worker while she was recovering from giving birth to his youngest child.

Meanwhile, My newest Senator looked the next attorney general in the face and called her a liar. TikTok vanished and then reappeared (so I'm told - I'm not on TikTok) and gave all the credit to the new/old guy - who did nothing. It was a publicity stunt and anyone who tells you otherwise is a fucking liar.

Well, this is where we are. For the first time ever, we have a President who isn't President for all of us, but only for the richest of those who has kissed his ass. Even last time around he gave some lip service to trying, although he failed.

Oh, and apparently he declared himself to be the President of Peace, and he'll invade Panama just to prove it. He also had General Mark Milley's portrait taken down at the Pentagon. It was unveiled only 10 days ago. What a petty piece of shit.

This this is all happening on the day the country celebrates one of the greatest muckrakers in our country's history is just appalling. All because some of you didn't want a woman playing in the sandbox.

Fuck Unity. Starting today, I am part of the Motherfucking Rebellion.

I will have a present for my friends to help you not be constantly angry for the next 4 years, and I'll hand that out in March. Being angry all the time is tiresome - this is something I know too damned well - but if you follow me at counter.social (I am @animeraider) you can see my pinned post and get it for free now. I am not on Xitter, not public on Fakebooks, not on Instagram, and not terribly active on Bluesky. I do have a tumblr account (same handle) but that's not terribly interactive.

Hang on my friends. Turbulence is here. I'll be back tomorrow.

This week's 10 at 10 will air Thursday at 10pm PST with repeats on Sunday at 10am and 10pm at the radio station. Every song on the playlist above will be played in a continuous loop on Wednessday.



And because I love you and to give credit to Biden's last chess move, have some Toad the Wet Sprocket:


Monday, January 13, 2025

Radio Free California Episode 2502, FMAM's next single and more...

 


New music this week from Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi, Love is Noise, Jethro Tull, Sub-Radio, Mourn, Franz Ferdinand, Shed Seven, Bob Mould, Gardens, Sunsick Daisy and more! Enjoy!

No cheap shots or any of that other stuff today. I am doing a re-think of what I blog and when I blog it.

That said, the second single from Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi will drop on Friday. It's called "Seven Mountains" and is described by the Monks as follows:

"Time and time again we see examples in scripture of God using the lowest of people, people without station or influence, to do his great works. Never, not once in all scripture, is it commanded to be at the top of mountains – it is shown time and again that the Lord may do his work any way that he sees fit.

"So in seeking to control the seven mountains as commanded by Televangelists and others are you following the path or are you worshipping idols? Did you know that the man who coined the term “Seven Mountains” is the only leader who calls himself a Christian who has refused to condemn the violence of January 6, 2021?

"Have you prostituted yourself to the worship and friendship of power? Are you, like those espousing the philosophy of Seven Mountains, ensconced in a cult of your own making?"

The song itself has only two lines, but they're powerful lines. We wanted to have a song that lays bare the conciet of the people in the US who call themselves Christian but clearly hold very little in terms of Christian Values. I had a kind of dancing dervish of a tune sketched out and once we had agreed on the concept of the song we scoured for words to use. 

It was Brother Anthony who suggested we use Deuteronomy 23:17. He played the main synth riff and synth bass on the track, but it was Brother James who sung lead. We all summarily resisted the idea to submit the song for the next Eurovision competition.

Although I had specific ideas of what to use and the concepts I wanted to get across, I relied heavily on the Brothers to find the most appropriate text and its translation.

Anyway, it will be available wherever you get your streaming music on January 17th.

And becuase I love you, here is the video for the new single from Band-Maid, "Zen" - which is also the opening theme to the anime "Zenshuu"



Monday, January 6, 2025

Radio Free California Episode 2501 and the Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi

 

New Year, New Music! This week features Opinion, Matt-Felix, Young Jesus Slow Coast, Witch Post, Paul Weller, Spells and Curses, Kong, Manse, Drew Sycamore, The Liminanas with Bobby Gillespie and much more. Enjoy!

No cheap shots or any of that other stuff today. I am doing a re-think of what I blog and when I blog it.

But I do have news for you. At long last, the first single from Franciscan Monks of Acies Mundi has finally dropped. I've put the video below, which isn't as simple as it looks on first viewing.

This is a band that I wrote all the music for and produced the album. I play on a couple of tracks, and My drummer does the same. You should check the project out at their website. I had a lot of fun working on this one, and keeping it under my hat for the past few months has been a struggle for me I must admit. The full story is at the website. It's a crazy project for a man like me.

The album version will play at my radio station, but what dropped today is the single version. It's a bit shorter.

Here is the video for the first single. The next single drops in another 10 days.