Currently featured at the Stephen Bulger Gallery (1026 Queen St W, Toronto) Frames of the Visible is a series by artist Sanaz Mazinani, where she takes media images and collages them in a way to create the most stunning patterns, I can imagine them screen printed to make wonderful printed textiles…

Living With War

Together We Are

Redacted March

Gorgeous, right? Then you step in closer to see the detail and are blown away by what you are really looking at…

Living With War  (detail)

Together We Are (detail)

Redacted March (detail)

This series has so much impact and undeniably thought provoking it really must be experienced in person, so make sure you add it to your CONTACT itinerary.

What was he doing with an acoustic guitar?

He was being a political radical.

He did something that should be all over the airwaves, and for over a decade. He sang an antiwar song, ‘No-one Left’, comparing the streets of New York 9/11 with the streets of Bagdhad. Is there any more blatant evidence of the difference between the middle east wars and Vietnam than the fact that the present dispute does not involve conscripts. Our own sons and brothers are not likely to be called up. We don’t care as much as they did back then.

So, we need more of this.  This is Tom from Michael Moore’s ‘Slacker Uprising’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9GDOPn6uHI

Here’s Neil Young’s ‘Living with War,’ just to reminds us that dinosaurs can still  sing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjkPracnH1o&feature=related

Times had changed. Tellingly, the album landed Young in hot water and Young found himself alone. Nobody, it seemed, was interested, or at least for career reasons remained silent.

So maybe the time urgently cries for new anthems – be they topical or protest songs. So thinks Adam Jones, an associate professor at UBC Kelowna, who has started a new blog called Anthems For A New Generation. Jones is compiling a long list of rock songs that could be classified as anthems.  Also tellingly, a lot of the acts on the list were active in the late 60s and early 70s. Young’s on it, of course, as are Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and The Rolling Stones. There are comparatively “new” acts such as U2 and Rage Against The Machine but what about Tom Morello or Ani DeFranco, whose current albums contain social commentary?

Written by Guest Blogger, GSA Account Executive Jeff Lohnes

On Sunday, May 1st, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing three of GSA’s finest – Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, Dr. James Orbinski, and LGen Roméo Dallaire together on one stage discussing the topic “Living with War” at The Globe and Mail Open House Festival. What a treat!

Every so often in our individual lives, the topic of world peace is distantly discussed; whether it be the newest goal for your young child, a specifically terrifying shakeup in our global conundrum, or pageant season on TV. Either way it comes up, we discuss it and quickly put it to bed; its unattainable nature makes it too stressful to keep on the mind and too impossible to tackle. For most of us, the complexity of discussing the topic of world peace simply makes us stop discussing the topic of world peace, yet for these men, they not only discuss it but they have dedicated their lives to making it a reality.

They have come to this crusade for peace from different paths. One, General Dallaire, a military leader whose beliefs have led to a life devoted to peace keeping and whose actions helped shape history. Another, Dr. Orbinski, a physician who spent years offering aid to those in the most dangerous places on earth, and now works towards the prevention of unnecessary injury and death. Finally, Dr. Abuelaish who recognized a calling long ago that hatred is unproductive and unnecessary, and through personal loss has made his campaign global to ensure that people see that hate can never be an answer to any of life’s questions.

Their lives are consumed by this endless struggle to ensure that children born tomorrow can grow up in a world less filled with war, crime and hate as the world is today. In North America, we live wonderful lives, but be assured innocent children born in the other parts of the world desperately need these men and the work they do.

There are many things we can do to help support a peaceful and healthy global future. From offering our time to help support local non-profits that have a far reaching  impact, to donating funds to worthy causes, and most importantly and something Dr. Abuelaish will spend every last day encouraging – do not hate. We simply have no reason to hate in our world. Life is too short, the world is too wonderful, we have too many good things to allow ourselves to get caught up in hatred for even a moment.

Though I’ve had the honour of getting to know each of these amazing men over the past few years, still, I was in awe with the rest of the audience as they shared their intertwining stories and brilliantly dissected the questions posed. These three represent our hope for global change and they are willing to do their part to make sure we get there, now we just all need to pitch in and do our part as well.

This past weekend on Sunday, May 1st, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing three of NSB’s finest – Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, Dr. James Orbinski, and LGen Roméo Dallaire together on one stage discussing the topic “Living with War” at The Globe and Mail Open House Festival. What a treat!

Every so often in our individual lives, the topic of world peace is distantly discussed; whether it be the newest goal for your young child, a specifically terrifying shakeup in our global conundrum, or pageant season on TV. Either way it comes up, we discuss it and quickly put it to bed; its unattainable nature makes it too stressful to keep on the mind and too impossible to tackle. For most of us, the complexity of discussing the topic of world peace simply makes us stop discussing the topic of world peace, yet for these men, they not only discuss it but they have dedicated their lives to making it a reality.

They have come to this crusade for peace from different paths. One, General Dallaire, a military leader whose beliefs have led to a life devoted to peace keeping and whose actions helped shape history. Another, Dr. Orbinski, a physician who spent years offering aid to those in the most dangerous places on earth, and now works towards the prevention of unnecessary injury and death. Finally, Dr. Abuelaish who recognized a calling long ago that hatred is unproductive and unnecessary, and through personal loss has made his campaign global to ensure that people see that hate can never be an answer to any of life’s questions.

Their lives are consumed by this endless struggle to ensure that children born tomorrow can grow up in a world less filled with war, crime and hate as the world is today. In North America, we live wonderful lives, but be assured innocent children born in the other parts of the world desperately need these men and the work they do.

There are many things we can do to help support a peaceful and healthy global future. From offering our time to help support local non-profits that have a far reaching  impact, to donating funds to worthy causes, and most importantly and something Dr. Abuelaish will spend every last day encouraging – do not hate. We simply have no reason to hate in our world. Life is too short, the world is too wonderful, we have too many good things to allow ourselves to get caught up in hatred for even a moment.

Though I’ve had the honour of getting to know each of these amazing men over the past few years, still, I was in awe with the rest of the audience as they shared their intertwining stories and brilliantly dissected the questions posed. These three represent our hope for global change and they are willing to do their part to make sure we get there, now we just all need to pitch in and do our part as well.

It used to seem pretty clearly defined. When I was growing up, it seemed that all protest songs were written by Bob Dylan (Blowin’ In The Wind; The Times They Are A-Changin’; Subterranean Homesick Blues; It Ain’t Me Babe…right through to Hurricane and Joey). It also seemed that he was protesting against social injustice, social constraints and the suppression of personal freedom.

As I listened to more and more music, and folk / folk rock in particular, it was clear that the protest song had been an important outlet for the downtrodden, their supporters, militants, beatniks, poets, activists, blowhards, film makers, playwrights, comedians, opportunists and both the righteous and misguided, for years.

The trend has continued, but protestation is all around us, not only in song and the written word but on the streets, the workplace and court rooms of the world.

A few years back Neil Young, (composer and performer, along with his cohorts in CSNY, of Ohio, one of the great protest songs) made an album called Living With War, which was a clumsy and rather clichéd attack on the Bush administration of the day. When promoting this record, which I don’t doubt was a sincere statement, despite its creators artistic misfire, Young claimed he had to do it. This says two things: protest songs appear to have gone underground, and Neil Young is out of touch with the cutting edge art he once towered over like a colossus.

People still write and record great protest music, but the press, radio and TV, for the largest part, now do not want to offend their advertisers, (just like in the fifties!) and are completely out of touch themselves. Dark days are upon us, and the response from the underground, always the first to address matters of social importance, has been strong with Arcade Fire, Eels, M.I.A., Ben Sommers and The Supernovas all striking out with words of protest…

TOP FIVE PROTEST SONGS OF 2010

1.  ARCADE FIRE – SUBURBAN WAR

2.  BEN SOMMERS – DEVIL’S DAY

3.  EELS – END TIMES

4.  M.I.A. – BORN FREE

5.  THE SUPERNOVAS – SLAUGHTER IN THE GAZA

TOP FIVE PROTEST SONGS OF ALL TIME

1.  BILLIE HOLIDAY – STRANGE FRUIT

2.  DONNY HATHAWAY – SOMEDAY WE’LL ALL BE FREE

3.  NINA SIMONE – MISSISSIPPI GODDAM

4.  P.F. SLOAN – EVE OF DESTRUCTION

5.  JIMMY WEBB – GALVESTON

If you read “Johnny Saturn,” you are not required to dig Neil Young.  But, if you do, please continue.  Saturday Night Live and it’s alumni have a long history of covering Neil Young one way or another.

Adam Sandler covering “Like a Hurricane.”

Jimmy Fallon:

Sadly, I couldn’t turn up the one where Michael McKean played Neil Young on a spoof of his “Living With War” Album.

day 19 = 4am already

a very, very early song. not much to say about it. you can tell its early in the Garageband years because of the super saturation of effects.

day 20 = mike’s song

there’s more to say about this one. my cousin Mike has fought in both Iraq wars. politics aside, I love my family. my politics guide me and help me make choices in my life that feel “right”, but at the end of the day, as much as I hate this war, I was more concerned with my cousin just making it home safe. he did. twice. this is a song I wrote for him.

at one point this song was in the top 100 on Neil Young’s amazing “Living With War” site. I hope at some point to do a proper recording of it.

Algú es pot imaginar a Kerouac o a Young currant a una empresa o a una oficina, obeïnt al “jefecillo” estirat de torn?

ONE FAST MOVE OR I’M GONE: KEROUAC’S BIG SUR, de Curt Worden
El documental és un viatge retrospectiu sobre la vida de Kerouac durant la seva estància a la cabana de Lawrence Ferlinghetti a Bixby Canyon. Kerouac va decidir fugir de la ciutat, de la fama, del rebombori que s’havia muntat cap els beatnicks. A l’any 60 ser beatnik no era una manera de ser espontània, com ho va ser per Kerouac i per Ginsberg; va passar a ser una moda devorada per l’ambient cosmopolita, un ambient ja anestesiat, on els més activistes penjaven cartells amb el lema Where is the rage?. El de Massachussets no volia saber res de tot això; després de l’èxit de A la Carretera, éxit que va néixer d’una excel·lent crítica del New York Times, la vida li va canviar d’un dia per l’altre. Cal tenir en compte que Kerouac va insistir durant 5 anys perquè li publiquessin el llibre. La fama li arribà de cop i de forma totalment inesperada, ja amb Los Subterráneos i Los Vagabundos del Dharma publicats. Rebia milers de cartes, els mitjans van trobar un nou esquer; Kerouac va agafar quatre coses i se’n va anar a la cabana de Ferlinghetti, en un paratge verge de Bixby Canyon, als límits de Califòrnia. Penya-segats, natura, aire pur…Kerouac deixava enrere la ciutat, però no del tot. Regava els dies i les nits amb alcohol, i començà a escriure Big Sur en un dels seus famosos rotllos de paper; l’acabà en 10 dies, en un rotllo de 18 metres. La paranoia alcohòlica, la capacitat per arribar als racons més amagats de la psique humana, la tendència a donar-li voltes a l’existència, el kickwriting, és a dir, una prosa espontània, amb tota la força i emotivitat, la recerca del dolor d’una manera honesta i directa; res de barroquismes, dolor i exsitencialisme expressat amb una contundència i rudesa admirables. Profund i punyent, Kerouac té moments de claridividència que despulla les misèries de la vida per arribar a descobrir la serenor i el benestar que suposa superar els fantasmes, les paranoies i l’angoixa que tot cervell pot contemplar rumia. La seva lucidesa li va permetre adonar-se que la vida també té el seu costat lluminós, i d’aquesta manera va tancar el llibre Big Sur: amb un final lúcid i realment optimista.

Com comentava el presentador del docuemental, Javier Pérez Andújar, autor de Los Príncipes Valientes i gran coneixedor de l’obra de Kerouac, aquest va deixar la ciutat, San Francisco, quan les botigues, la policia, els turistes i les marujas es van apropiar dels carrers, “com succeeix a Barcelona, sense anar més lluny”, és a dir, un ambient anti-cultura i anti-art.

La BSO, obra de Benjamin Gibbard de Death Cab For Cutie i Jay Farrar de Son Volt, acompanya perfectament un documental de carretera i intens com el protagonista del mateix: l’escriptor nòmada Jack Kerouac.

NEIL YOUNG. DON’T BE DENIED, de Ben Whalley
Un gaudi total. Intens, sincer i ple de força, com el motiu del documental, el gran canadenc, l’incomparable Neil Young. La pel·lícula comença amb una declaració d’intencions del mateix Neil Young: “A mi, la única cosa que m’importa és la música”. Stephen Stills, David Crosby i Graham Nash ho confirmen. Neil Young ho deixava tot per continuar el seu camí, per seguir fidel a la seva musa musical. Com tots diuen, el temps li ha donat la raó.

El documental fa un curt però metòdic repàs a la carrera de Neil Young, des dels temps de The Squires. Un jove Neil Young es va embarcar en un cotxe de difunts per guanyar-se la vida amb les seves cançons. Acompanyat dels Squires, se n’adonà que el seu so era cada cop més convincent. A base d’hores, influenciat pel primer grunge, com ell l’anomena, Link Wray, Neil Young va anar pulint i/o embrutant, segons es miri, el seu so. Primer eren temes instrumentals; però va fer cas al que diu Bob Dylan, qui comenta que no canta bé, però que vol cantar els seus temes, per tant, canta i punt. Neil Young en un concert començà a cantar, a allargar acords de la guitarra, a sonar com només sona Neil Young. Va abandonar The Squires, es va ajuntar amb els Buffalo Springfield de Stephen Stills, amb qui va tenir el primer èxit gràcies a For what it’s worth. Neil Young abandonà Buffalo Springfield per gravar en solitari. Des del primer disc, Neil Young,a l’últim, Fork in the Road, la seva discografia és magnífica, amb els alts i baixos que se li suposen a una obra tan extensa com la del canadenc. Els millors moments, potser els que va compartir amb els Crazy Horse, banda que s’anomenava The Rockets quan els va conèxier: la força de Neil Young més el rock primitiu i visceral dels Crazy Horse van formar una banda única.

És curiós com aborda la seva etapa 80′s, quan va coquetejar amb els ordinadors i les bases techno. Com ell afirma, ell no tanca la porta a res i volia experimentar; la realitat és que els disc dels 80′s són prescindibles. No obstant, indicar que Hey Hey, My My va sortir d’una jam session amb Devo. Per acabar-ho d’adobar, la disputa que va tenir amb Geffen. Aquests li exigien que fés un disc de rock n’ roll. Dit i fet. Neil Young va publicar un disc de rockabilly, amb un look 50′s: Everybody’s Rockin’. La recuperació absoluta va arribar amb Freedom, Rust Never Sleeps i Ragged Glory.

El documental arriba fins el combatiu Living With War, del 2006, on demanava que es denunciés a Bush i a la seva tropa per crims de guerra a Irak, i on exigia que la classe políticia actués com a tal. Neil Young. Don’t Be Denied servirà per gaudir i entendre una mica més l’obra i vida del músic canadenc, o per enamorar-se d’ell i introduïr-se en el seu món per qui no el conegui. Una bona mostra de la seva genialitat va ser el darrer concert a Barcelona: amb 64 anys i encara amb la canya i la ràbia a punt. Honestedat màxima…Rock ‘n’ roll will never die, tu ru ru tu ru ru…

The subject of today’s post is the PTSD Disconnect….

While anger is the most difficult for me to understand (see the previous post), the disconnect between a discussion on feelings and what my husband talks about is the most difficult for me to deal with. I think it is a surprise, too, for those who experience it for the first time and wonder what is going on. Here’s an example.

Topic: How the veteran feels about an event in his/her life, whether a happy occasion or an upsetting exchange.

Veterans response: An unrelated litany of life events that are running in his/her mind overtaking other thoughts. Often it is a mental tape loop that plays and replays, and may be often repeated in response to a question about feelings.

I have come to call this situation the “PTSD Disconnect.” It may run on for 15 or 20 minutes and include work stories, military anecdotes, school or other things the vet has done in the course of his/her life.

What is going on here? A psychiatrist might describe these looped memories as way to suppress fear or anger that the veteran felt in a war setting. And this coping mechanism has come to be used whenever feelings are called upon. Suppressing feelings is helpful when survival is at risk; it is necessary to think clearly and perceive threats in the environment. The adrenal system powers up and in time exerts its addictive capacity (see earlier posts). Feelings themselves are a threat; it is safer to revert to memories or anecdotes that cover up feelings.

What can you do? If you want to truly elicit feelings, be prepared for inappropriate reactions…sometimes the anger I have previously referred to, or – worse – terror or dispair arising from having to actually picture the hardwired image of the situation creating the fear. Sometimes there are child-like responses. There is always the potential for violence or for self-destruction.

My recommendation is to get help through the VA’s mental health services (see previous posts for contact information).

It’s hard to accept that the person who left is not entirely the person who comes back. It is important to become knowledgeable and understanding about what has happened to them. And, give them a chance to live as well as possible within the confines of the mind they bring back with them. Peace.

estoy viviendo con la guerra cada día
estoy viviendo con la guerra en mi corazón cada día
estoy viviendo con la guerra ahora mismo

y cuando el amanecer llegue veré a mi compañero
y con la bandera en la pantalla matamos y somos matados otra vez
y cuando la noche cae, rezo por la paz
intenta recordar la paz (visualiza)

me uno a las multitudes, alzo mi mano en paz
nunca me reverencio ante las leyes de la supuesta policia
tomo una solemne promesa de nunca volver a matar
nunca volver a matar

estoy viviendo con la guerra en mi corazón
estoy viviendo con la guerra en mi corazón en mi mente
estoy viviendo con la guerra ahora mismo

no tomes la ola del maremoto
no tomes más fosas comunes
no tomes más armas humeantes
para mostrar como el oeste fue ganado
pero cuando el telón cae, rezo por la paz
intenta recordar la paz (visualiza)

en las calles atestadas, en los grandes hoteles
las bombas revientan en el aire
dan fe a través de la noche
de que nuestra bandera está todavía allí

estoy viviendo con la guerra cada día
estoy viviendo con la guerra en mi corazón cada día
estoy viviendo con la guerra ahora mismo

 Last night I watched Neil Young live by his own maxim…

It’s better to burn out, than to fade away.

And burn Neil did. Brightly. Young is a rarity in the music world. His career has spanned more than forty years, he is the author of countless songs that are part of the very fabric of their generation and yet there is not a hint of nostalgia in what he does. Young is as vital now as he was in the early-mid sixties when he first recorded with Buffalo Springfield.

In front of a packed house, Young revealed his many layers. We saw the rock monster tearing through songs like Hey Hey, My My and Rockin’ in the Free World, the stark realist laying bare Needle and the Damage Done, the environmentalist (Mother Earth), the folk/country singer (Harvest Moon), the white noise experimentalist (A Day in the Life) and the swirling psychedlic (Cortez the Killer). And every layer was imbued with passion. The shifts in tempo never equating to a drop in intensity. Every word, every note was delivered with the conviction of an artist who still has much to prove, who is still on the journey.

Highlights for this Lost Shark were the power pop of Cinnamon Girl. I tell you, when the drums and guitars kick in to that rhythm my heart just beats a little faster.

The sweet country of Old Man. Hearing the lyric, Old man look at my life, I’m alot like you were, I could not help but feel that Neil is still the one looking forward, never the Old Man looking back.

And the raucous Rockin’ in the Free World. As Neil belted out the opening lyric:

There’s colours on the street/ red, white and blue

the significance kicked me in the head and heart. Here I was, not 24 hours after the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, listening to one of the most outspoken musicians of our time (for his comment on the Bush government check out the album Living With War) rock us into the dawn of a new era.

Young is on record as saying:

‘No one song can change the world. But that doesn’t mean it’s time to stop singing. Somewhere on Earth a scientist is alone working. No one knows what he or she is thinking. The secret is just within reach. If I knew that answer I would be singing the song. This is the age of innovation. Hope matters. But not hope alone. In the age of innovation, the people’s fuel must be found. That is the biggest challenge. Who is up to the challenge? Who is searching today? All day. All night. Every hour that goes by. I know I am.’

Watching Neil as he crouched like a caged tiger, sneering the lyric ‘We got a kinder, gentler machine gun hand’, his faithful ‘Old Black’ guitar pointing toward the audience spitting out notes that to quote the great Woody Guthrie would have ‘killed fascists’ I was aware that this was a moment in my history I would never forget.

On the day of Obama’s inauguration I had my hands in the air singing along to Rockin’ in the Free World… What were you doing?