Rambling Monday

Mulling it over, last week was truly action packed. Sadly Rosa Parks passed away. She led a good long life. Having her in the news again allowed me to learn a couple of things that I, in my deviance, had never focused on. When the event that would write her into the history books took place, I always thought that she was sitting in the white section for lack of availability of seats because she had “tired feet.” This wasn’t the case. She later said ''The only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

Rosa Parks was sitting in the “black section” of the bus and it was nearly full. The white section of the bus was full. The bus driver asked her to vacate the seat to give it over to a white woman. Ms. Parks refused. It seems that she gave the tired feet excuse as an excuse to set up the altercation. It was totally peripheral to the event. More important to my understanding was that this type of civil disobedience was not only common for Ms. Parks but it was common behavior for the time among many women, apparently. The civil rights movement had been planning a boycott for some time but required an appropriate trigger/flashpoint to initiate it. Ms. Parks, being intimately involved in the civil rights movement and a knowledgeable activist was astutely opportunistic. The civil rights leaders chose her as poster-woman for the cause. Spontaneity was an illusion, save for the fact of Parks’ choice.

What’s more, after the initial wave of that event and as the movement grew, Rosa Parks came out on the side of Black Nationalism. She was an open admirer of Malcolm X. This aforementioned nationalism accurately implies that she was a gun owner and changed her opinions of non-violence as a means of achieving the goals of the civil rights movement.

I say this not to tarnish a great act of a great human being, but to bring focus to the full picture of history which should be important and not overlooked by those who would idealize. Rosa Parks was stronger and more complex than most know or would give her credit for. It is for these additional facts that it is an even more remarkable and good that she is lying in state in the United States Capital’s rotunda.

In other news… The release date for 1000 Bulbs grows ever closer and we are pleased as punch. For those of you who have heard them and make the Coldplay analogy, please click here as it articulates the differences quite well. It may seem harsh, but sometimes accomplishing great things require great sacrifices. However different or similar Four Day Hombre my be to that other band is not for me to dictate to you. We are all entitled to our opinion. However, whilst talking to Receiving Coordinators Uri in the basement of the Park Slope Food Co Op about FDH on Saturday, he said something that makes sense. The thing about Coldplay that makes them so infectious is that they build their songs really well. This is describing their song writing and instrumentation and all that, but to just listen to them, each song goes somewhere, typically up. When it gets to where it is going, you get some serious melodic payoff. There is definite catharsis.

With FDH, however, you get the build, but in a unique fashion. Build Rock could be yet another sub-genre like Dave Matthews Band was once herded among the southern “groove rock” bands of the latter 90’s. FDH’s brand of Build Rock, unlike Coldplay’s, doesn’t give you the payoff. This sounds bad, but on the contrary, they cultivate the hell out of potential and let you get as close as you possibly can without actually finishing you off. You are sort of left to your own ends and the song’s catharsis isn’t important. It’s like any sex scene in a good major Hollywood studio film (i.e. 21 Grams). You get a taste and you know what happens, but you don’t get the penetration or money shot. You get it without getting it and you want more.

This is just my Monday rambling, so take it for what its worth. However, I will stand by this next statement which I have said before. Potential is one of THE MOST tantalizing things there is. Generally speaking FDH has that whole thing going on and then some.

And wasn’t it quite the political week last week? I’ll leave it at that, but I have to say that Patrick Fitzgerald is totally the Joe Friday of independent counsels.