tommy at the tavern

tom brosseau will be promoting his new album, posthumous success, tonight at the tractor tavern. $10 at the door.

the new tom brosseau album is inconsistent. you would expect him to evolve after his brilliant 2007 efforts, grand forks and cavalier. and he does.



like tom waits, he crafts songs that tell stories about characters more complex and compelling than any singer songwriter could tell about themselves. that is, they are dishonest and kind of creepy. he consciously identifies himself with subjects that are larger than himself. much older.

it looks to me that tom has been looking to expand his sound with a band for a while. last year, he performed at the triple door with hauschka. it struck me funny that tom was looking much more comfortable when the avant garde pianist joined him on stage.

in performance, tom brosseau is one of the few musicians who can hold an audience on his own. while i am happy to see tom expand his sound i am nervous that in the transition, he will loose what makes him so special.

foolish and pretentious of me to see the dylan '67 story arch here. the artist who betrays his roots and reinvents himself as something, like his characters, so much larger than himself.

free jones soda

free soda at jones soda headquarters every friday from 3pm-6pm

Westboro Baptist Church in Seattle

Westboro Baptist Church came to Seattle Sat, to protest against synagogues, churches and public schools.



My girlfriend came with me when I was shooting this video. She had an interesting conversation with a rabbi from the nearby synagogue while the rest of us were occupied gawking at the haters.

The rabbi asked, why are people so eager to give them press coverage? Some people might think that it is the journalists civic duty to report about possible threats to the community but I am not so quick to buy into this theory. At what point does the reporting of the news distort the event?

The Wesboro Baptist Church are not dangerous. Never before has a member of the Westboro Baptist Church been accused of violence. If the police come to a protest, it is to protect the haters from society, not to protect society from the haters.

The danger of the Westboro Baptist Church is their ability to distort arguments. For example, there is legitimate discussion to be orated on the role of the US and Israel in the middle east. But to simplify the discussion to God hates Jews is very counter productive. It reflects poorly not only on themselves but onto everyone who has faith in God or is critical of Israel.

It is interesting to watch the gay community. Of all minority groups striving for civil rights, the gay community enjoys the controversy and is able to use it to their advantage. Watch the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in the video below as they approach other gawkers to give money for their cause.



The comments section of my videos are like little windows into how common America feels about issues of free speech. They try to tell me that 'hate speech' is the antithesis of democracy and must be stopped. I disagree.

To the Wesboro Baptist Church I would like to say, it's great that you feel that way and I encourage you to continue voicing your faith because open dialogue is what makes America great.

viral video as cheap marketing strategy

this is what i get paid to do. people give me the assets (the pictures, the music, the voice over) and i mix it together in sony vegas. don't laugh. its easy and it gets the job done quick. the question you should be asking is not, what tools are you using but what does the final product look like?



then ask, what is the cost of your operation? well, compared to the $3,000 apple editing suite, this looks mighty cheap. you can get a windows machine and a copy of sony vegas for under $500 if you know how to bargain shop.

westboro baptist church is coming to town

so the westboro baptist church is coming to seattle. you can see the details on their website here. the events begin friday evening and end monday morning. stops include spu graduation and garfield highschool.

here is a thoughtful meditation on the coming of the phelps family.



i am going to be covering the event for seattleiam, this up and coming video hosting site for video journalists. i hope to see plenty of people at the protest, ready to share their views and share their appreciation for our freedom of speech.

no age performs at triple door

now this is a novel idea. a quirky punk band plays live along to a screening of a buried children's classic nature film. it looks pretty psychedelic and wacky.



showtimes are friday night 7pm then again at 930pm. at the triple door.