oil...

Always behind fall (currently in full form) is winter. I think the leaves turning color and becoming so beautiful is only so that we accept what follows. I for one tend to fight this shift with a dire Californian vengeance.

I am playing a show tomorrow night (see above) and will likely wear gloves walking to the venue with my gear, always a sure sign that the warm sun is leaving for a time. But as the years pass living in the northeast I tend to accept and even welcome the arrival of cold air; for it feels good on the lungs.

Currently reading an interview in The Sun Magazine with Howard Kunstler which is interesting and somehow hopeful to me. He basically argues that they way we have developed communities and cities in post WWII America is completely unsustainable, primarily due to the fact that our entire world economy is based around the prospect of cheap oil. Once the price of oil rises to a certain point, everything will have to change. The problem is not that our cars get poor gas mileage, but that we drive at all. I see hope in his argument. He feels that suburbia will be dead (a flaccid model) much sooner than we think.

Ripe for catastrophe yes, but for wonderful things too.

Influence

I heard a mere two or three minutes of an interview this morning with a gentlemen who was one of the "team leaders" for Obama's web and social networking crew. As I understood, this guy developed the system by which Obama's 'crew' worked to gain and maintain support though the vast community of the internet.

The interviewer asked the guy how this all came about. (sorry, I didn't catch his name, and am not currently online so unable to search around) His response was amazing to me: "Fugazi." He didn't say it quite that succinctly, but he spoke at length about the Washington DC punk scene, Dischord Records general philosophy, and how being involved in that taught him a great deal about community and about how people connect with one another. And the power of music.

I am always amazed by the degree to which our decisions and our actions can effect change in the world. Perhaps Fugazi's insistence on keeping ticket prices low and refusing to sell merchandise are one of the primary reasons Obama is our president. Likely one of an immeasurable myriad of factors, but interesting and inspiring nonetheless.