T-shirt #88 - KUDL - White Castle of Bunnicula - 2007

T-shirt #88 - KUDL - White Castle of Bunnicula - 2007

I have decided to post a different Kalamazoo Ultimate Disc League shirt every Monday this summer, building to this year's shirt, which will make its appearance on the last Monday or the tournament  Saturday depending on my mood.

We started the league in 2006, and in that first year, we were called KUSS: Kalamazoo Ultimate Summer Syndicate, which we thought sounded cool.

In an effort to be more friendly and inviting, we changed the name starting with the 2007 season to what it is today: KALMAZOO ULTIMATE DISC LEAGUE or KUDL. And we added the "kudly" bear as our logo.

KALAMAZOO ULTIMATE DISC LEAGUE can be found via the web at http://kudl.org/.

We can also be found on Facebook at Kalamazoo Ultimate Disc League.

So, far I have blogged about KUDL three times, and maybe I should have saved some of those shirts for this weekly KUDL posting. Nah... I have A LOT of KUDL T-shirts: T-shirt #56: KUDL 2009, T-shirt #59: 2007 Pink Shirt, T-shirt #74: COOL PATROL CHAMPIONS! Okay, and if I run out of KUDL shirts (not likely), I can surely fill in with other Ultimate shirts. There's going to be A LOT of Ultimate shirts. :-)

Pictured here at the top, you see me wearing the 2007 shirt. It's actually the cotton shirt, which I will feature separately because today is dedicated to the PATAGONIA, moisture-wicking shirt pictured in the final photo with the team. See? There's two of the same shirt right there, not counting how I featured this in pink for T-shirt #59. In the picture, I am posing with my good friend Dave Heimberg at the Grand Rapids tournament HUCKFEST in November, by when my toe was surely healed (see explanation to follow).

After a disastrous season as the Purple team with KUSS in 2006, the white team I drafted for 2007 definitely held its own (we won games; Purple did not). I am very proud to have been a part of the White Team in 2007 and forged many strong friendships with that team with people I did not know prior to drafting them, such as Dave Mandrick, BJ Cherup, Keith Wikle, and Paul Abueva.

The 2007 KUDL logo was designed by Ryan Walters. I am not sure who designed the bear. But if and when I find out, I may update this blog entry. You know how I am about historical accuracy.

THE WEEK FIVE EMAIL TO THE TEAM
(for posterity, historical accuracy, and amusements)

Hey White Castle of Bunnicula,

For those who missed last week, we decided on our team name: White Castle. I added the “of Bunnicula” because so many teams seem to be “of something,” so I decided it was best that we conform. As you all know, I am a big fan of conformity.
Check out game reports on the KUDL message board, which is also the place to do a lot of our trash talking...
We won last week, both games, against a depleted Blue team (don’t let Little tell you otherwise). We had only two women (Mya and Deanna) who played every point of both games and were awesome, and even sore and at half-speed Robshaw and Wheels rule the field. Andrew and Dave Mandrick made many key, and awesome plays. Mike Wallace was out for the first time and played well with roommate BJ, who matched well on defense against some of the best blue players (Little).
Sorry to be such a slacker and not spam you weekly, but, well, I have no excuse actually. Anyway, our week five, June 25th game is a biggie, a grudge match between the Ed and Kyle led White Russian (Black) and our far superior team returning to field one, the Woodward Street field.
Ed (Kenny) has been talking a lot of trash and apparently the plan is to see just how many scores he can catch between my legs. I am not making this up.
So we really need to beat these yahoos. Herein you will find my helpful (I hope) scouting report and some directions on the zone, which we may surely face, even if it’s not windy.
SCOUTING REPORT: Okay, first of all, they’re called White Russian to stick it to us. I wanted the colour black for our team and Ed poached it before I could select it. There also seems to be this mistaken impression that I am much like “The Dude” from The Big Lebowski.
Captains Ed and Kyle. But Kyle is gone. So that leaves Ed, who likes to huck. Chris Lee is on the DL with a torn ACL, so even if he plays, he can’t really run. They have some players with a little experience: Cody Leonard and Colin Priest but I don’t think they match our players of greater skills and experience.
They have a ton of newbies, many of whom are young and have wheels but no throwing skills. And they have two old guys who match very well on me, especially if I continue to recover from whatever injury I have.
Their women are pretty tough. Jen Blacker is a great player. Dube is also very very good. Our women are great, too, but it’s going to be harder on them if we only have two and they play every point. Jen and Dube are much faster and tougher than the Blue women. And in addition to Jen and Dube, Black has Kate (who is steady and solid and may play even without Kyle), Peggy, and Alexandra. They could have all five women rotating out there and even want to go 4-3 at times. So we really need our women!!
We will see the return of Kent “The Designer” Elliott. I hope the rest of you who had to miss can make it back, too. We need all our numbers to make certain that we dominate black!!
STRATEGY? Ed will huck it. But without Kyle and Chris he is down two handlers. I suspect they will play zone even if it’s not super windy. We will have to try to deny Ed the disc and keep tough coverage on their deep threats.
On offense, we have Mya deep all day, and I think we’re fine with that. We have to keep the rest of our women involved ESPECIALLY DEANNA WHO IS OPEN ALL THE TIME AND MUST BE THROWN TO (this means you Dave)!!! ;-)
I think matchup wise we come out ahead especially if we are all there. I amazed that we beat Blue without Kent, Maria, Jackie, Kathryn, Bill, Nic, Paul, Michelle, and Keith. So I hope you can all make it. If we have numbers and we run them, I think we win.
ZONE
Ed is sending instruction stuff to his team every week, so, since I am big copy-cat imitating conformist, I must do the same.
We discussed zone briefly, but we have to be ready to play O against it and to throw it on defense if we want to beat Black.
Check out
http://www.ultimatehandbook.com/uh/strategy_zone.html
This is what Ed’s team has studied. We will throw the 3-3-1 zone. Read up and be prepared!
If we have a critical mass of people early, then we can practice zone or just warm up with a drill to put the fear in BLACK.
We are on field set up duty, which I can handle, but please do try to get out early.
peace - tower of rectal plantar facetious forgetfulness

Yeah, my emails are a bit wordy and more than a little outrageous, and yet, I go for the humor. If it's not obvious, there is much love and respect for the esteemed opponents. I have no idea if we won that game against WHITE RUSSIAN (Black), but Ed's team did go on to win the tournament. On the other hand, my toe had been swollen  for over a month. I did not know what it was at the time. By the August tournament, it had swollen to twice its normal size, and I could not run on it. I could barely walk. It would be another two years before I would identify this problem as GOUT, which I know have under control.

THE TEAM

WHITE CASTLE OF BUNNICULA - KUDL 2007 - Team pictured here from the tournament.
In the picture: BACK ROW(L-R): Kent Elliott, Paul Abueva, Alex "Wheels" Wheelwright, Chris Tower (Me), Deanna Roell, Jeremy Welter. FRONT ROW (L-R): Keith Wikle, William "BJ" Cherup, Dave Mandrick, Mya Hernandez, and Nick Martinez.
NOT PICTURED: Bill Brieger, Maria Markus, Michelle Miller, Matt Robshaw, Jacqueline Rogers, Andrew Schneider, and Mike Wallace.

White Castle of Bunnicula - KUDL tournament 2007

- chris tower - 1306.17 - 7:59

T-shirt #87: Aliens Zombies & Robots

T-shirt #87: Aliens Zombies & Robots

FATHER'S DAY : Today is Father's Day, so I am featuring a shirt that I gave my step-son Ivan for Christmas, one which I also bought for myself because I liked it. I think I may like it more than Ivan does.

This photo with Ivan was taken by my wife Liesel on Friday, June 14th, 2013.

I love being a step-father, but it has definitely been a learning process. I entered Ivan's (and Piper's, but I will feature her another time) life in 2009 when I met his mother Liesel. Before the year was out, I had married his mother and become his step-father.

I like to think that Ivan and I have a great relationship, and I hope, if asked, that he would say the same thing. He's a great person, and I am very proud to be in a parental role (one of four parents) in his life. I think I have learned a lot about being a step-father in the last four years, and I know that I have a lot left to learn. I embrace the process and try to keep myself open to learning, growing, and changing. Yes, I know this is a very corny thing to write, but it's no less true for being corny or hokey. I never forget that these kids already have a father. I am not their father. I am a secondary figure in their lives, which is okay.

My dad in 2007 with a penguin soap dispenser.

 The kids are with their father this weekend, and so we will not celebrate Father's Day for at least a week or possibly later this month when we celebrate a combined Father's Day and Birthday event with my father on Friday, June 28th.

Since it is Father's Day, I am also going to show my love, admiration, and respect to my Dad: Robert "Bob" Tower.

Pictures of my Dad have already been featured in pictures on this blog in T-shirt #41 and T-shirt #69 and has been mentioned many times, such as in T-shirt #27 and T-shirt #79 among many others.

I love my father very much. He is a great man, a wonderful husband, and an amazingly good father. I would not be the person I am today without my father's guidance. If I can be even a fraction as influential and helpful to my step-son, Ivan, as my father has been to me, I will have accomplished an incredible goal. As for examples of my father's greatness, he is known around Bronson Hospital as Saint Bob, given that he has been my mother's total caregiver since bacterial meningitis left her mostly paralyzed in 2000. As I write this, my mom is in the hospital for another stay (today is Day Six) because of chest pains and now a choking incident that happened yesterday (Saturday June 15, 2013).  I love you, Big Guy. (BTW, I call my Dad "Big Guy" or "beej" for BG = Big Guy. This comes from the 1970s TV show WKRP in Cincinnati.)

A few more thoughts on T-shirts and a re-cap of this blog before I sign off today.

SELECTION PROCESS: How I select T-shirts

Before I started the blog, my method of selecting T-shirts to own fell into nine categories. I know this kind of material may not be of interest to too many other people, but this blog exists to catalogue and inventory, and so I like to make a record of the process. This topic and the three that follow have been on my mind for a while, and so I felt it was time to document them.

1. T-shirts ordered at Fanfare (mostly comic book related) - T-shirt #1 Son Of Satan
2. Concert T-shirts - T-shirt #86 Erykah Badu
3. T-shirts bought on trips and vacations - T-shirt #85 - Up North
4. Gifts - T-shirt #63 The Comics Code Authority
5. Ultimate T-shirts - T-shirt #60 Team Venom
6. Sports T-shirts to show my fandom - T-shirt #15 - Tigers ALCS Champs 2012
7. Shirts I bought to support a business - T-shirt #9 The People's Food Co-op
8. Shirts I ordered based on Internet/social media ads - T-shirt #23 Planet of the Snapes
9. Shirts I had made to order - T-shirt #64 Embrace Uncertainty

Now, I would add a tenth category in that I have been purchasing shirts based on what I want to write about and feature in this blog, such as my Planet of the Apes shirt for T-shirt #79, my Evolution of Darth Vader shirt for T-shirt #45, or my SpektrModule shirt for T-shirt #75.

WILL I WEAR THIS SHIRT?

Shirts with "sayings": There are many T-shirt companies, even more now with the Internet that feature DAILY T-shirts. Prior to the easy accessibility to the Internet, catalogues like Wireless would offer all sorts of specialty T-shirts with cute sayings. Today's T-shirt came from the Wireless Christmas catalogue circa 2012. Though I am not finding it in a Google search at Wireless, but if you like it, try SNORG Tees in grey (not this nice green).

I am very choosy about the "shirts with sayings" that I purchase. I like the Venn Diagram idea, and since I had only one other Venn Diagram shirt, as gifted to me by my best friend (and also a great father), the Lord of Chaos, Tom Meyers, which I featured in T-shirt #77: Narcissism, wherein one could find a secret message that I do not think anyone has actually found yet, I bought this one. (How is that for a complicated sentence??) I think this shirt is clever enough to wear with some pride. However, I am very wary of the "I am Stupid" type shirts, and so very choosy of the shirts with sayings that I own. I have a few more, though, so I will be returning to this topic in the future.

Shirts with brands: Technically, almost all of my shirts fall into this category. A comic book is a brand. The logo of the hero is surely the brand's trademark (and it is legally trademarked). Movies, TV shows, sports teams, and so on are all brands, and I am providing free advertising for them with my T-shirts. In fact, I am spending MY OWN MONEY to be a walking advertisement for the brand. I know I have written about the advertising angle before on this blog, but I am not finding where and in what entries. Feel free to explore and let me know.

So, setting aside these approved brands, you will not see me in a shirt that advertises a clothing company (the Gap, Ambercrombie and Fitch) or a soda pop (though I did have a Pepsi shirt that is now a rag, but I am not sure where it is... though it may make an appearance). With the exception of two shirts advertising Bell's beer, I do not own any alcohol related shirts.

This blog is very much dedicated to the kinds of things I feel are worth wearing on a shirt and parading around with pride as a walking billboard for the product depicted. I am increasingly snobbish about what I find acceptable and unacceptable in this regard, and a trip to the mall the other night MORE than confirmed this snobbery for me. More to come on this subject in future blogs.

OTHER PEOPLE'S SHIRTS

Since I have started this blog, I am noticing other people's shirts much more often. Shirts that would not have hit my radar before are now glaring sirens or lit up like flares. Some people have some really STUPID shirts. Again with the snobby. See previous topic. More on this subject in future blogs, also.

T-SHIRTS HELD IN HIGHER REGARD

I am valuing T-shirts more now than I had been before I started this blog. This may shock some of you, my oh so faithful readers, but I did not really consider myself a T-shirt collector or some great T-shirt fan prior to starting this blog. Really, as I have explained many times, the blog came about as simply a curiosity. Do I have enough T-shirts to wear a different one every day of the year? It was more about being embarrassed for owning so many shirts not really out of a sense of pride, collectorship, or fandom.

Since its inception, this blog has come to mean so much more than a forum for counting shirts. I expect it to continue to evolve over the next 278 days (and counting). Stay tuned.

- chris tower - 1306.16 - 11:19

T-shirt #86 - Erykah Badu

T-shirt #86 - Erykah Badu

WARNING: This is a long one, and I am quoting liberally from source material, just so you know what you're getting into with this blog entry.

Erykah Badu has been a divine gift from the universe of love and grace. Corny to write, I know, but no less true.

Difficult as it is to select a number one, and though I could debate this categorization, I might have to position Erykah Badu as NUMBER ONE on a list of best performers and/or best concerts I have ever seen.

I saw Badu in 2007 and again in 2008.

BADU IN CONCERT

I tried to find  a review of either of the shows I saw, but I was unsuccessful.  I did find a review from 2010 that does a pretty good job of capturing why Erykah Badu is so incredible.

"When Erykah Badu enters a room, you take notice" (Peters, 2010).

Review of the Chicago Theatre Show - 2010: Includes the set list.

But this review does not capture my experience. I was hoping to find someone who was able to eloquently describe why Erykah Badu is the most amazing musical performer I have ever seen.

Here's another: Erykah Badu at the Las Vegas Soul Fest 2013. This writer claims that Badu was worth the wait. Well, yeah. As the writer concluded, "you proved you earned diva status with your musical perfection." Sure. But this is not adequate.

The ERYKAH BADU FAN SITE is a great site for news and tour information.

BADUWORLD is a good portal for Badu's online presence.

This review from her 2012 appearance in Honolulu does a good job capturing the majesty and wonder that is a Badu concert.

In 2006, I secretly absconded to Chene Park (breaking with the companion with whom I usually attended shows from 2003-2009) to see India.Arie. I was blown away with the venue that sits right on the Detroit River, which provides a back drop to the stage. I was also enchanted by the audience. Detroit, Rock City, Motown's African-American community turned out to fill the ampitheatre for India.Arie. I counted. My friend and I were two of six white people in the audience. And this was great. Believe me, if you have not seen a show, a movie, a church service with a primarily African-American audience, then you have not lived life to its fullest. I always have the best time in such audiences. The warmth, fun, and love surrounding me is always much more beautiful and happy than a more mixed or primarily white crowd. Face it. White people are uptight.

I went back in 2007 to Chene Park to see Erykah Badu (again without telling my usual companion) with three friends this time (rather than one). There were more white people in the audience for Badu, though we white folks were still the minority, which is a nice turnabout experience for white folks. Badu was truly incredible. The way she interacts with the audience is very special. I have seen performers touch audience members, do trust falls (Peter Gabriel in 1982), and even take a microphone and walk down among the audience. Badu chose the latter, hugging her fans, kissing cheeks, touching people as if conveying blessings. The love between Badu and her audience formed a complex tapestry of tightly woven, swirling, shining, potent, beautiful energy. I have never experienced anything like it, and I am not sure I can put it into words. I was moved to tears, which I have only been one other time at a concert (T-shirt #12: Sigur Rós).

Badu is returning to Chene Park for a show this summer on August 4th, 2013. Trying to resist the desire to go see Badu in August at Chene Park as I already have many things scheduled. CONFLICT.

In 2008, I was able to see Erykah Badu again, this time with The Roots, with whom she worked back at the start of her career. A year later, she was promoting the release of her fifth (fourth studio) album, the first in five years (since 2003's Worldwide Underground): New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). Released in February, I had been able to listen to it repeatedly for three months.  According to the Wiki page for the album, it is described as "an esoteric concept album, New Amerykah Part One features social commentary and impersonal lyrics, with subject matter that includes poverty, urban violence, complacency, and cultural identity. It features dense, stylistically-varied music that incorporates funk, soul, and hip hop genres" (Wikipedia, 2013). The Associated Press named it as the best album for 2008. The Wiki page (see previous link) provides substantial content about the album's production and its lyrical content. It is definitely worth the read if you are interested in Badu.

If I was blown away by the 2007 Chene Park showed, I was blown away, rendered speechless, and in complete awe of the goddess and her 2008 Chicago show. I have seen many shows over the years, and I have had some concert experiences that transformed my consciousness (again see T-shirt #12: Sigur Rós). These two Badu shows definitely top the list.

Random aside: I cannot hear "Back in the Day(Puff)" from 2003's Worldwide Underground without thinking of my ring tone for texts, which I had set on my phone for about two years.

Also, here's some good Badu material:

Erykah Badu: I am hop hop: THE VIBE.

T-SHIRT

I love my Erykah Badu shirt, but I do not wear it often as I do not like the way it fits.

From the Wiki entry for New Amerykah Part One (4th World War about the second song from the album called "The Healer":

Produced by Madlib, "The Healer" is an ode to hip hop culture and a proclamation of its scope.[10] It opens with a brief snippet from a song by Malcolm McLaren featuring the World's Famous Supreme Team.[12] Music writer Piero Scaruffi describes the song's music as "trancey, exotic and brooding",[29] while Sasha Frere-Jones notes "bells, unidentifiable knocks, a lonesome instrument that might be a sitar, or a guitar, and lots of empty space" in the musical backdrop, adding that "the music flirts with total stasis, though it still has an audible beat."[12] Badu's lyrics, delivered in an incantation style,[11]make reference to various names of God, including Humdililah, Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh, Jah, and Rastafari, while asserting hip hop to be "bigger than" social institutions such as religion and government.[12]She explained the lyrics and religious references, saying "to me, hip-hop is felt in all religions - it has a healing power. I've recently been to Palestine, Jerusalem, Africa and a bunch of other places, and everyone is listening to hip-hop. There's something about that kicking snare sound that all kinds of people find meaning in."[16]

I bought the shirt at the Chicago show in 2008. The lyrics and the song (see video that follows) communicate more than I possibly could with simple rhetoric.

"The Healer (Hip Hop)"

[Chorus:]
Humdi Lila Allah Jehova
Yahweh Dios Ma'ad Jah
Rastafara fyah dance, sex, music, hip-hop

It's bigger than religion
hip-hop
it's bigger than my niggas
hip-hop
it's bigger than the government
(humdi luli lali lulo)
This one fa' Dilla, hip-hop
(humdi luli la, humdi luli la lilulo, humdi lulila humdi lulilaaa...)

[V1]

we ain't dead said the children don't believe it
We just made ourselves invisible
underwater, stove-top, blue flame scientist come out with your scales up
get baptized in the ocean of the hungry
(Humdi luli lalilulo, Humdi lulilalilu)
My niggas turn in to gods,
walls come tumblin...(aaahhh)

[Chorus]
Humdi lila Allah jehova
yahweh dios ma had ja
Rastafara fyah dance, sex, music, hip-hop



It's bigger than religion
hip-hop
it's bigger than my niggas
hip-hop
it's bigger than the government
(humdi luli lali lulo)
This one is the healer, hip-hop

(humdi luli la, humdi lulilalilulo, humdi lulila, humdi lulilaaaa)

[V2]
Told you we aint dead yet
we been livin' through your internet
you don't have to believe everything you think
we've been programmed wake up, we miss you.
they call you indigo, we call you Africa.
go get baptized in the ocean of the people
(Humdi luli lalulilo)
say reboot, refresh, restart.
fresh page, new day, o.g.'s, new key...

(humdi lulila, humdi lulila lilulo, humdi luli la, humdilulila)

I am not going to add too much of my text to this part. As you can see I have gone nuts with the pictures, lyrics, quotes from Wikipedia. I will let the song speak for itself.

Check out this live video for "The Healer" from Soul Stage uploaded April 2, 2008.

Word.



BADU ANKH

During my time teaching Media and the Sexes at WMU, I would feature a musical artist each week at the beginning of class.

Badu was one of my first featured musical artists, which included David Bowie, Brian Eno, Joni Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, the Jam, the Pixies, MIA, Cocteau Twins, Stereolab, Kate Bush, Joy Division, The Clash, King Crimson, Kraftwerk, and Public Enemy.

Each semester I would play a bit from Badu's Live album in which she describes the meaning of the ankh and how these ideas are featured in her music.

"Y’all know what a cypher is? [“Yeah!”] It’s all kinds of ciphers. But a cypher can be represented by a circle, which consists of how many degrees? [“360!”] What? 360 degrees. And my cipher keeps moving like a rolling stone. So in my song when I say that, my cipher represents myself or the atoms in my body and the rolling stone represents the Earth. The atoms in the body rotate at the same rate on the same axis that the Earth rotates, giving us a direct connection with the place we call Earth; therefore, we can
call ourselves Earth. Okay? On my hand I wear an ankh. This is an ankh. An ankh is an ancient Kemetic symbol. The word Kemet is the original name for Egypt" (Badu).

I was just about to type out these words when I finally searched with the right search terms and found them here at Badu's Tumblr.

Fuck Yeah, Erykah Badu - Analog Girl in Digital World Tumblr

BADU ON NUDITY

Badu stirred up a bit of controversy with her video for "Window Seat," which she released in March of 2010.

THE OFFICIAL "WINDOW SEAT" VIDEO FROM ERYKAH BADU



FROM THE BADU WIKIPEDIA PAGE:

Controversy over "Window Seat" video[edit]

Badu in July 2008.

On March 13, 2010,^[20] Badu filmed the video for her song "Window Seat", at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, which Badu wrote on her Twitter feed "was shotguerrilla style, no crew, 1 take, no closed set, no warning, 2 min., Downtown Dallas, then ran like hell."^[21] Without acquiring permission or permits from the city, Badu shed her clothes as she walked along a Dallas, Texas, sidewalk until she was nude at the site where President Kennedy was assassinated. A shot rang out as the song ended, and Badu's head jerked back and she fell to the ground. Children with their families could be seen nearby as Badu stripped.^[22] When asked about stripping nude in the presence of minors, Badu said, "I didn’t think about them until I saw them, and in my mind I tried to telepathically communicate my good intent to them. That’s all I could do, and I hoped they wouldn’t be traumatized."^[20][23] Badu also explained on The Wanda Sykes Show on April 3, 2010, that it was not her intention to insult the memory of the late President Kennedy, saying "My point was grossly misunderstood all over America. JFK is one of my heroes, one of the nation's heroes. John F. Kennedy was a revolutionary; he was not afraid to butt heads with America, and I was not afraid to show America my butt-naked truth."^[24] Coodie and Chike, directors of the Window Seat video, admitted they had bail money ready during filming, if Badu was to be arrested.^[24]Badu said the video was a protest against “groupthink” and was inspired by Matt and Kim's music video Lessons Learned. Badu has also said she has "no regrets".^[20]

On Friday, April 2, 2010, Badu was charged with disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor, in relation to the music video. "Sgt. Warren Mitchell said Friday the decision to cite Badu for disorderly conduct— a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 — came after witness Ida Espinosa, 32, of Vernon, offered a sworn statement to police Thursday [April 1]. Espinosa declined to comment to The Associated Press on Friday."^[25] On April 28, 2010, Badu challenged the disorderly conduct charge by pleading not guilty rather than paying the fee by mail.^[26][27] On Friday, August 13, she pleaded, deferred adjudication, meaning that the final judgment in the situation has been deferred until a later time and paid the $500 ticket.

BADU MUSIC

One function of this blog is to write love letters.

This is my love letter to Erykah Badu.

From the very beginning of my time listening to Erykah Badu's music, I felt a strong sense of connection with her and her music. I felt correspondence. Her experiences and her life has been very different from mine, and yet, there are commonalities of experience as threaded through the Collective Unconscious. 

Not only did I feel this connection with Badu, I also felt that I was gaining so much from her music because of the ways in which her perspective is different from mine. She fills her music with interesting ideas and philosophical statements. Not only do I feel that Erykah Badu is a kindred spirit and that we share many views on life, love, and the universe, but I learn many new things from her the more I listen to her music and read about her ideas in interviews or as explained by others. I may not agree with Badu about everything. I am not going to mold my life based on hers in every way, but she makes me think, she inspires feelings and great respect. Badu lives deeply and with great love. I have unwavering respect for her work as an artist and a human being. She is an amazing person and woman. I understand her at some fundamental level, and yet, I do not understand her at all. I do not know how put it into words.

This connection with Badu, what I gain from Badu, the power of her emotionally rich, complex, cerebral music is deeply spiritual and ineffable. 

My life would have been so much poorer without Badu in it.

Thank you Erykah Badu.

BADU IMPACT Badu leaves me speechless.

So, you know that dinner party I mentioned in T-shirt #78: Suzanne Vega? Erykah Badu would definitely be there.

- chris tower - 1306.15 - 8:41

T-shirt #85: Up North

T-shirt #85: Up North
Summer means being up north. My family lived in Traverse City when I was three years old (1965) and until I was six years old (1968). For many years after we moved down to Schoolcraft (for one year) and eventually Richland, we would take a week or two of vacation on Long Lake in Traverse City and stay in the same house in which we lived when I was little.

Summer trips to Traverse City were filled with snorkeling, looking for Petosky stones, dives off the point sand bar and the 20 foot drop, stamp collecting, comic books, trips to the Magic Rabbit magic shoppe, runs along the beach filmed by my father (one each year with my sister to later be edited and show us growing up), baseball cards, new books from Thompson's News, fudge, donut holes from Potter's, dinners with the moose, and day trips to Mackinaw Island.

For years, my dad would cart up there an old outboard motor from the 1940s that had belonged to his dad. We'd attach it to a row boat and zip around the cove formed by a peninsula and protected from the more choppy and robust waters of Long Lake proper.

We would grill most nights, though trips to Long Lake's Boone's or the Cherry Bucket in Acme were not out of the question. We might take a drive to Empire for the Drive In movie theatre or play miniature golf at the Pirate's Cove along the Miracle Mile on the bay in Traverse City. My mother liked to visit the small shoppes in Sutton's Bay or the boutiques in Fish Town in Leland. But most of all, we had no schedule. We just took each day as they would come and had FUN.

Eventually, the Knorrs sold the resort where we had lived and the cottage could no longer be rented. Still, we continued to take trips up north. Sometimes we would stay in hotels. For a couple of years, a friend of my dad's lent us a house in Harbor Springs. Many years of architectural conventions meant staying for a week or more on Mackinaw Island, which is still one of my favorite places on earth. I continued to do these things with my parents until late into my 20s.

Last year, when Liesel and I went up to Traverse City for a weekend, I drove out to Long Lake, where I used to live and vacation, going completely by instinct. These roads, the turns, the trees, the sites, the mailboxes are all imprinted on my consciousness like ink stamps on old paper. I remembered the way to our old house by feel. It was as if I had my eyes closed, gliding down the Long Lake road, passing familiar landmarks that I saw more in my mind than in reality until I spotted the unmistakable driveway, the spot, home.

The house is still there. Painted a weird brown rather than grey and moved back from its original spot closest to the water, my childhood home still stands and appears to be for rent for summer vacations once again.

Starting in 1993, I found a new vacation spot, which is where I took Liesel for a visit last year (2012): the Neahtawanta Inn on the Old Mission Peninsula.  Run by Sally Van Vleck and Bob Russell, the Neahtawanta is my special summer home away from home and the most peaceful, serene, and wonderful place I have ever found. Over fifteen consecutive years of vacationing there, I spent at least 150 days and nights at the inn. I shared it with Liesel last year, finally, as we take so little time away for vacation, and neither Bob nor Sally were able to come to our wedding.

I will surely blog about my time up north, Long Lake, the Neahtawanta Inn, and Traverse City more throughout the summer as I own several shirts for the north, including one for the inn itself.

Today, I leave off with the view from the dock at the Neahtawanta and the perfect waters of Bowers Harbor, a calm and gorgeous cove along the western shore of the Old Mission Peninsula and West Bay.

This photo looks east because of the way the Neahtawanta Point bends back toward the main peninsula. The sun comes up over the water and hangs high in the sky most days. Traverse City is to the right (south)  in this photo, which may seem counter intuitive and has always messed me up when I am there on the inn's beach.

Happiness.

- chris tower - 1306.14 - 11:14

T-shirt #84: Elektra

T-shirt #84: Elektra


This shirt qualifies as another shirt that I purchased not really intending to wear outside of the house. I liked the image, and so I ordered and purchased it. I have relaxed my restrictions on shirts that I will wear in public and those I will not. If I have to run to the grocery store or to drop off the puppy at Camp Fido, you will likely see me in one of these shirts. Unlike the Conan shirt from T-shirt #21, you might see me more places wearing this shirt. Part of this fashion choice is that the shirt features just the face of the character of Elektra, created by Frank Miller in the Daredevil comics from Marvel. No words. Just the image. That's powerful.

This shirt, billed as the "Daredevil Elektra Miller T-shirt" is for sale on stylin online and other locations. Our local comic shoppe, Fanfare Sports and Entertainment (where I bought mine) should be able to obtain it, if you are local. I always advocate purchasing from a local business over an Internet business in order to keep local revenue local and to support a thriving, healthy local economy.

I have not mentioned yet in over 80 blog posts that I worked at Marvel Comics in the Epic division as a college intern in 1985. I helped with the production of the collected Elektra Saga and the Elektra Assassin comics featured in pictures here on this page.

The individual issues of the Elektra Saga were published in 1984, just before my tenure at Marvel. Elektra Assassin was being discussed and plans were afoot when I was at Marvel and in the Epic offices. I remember riding the cargo elevator with Bill Sienkiewciz, who I considered a highly successful artist due to his expensive and very cool parachute, cargo pants (Urban Outfitters?) and his expensive, retro-military leather portfolio.

Back to Elektra. Comic books have a great deal in common with soap operas. Obviously, both are episodic fiction. But really, both are deeply rooted in the romantic traditions. Often comic book creators have forgotten that many (though one cannot say all) super heroes are human beings. Batman is not just interesting because he has cool gadgets and a great costume and breaks bones to teach criminals a lesson; Batman is also Bruce Wayne, and the stories must not ignore Wayne. The same holds true for Clark Kent-Superman, Peter Parker-Spider-Man, and Matt Murdock-Daredevil among so many, many more.

Like soap operas, the supporting cast creates the canvas on which the artist will work. The heroes fight crime and save the day, and often those stories are compelling, but the stories that keep the readers returning to the book are the personal relationships between the hero and a large cast of supporting characters, which often include the villains he/she fights as well as loved ones, romantic interests, former romantic interests, co-workers, the friendly bartender, and best friends. Tragedy often figures into these stories, giving comic books their strongest tie to soap operas: both are melodramas. Pathos is a necessary ingredient.

Matt Murdock's personal life has been explored in the pages of Daredevil comics with great consistency and complexity. Never married, Murdock/Daredevil has had a string of relationships, many of which ended tragically because of his dual-identity. When Frank Miller took over both writing and art duties on the Daredevil comic (though much of the art was finished from very "loose" pencils by Klaus Janson),  Miller invented the character of Elektra, who debuted in the very first issue that Miller wrote and pencilled (Daredevil #168 January 1981). Miller established Elektra as the great love of Murdock's life from his college days at Columbia University in New York. After her father was murdered, Elektra left New York, and Murdock lost track of her. She joined a ninja sect called the Hand, another invention of Miller's, which tied into Murdock's own expanded origin and martial arts training with a man named Stick.



One year (our time) after her debut, Elektra is killed by Daredevil's arch enemy Bullseye  in Daredevil #181 (April 1982). But the story does not end there. The Hand captures her body to use ninja magic to resurrect her. Daredevil intervenes aided by Stone, an ally of Stick's. Though Daredevil reclaims Elektra's body from the Hand, he is unable to resurrect her, but his love for her has a purifying effect on her soul. At the end of the story, Stone and Elektra's body disappear, leaving the story wonderfully open-ended.  The story should have ended there. Miller's work was done, by and large. But this is not how things work in comics. The original creator's vision is not honored, and since the company (in this case Marvel) owns the character, and she sells lots of comics, her story will continue.

Miller's work with Marvel and his take of Elektra wrap up with two other comics pictured above. Miller wrote a series drawn by Bill Sienkiewciz, Elektra: Assassin (1986), which is more parody than a part of the regular Marvel universe. Much debate in comics circles has surrounded when the story takes place. Epic editor Jo Duffy explained in the Elektra Omnibus that Elektra: Assassin takes place prior to Elektra's appearances in Daredevil. In 1990, Miller and Dark Knight Returns partner Lynn Varley complete a one-shot graphic novel called Elektra Lives Again, which depicts the story of her resurrection following the events he chronicled in the Daredevil comics of the early 1980s.

Elektra is a current character on the Marvel landscape and is featured in the new Thunderbolts series as of this writing (June, 2013).

I am not going to discuss the Elektra movie, even though I like Jennifer Garner very much. As with the Daredevil movie, it wasn't all bad (and it was not much good either), but the shirt is not meant to invoke the movie, so I'll leave it at that.

I cannot claim I read the Elektra story from the start with the issues of Daredevil starting in 1981. In fact, it was my good friend Mark Brager, who I met at college, who introduced me to this saga and those Miller Daredevil comics along with several other great comics (Cerebus, American Flagg, Swamp Thing), due to his proximity to a direct sales comic shop, something Kalamazoo lacked until around 1983 with establishing of Fanfare Sports and Entertainment.

MORE INFORMATION ON ELEKTRA

ELEKTRA story on Wikipedia.

ELEKTRA on Marvel Wiki.

No extra ruminations or reflections today. Just straight up comic recap. Mostly, as I did write about the episodic narrative, melodrama, and romance. I could analyze the fantasy/fetish aspects of a character like Elektra for both her creator and her audience, but these ideas should be self-evident. Aren't they?

From the Elektra Lives Again hardcover - Miller/Varley-1990

- chris tower - 1306.13 - 7:55

T-shirt #83: The X-Men Logo

T-shirt #83: The X-Men Logo

Logos are cool.

But why? Why are  logos so cool?

I have written about logos many times so far in the history of this blog. One of my best descriptions of this idea set comes with the Flash Logo and T-shirt #20. In entry #20, I listed many of my favorite logos and their appeal. Few logos are as iconic as the X-Men logo. And yet the X-Men were named by default. Originally, Stan Lee wanted to call the comic The Mutants, but this title was rejected by the publisher as being too arcane ("no one will know what the Hell a mutant is"), and so The Uncanny X-Men resulted not as a tribute to Professor Xavier, the team's leader and teacher, but for the X-Gene that gives the mutants their powers.

UNIFORM COOL: I AM AN X-MAN: Part of the appeal of logo shirts is the uniform aspect. It's costume play. When I wear a logo shirt that matches or resembles the costumed hero's uniform, I am engaging in a form of "dress up," what role players now call "cos play" because these days everything people do must be defined with a label and a sub-culture.

The X-Men have all gone through many uniform changes. The movies and animated series programs also affected uniform changes in the comics. Unlike many superhero groups, the X-Men had a uniformity from the earliest days of the team in regards to their wardrobe. Whereas groups like the Avengers, Justice League, and Teen Titans are all collections of individuals with their already established costumes, groups like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four have more of a homogeneous relationship and often have matching uniforms. The original X-Men all wore matching uniforms with iconic X logos. Later incarnations got away from that model, though the character of Cyclops has consistently worn some version of the classic blue X-Men uniform that he began wearing in the late 1960s during the re-invention period by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams (more forthcoming on this subject). This shirt most closely matches Cyclops' uniform.


LOGOS ARE VIRAL

Logos assume iconic status and spread like viruses. The most powerful logos are simple yet stunning. They tap into something primal and deeply rooted in the human psyche. They correspond with a reptilian, seminal core located in the locus coeruleus or basal ganglia of our human brains, what some feel is the first step of our pre-mammalian, evolutionary development.










I am extrapolating. But the power of a logo derives from instincts, and our instincts trace back to our reptilian and bird, pre-mammalian origins. Because we all share this feature of the brain stem, the reaction should be universal. One can argue that these logos are archetypal. I am arguing that our connections and attraction to them is not only hard-wired into our anatomy, and possibly coded at the genetic level, but also tied to a spiritual, energy connection through the Collective Unconscious. The most iconic logos are archetypes because they are ancient, archaic paradigms matching our repeated experience not just as a species but as living and evolving beings. The simple X logo is one of the best examples of this kind of iconic archetype.

PATTERN RECOGNITION: This blog will always mention good books. One such book is Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. I often recommend this book, especially for people with a tentative interest in science fiction because, really, this book does not qualify as science fiction at all. One of the reviews  that I include below suggests that this is not the book to start reading William Gibson in order to tap into what makes him a great writer. I disagree. Neuromancer is a dense book that many fans without an ardent interest in that particular brand of science fiction will find inscrutable. I love it, and I have to read it every couple of years to keep it fresh in my mind. However, Pattern Recognition is a much more accessible book. Set  in the present, it does not qualify as futuristic or overly scientific. The book fits today's subject because the main character, Cayce Pollard, works as a freelance consultant who brand tests logos for marketing firms because of her phobia for trademarks and logos. The stronger Cayce's allergic reaction to a logo, the more powerful it is, the greater power it will have to spread virally throughout the culture, bore into our brains like a digging parasite, and nest. Gibson mixes Cayce's logo validating work with her trauma over losing her father in the 9/11 attack in New York and her hobby regarding "the footage," an Internet cult following anonymously and randomly posted small video clips. Every time my wife asks me to recommend a book, I recommend Pattern Recognition. The reviews on Amazon are actually quite insightful and articulate. But I also like the links I am sharing here.

Pattern Recognition Review - City of Tongues

Another Pattern Recognition review - Inverarity

THE ORIGINAL UNCANNY X-MEN: KIRBY TO NEAL ADAMS: I read many of the early X-Men comics in reprint in the years following the run by Neal Adams and Roy Thomas. I was also a huge fan of Neal Adams' work on Deadman, Green Lantern and Green Arrow, The Avengers and Batman. In my entry for T-shirt #43: Deadman, I refined my list of favorite artists. As I have written many times, part of this blog's function is to catalogue with lists the popular culture elements that had the greatest impact on me as a child, a teenager, and an adult.

In fairness to these artists, I surely need to group them by era. I had dropped Alex Ross from my initial list for this reason to make room for Neal Adams. Probably, I should make a separate list for the 1970s or even the 1980s that would feature George Perez and John Byrne.


If I listed the original 1960s artists with greatest impact on me in a top five, they would be:

• JACK KIRBY
• GIL KANE
• NEAL ADAMS
• GENE COLAN
• JOHN ROMITA

This is a difficult occupation because I am leaving out some artists that I dearly love like Steve Ditko and Nick Cardy. But lists are exclusive by nature. Go ahead. Try to make a top five and not leave out someone beloved or important.

The cover featured here for Uncanny X-men #59 (though the word "Uncanny" does not appear on the cover) may be my first X-Men issue. It was published in August of 1969, right around the time my sister was born and might have been part of the week of gifts and special fun to which I was treated so that I would not feel neglected once my baby sister arrived and received the more majority of my mother's time and attention.

KIRBY SCREWED: I just read the first issue of a new magazine called Comic Book Creator. The issue can be read for free online. There is also a great blog article on Comic Book Justice: Taking Credit (Part One) about Jack Kirby. Though not directly related, but in keeping with my trend for recommending books, another book that I frequently recommend to my wife along with Pattern Recognition as "one of the best books on the shelves of this house" is Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which explores the ways in which comic book creators of yesteryear were not fairly compensated for all their creations. There may be no comic book creator as prolific and as poorly compensated as Jack "The King" Kirby.

Just for some quick perspective on this issue: Kirby created Captain America, the Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, Doctor Doom, the Silver Surfer, and The X-Men among many, many more. The total movie revenue (just movies, not the merchandising or other related revenues)  earned so far from just those creations listed is SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS ($7,310,655, 909). This figure does not include revenue from Iron Man 3 or any movie thereafter.

Jack Kirby died in 1994. The Marvel/Disney empire is reaping astronomical profits based on Kirby's creations. Kirby's family has received exactly zero compensation in profit sharing from the movies featuring these creations.


THE NEW X-MEN: WEIN & CLAREMONT & COCKRUM & BYRNE & JIM LEE & OTHERS: I really fully became an X-Men fan, like so many others, with the introduction of the new X-Men in the Giant-Size X-Men comic in 1975 by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum and the issues that followed in Uncanny written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Dave Cockrum and eventually John Byrne. I also loved the Jim Lee (as I love Jim Lee the most of all the "Image" founder artists/creators) issues circa 1991. I have many other X-Men shirts, so this is a subject I can return to later, especially since I want to refine my list of artists by era. Still, forced to make a top five of all-time favorites both Jack Kirby and George Perez would make that list.

As for logos, I just like thinking about them. I like to get other people thinking about logos. I am interested in branding and logo identification as a viral, info-pathogen spreading through our culture and our Collective Unconscious.

Still, I stand by the first statement: Logos are cool.

- chris tower - 1306.12 - 9:11

PS: As a journal of my life, I would like to note here for the record that my mother is on her way to the ER with chest pains. Prayers, please. - cbt