La Cerveza Mas Fina

Time to return to the land of Mayan culture. Yucatan represent! Whoop, whoop!!

Yup, the Hawk will be landing in Cozumel in time to celebrate the New Year. We're a little unclear as to what awaits us on an island recently devastated by Wilma (you can read my rant about this and other t'ings in a recent post). But we're certain on a few things -- it will be in the 80s, as opposed to the 50s in Denver; there will be beer, and plenty of it; and our favorite clubs and restaurants are open for business; oh, and our luxurious accommodations are in fine and working order.

So I got that going for me.

Which is good.

With a little more than two full days to finalize everything, I'm off in my silent stress mode. It's like that old story where the kid gets sent to the store with a list of three things to obtain. He repeats the list over and over (I believe this was a Sesame Street thang) -- "Pound of butter, loaf of bread, and a quart of milk." That's me constantly reciting my "To Dos" in advance of the trip. Of course, mine is a little different, and it go a lil sumthin' like this:

"Pick up the dog crap"

"Snag some items from Foley's before mom quits on the 31st and loses her employee discount" "Purchase two liters of alcohol for the trip"

"Set my obnoxious but adorable labs up at my mom's, while apologizing to her in advance with a Tony's gift certificate and a bottle of red"

"Pack, pack and repack, until it all fits"

"Charge the digital camera"

"Bring the digital camera"

"Passports would be good"

"Wallet would be even better"

"Don't forget the wife at home"

There's more than that, but brain not feel right ... so I'll revisit it again later.

Wish us luck!

Let the fools have their TAR-TAR sauce!

Meant to post this one last week, but with all the holidays craziness, I forgot. I vote that the next phase of blogging include the ability to automatically publish material as you think of it.

Anyway, to the point.

It seems three people were stabbed at the recent Notorious B.I.G. record release party. In addition, three men were shot just around the corner from the club hosting the party at roughly the same time as the stabbings.

Forget for a moment the standard argument concerning the negative image these incidents project on the hip-hop community. That's a baggy to smoke on a different day. My larger concern (as it generally is) has to do with the karmic message and the effects of our unyielding pursuit of capitalist ambitions.

While I'm not happy to see violence of any kind, I do feel a slight sense of satisfaction in watching Biggie reach from beyond the grave to bitch-slap a few folks in an attempt to convey a very key point -- "Let me die already, fool!" Biggie and Tupac have been dead for a number of years now, yet it doesn't stop the record industry and its accomplices from continually drudging up old material, rehashing it and selling it as a new product. Make no mistake, releasing the latest posthumous Biggie material in time for the holidays was no accident.

Those who keep telling B.I.G. to rest in peace apparently aren't the same folks continually profiting off his name. Back when Diddy first issued some tributes and unreleased material (you recall the song Diddy did with Sting's help), he caught a lot of flack for making money off Biggie. I was willing to give him a pass at the time, as I felt it came from his heart.

But enough is enough already, and I think Biggie is with me on this one. The violence on the night of the release party seems like a loud-and-clear message to me. Unfortunately, I think it's lost on most.

Wilhemina Butfunger of Boise, Idaho

Over the years, I can count on two hands the number of music artists to make a profound impact on my tastes:

• The Beatles
• Bob Marley
• Fishbone
• Brian Wilson
• Jellyfish
• Jason Falkner
• Radiohead
• Psychodelic Zombiez

Yeah, it stands out like a sore thumb don't it? You're working your way through the list, nothing looks too out of the ordinary, and then boom -- PSYCHODELIC ZOMBIEZ!?!?!? Call it one of those "right time, right place" thangs, but I have as much trouble articulating my passion for all things PZ as I do any of the others on the list. This is a good thing, of course, because nothing so good can be explained in clear and simple terms.

Where the Zombiez are concerned, three factors are at play:

1. Uncanny talent
2. Extremely warped sense of humor
3. Scene boy politics

As it relates to uncanny talent, I'm still blown away by what these guys were able to accomplish at such a young age, in a short period of time. When I first caught their act, they were still seniors in high school. It's one thing to have a high level of commitment at age 17 and 18, but it's something completely different to have a musical appreciation as mature as they had at the time (and still have I presume).

When I was in high school, I was proud of my diverse tastes. But Bob Marley and Death Angel isn't as impressive of a range as, say, Mr. Bungle and Tower of Power. So, there was definitely something special about what these guys brought to the table. They immediately made you question, and consequently alter, your pre-determined expectations. In other words, they were nothing you would expect just by looking at them (anyone remember Chevy's blond dreadlocks?), which just made them a thousand times more compelling when you finally heard them.

Sense of humor was another key distinguishing feature. Again, the mind can't rationalize the competing interests of serious talent and wacky antics. A band this good shouldn't look like that, let alone ACT like that. The boys were cut-ups on stage, and infinitely more hilarious when they sat down for an interview. I suppose what's hard to imagine is how a group of individuals such as the Zombiez could take themselves seriously enough in the studio to churn out such incredible music. How could they balance the two? And this is where we reach the truly scary conclusion -- they were that good.

Now, I'm sure they were professional in the studio, as much as any other I would imagine. They are, after all, serious about great music. But in my mind, the most probable conclusion is "this music stuff" they did just came so natural that it didn't require head-splitting concentration.

Also, there's a bit of scene boy politics at play here. While I'm somewhat reluctant to bring this variable into the discussion, the truth is it's fairly common for someone to artificially inflate their appreciation for something that is unique and special to only them and a select group of friends. In other words, what you had with the Zombiez was a local band with a cult following, and let's be honest -- most of us like to be a part of something like that.

The reason I hesitate to bring this one into the equation is because, although unknown to most, the Psychodelic Zombiez were quite well known among the people who mattered. National acts such as Fishbone, Weapon of Choice and others were big fans of what the Zombiez were doing. So while they never commercialized their music, they certainly received affirmation from their respected peers and heroes. In that sense, they transcended the much-feared "Big In Japan" stigma to become something that was more than just a local favorite.

I suppose the last (and perhaps most important) factor to introduce here is that they are no longer around. Haven't been for some time in fact. This always pumps up the legacy a few notches. And I guess this phenomenon is what makes someone like Radiohead so unique -- we're watching (and listening to) history in the making. They are that good RIGHT NOW. Back when the Zombiez were still around, I got that same sense at times, that this was something truly special that likely wouldn't come around often.

Fortunately for us fans, vocalist Mike Friesen set up a Psychodelic Zombiez MySpace page that serves a similar purpose as Classmates.com does for the rest of us -- a forum for bandmates, friends and fans to connect. What I've enjoyed the most about this new forum (and the reason I opted to write about this in the first place) is the doors are now open to experiencing all the music the guys have done since then. This includes tunes from band members' new projects (Chewy Puma, DaKaH Hip-Hop Orchestra), artists for whom they are playing (Macy Gray, Nikka Costa), and not to mention some of the long-lost Psychodelic Zombiez tracks that are still eagerly awaiting the opportunity to become part of the PZ catalog, in the form of the legendary "Things That Are Brown" album.

God bless the Psychodelic Zombiez.

Politricks and t'ings and t'ings

Bob Marley called it "focking bullshit." And since I've never been one to argue a Marley point, I'm inclined to agree. Twice, in fact, to show extra support. He was referring to politics and the dynamics thereof.

The fact of the matter is our world is rampant with gross abuse of diplomacy and public relations. Our businesses, governments and entertainment targets are awash in dirty-water spin, and the worst part might very well be the ignorance these groups feign when their spade is called for what it is.

To get right to the point, public relations remains a tainted profession for one simple reason -- it's dangerous in the hands of amateurs. Take the recent case in the US in which the wife of the nation's largest church was kicked off a flight for "failing to comply with the flight attendant's instructions." The part that kills me is someone speaking on behalf of the wife dared suggest that it was a mutual thing. Yes, I'm sure the wife voluntarily removed herself from the plane, because lord knows there's nothing anyone wants more than to spend extra time in an airport, wrestling with airline staff to find an alternative flight to Vail, Colorado. I mean, Vail is going to be there waiting for us no matter when we leave, so why rush to get there?

Apparently the God business isn't as good as I would have thought. Wouldn't the lord want the pastor of the largest church in the world's most powerful country to have his own plane? Now, I know I wasn't on the flight, so I hate to jump to conclusions. But the story roughly plays out as follows:

1. Rich bitch gets on a plane with her celebrity family
2. Ugggh, traveling with the plebes is worse than death ... couldn't Vail just come to us?
3. Oh, now who spilled water on my tray? Stewardess!!!
4. What do you mean you have other duties to attend to? I expect to be put in front of everything else!
5. Fine, I'm taking my ball, and I'm going home!!

Interestingly, she would have been the first bitch to get whacked by King Kong when he busted loose in the New York theater, as she epitomizes the very bourgeois evils at play in the story.

My real intention in raising the topic of PR Gone Bad was to highlight an interesting sequence of events that seems to be transpiring as we speak. I'm heading out to Cozumel over New Year's with my wife and friends, and I can't tell you how amazed I am to not get a single, objective, authoritative and complete account of the state of affairs in Cozumel, post Wilma. On one hand, you have the government's propaganda machine churning to ensure tourism doesn't suffer from its own special form of dysentery. On the other hand, you have a contingent of rumor-mill misinformation, which in the case of tragic events tends to overstate the severity of a situation (e.g., "Bodies every, for miles and miles" translates to "I saw a couple of dead people on the street, but some might have been nothing more than homeless people getting some rest").

Point being, there are some funny elements at play here, and the sad reality is these parties don't seem to realize that they're actually creating more headaches by not being painfully blunt. Because when propaganda pervades and prevails, the opposite and equal reaction inevitably arrives like the cavalry to polarize the situation. The result is a tsunami of half-truths and false accounts that only serve to confound an already intractable situation. And what does that mean? Well, it means that no one ever knows the truth, which in the end is worse than what the actual truth is.

So what's the lesson learned here kiddies? Be careful with your words, but don't try blowing smoke up our asses. We're too smart for that.

What blows my mind the most is the information age, with all its fancy blogs, rss feeds and uber-access technologies, has failed to reveal someone (anyone, for christ's sake) with a worthwhile account of Conzumel's current state. Yes, I realize the Mexican government is frowning upon anyone taking pictures of devastation in the region. And I realize that the sparse tourism in the area means a reduced chance for reports to make it online. Add to this the fact that things are changing daily, and you can kiss your chances of accurate reports goodbye.

And here's where the PR novices go astray. It would make more sense for the government, its tourism board or a consortium of local businesses to maintain a daily diary of the progress rather than issuing a sweeping press release that's out of date by the time it hits the wire. Be blunt, be honest, and balance it with genuine optimism and details on progress. Good PR can tell the truth without sacrificing brand objectives in the process ... but you have to know what you're doing.

This brings us back to the preacher's wife. Why try to hit us with some BS story in which you make yourself out to be the one who called the shots? That just reinforces the negative perception we already have of you. It would have been much better to issue a mea culpa, something along the lines of "As fellow travelers can perhaps understand, I allowed the stress of a travel day to get the better of me. As a result, I lost my patience and showed disrespect to the people who work very hard to make air travel as safe and easy as possible. I regret my actions, as they do not reflect my true personality. I apologize to the flight attendants, my family and our many friends for this unfortunate situation. I appreciate their understanding in this matter and their willingness to look past my momentary lapse of better judgment."

And just like that, she is again human and someone we can relate to.