Wild At Heart
It is the start of another month and hopefully the craziness that seemed to show itself during July is gone. I am hoping the debt crisis might finally be over though despite all these projected cuts, I just don’t see how cutting spending alone is going to get America back on its feet. This interests me more now since I recently got involved in my 401K now that I have a real job and was watching a loss on all 4 types of funds I am invested in. Sure it is only $38 of losses but it is enough to try to get me to learn more how this whole thing works. Looking at the cuts, it just seems like the government is going to be paying more down the road. Cutting back on food stamps and unemployment benefits without really crating job growth just seems stupid. How does taking away money from people help them pay their bills and eventually get to the point where they will start spending more of their discretionary income?
All these guys that want cuts and I wonder where these politicians were hiding when certain people were calling for more regulation against the subprime lenders like Ameriquest and Lehman Brothers, etc whose chased the almighty dollar by creating bad loans for American citizens and just used it to line their pockets. Many times politicians of both parties were called to keep this in check but no one wants to stop capitalism and free markets, even when they “might” be harming people. When you hear about some of the practices being used by these companies to approve refinancing like forging signatures of higher ups, calling as many appraisers as it took to get a estimate they liked (sometimes up to 20 times), submitting fraudulent W2 forms and just overall lying to customers who would find themselves paying high fees to actually end up paying more for a mortgage after being told they would be spending less. How many people lost their homes or spending money when the housing market finally crashed in 2007 impacting the toxic loans they were making and thus causing the main part of this recession?
If our elected politicians had been doing their job back in 2001, they could have worked to protect the consumers and prevented the behemoth that the loan industry became. How much better off would we be as a country if those companies had been truly made accountable for their actions? I see just today HSBC is laying off 30,000 workers as a direct result of their problems with their involvement in the financial crisis. I also see Goldman Sacs and some other places laying off more workers and I wonder if the tax breaks are supposed to be creating jobs, why are so many millionaire companies continuously laying off people and not creating the jobs the Bush tax cuts were supposed to create. Close the frakking loopholes, put the tax rates back to Reagan era levels for the rich, cut spending on not needed projects while trying to keep needed, working programs alive. Make a way for unused money from projects where government money was used or allocated but have since stalled or shut down and get that money used to help balance the budget or put in places where in can be used for the public good. You would not believe the amounts of money out there on projects that are over 5 years old and no longer viable that has millions of dollars just sitting there that is not effectively being tracked or being held up by red tape. We need that type of money back in our coffers. I could go on but I’ll just start getting angry. I know it won’t happen until it’s probably too late, but we need to really stand up for this country and get the politicians to do the jobs they are paid for and take care of their constituents over their special interests.
In the meantime, here are some concerts to help relieve the pressure:
Tuesday (8/02) – blues legend Johnny Winter @ Callahans, We The Kings @ Crofoot, local jam band Rootstand opens for Zach Deputy @ Magic Stick Lounge
Wednesday (8/03) - Pains Of Being Pure At Heart w/Prussia @ Crofoot, Phantogram @ Magic Stick, Kottonmouth Kings @ Clutch Cargos, John Legend opens for Sade @ Palace Of Auburn Hills
Thursday (8/04) - Alkaline Trio @ Clutch Cargos, Joan Of Arc @ Pike Room, Hotts & Hellmouth @ Liberty Palace (Ann Arbor), rockin’ guitarist Tab Benoit @ Callahans, Gaelic Storm @ Magic Bag
Friday (8/05) - Goober & the Peas @ Magic Bag, All Time Low @ The Blind Dog (Windsor), Black Dahlia Murder @ St Andrews Hall, Harper @ Ypsilanti Crossroads Music Festival, Blue Oyster Cult @ Tecumseh park (Chatham), Leon Russell & Mitch Ryder and Detroit Wheels @ Rocking on the Riverfront (Ren Center - free show)
Saturday (8/06) - Sloan @ Tecunseh Park (Chatham), NOMO w/Steppin' In It & Frontier Ruckus @ Michigan Roots Jamboree, Chris Bathgate @ Blind Pig, Ray Parker Jr w/Sax Pack & Hot Sauce @ Elizabeth Park (Trenton)
Sunday (8/07) - Bob Dylan & Leon Russell @ Meadowbrook Theatre, folk singer Jan Krist @ the Ark, jazz artist Dave Koz @ Elizabeth Park (Trenton), Steve Miller Band @ Pine Knob
After all that talk, I would like to share some pics of some shows I have been to recently.
Joe Beard grew up with Matt ”Guitar” Murphy and while he hasn’t attained the same heights, he has toured Europe and played with Memphis Slim and Bobby Bland. You might have to travel to New York to see him since he is playing all over the state this fall. Here are some pictures from an outdoor show at the Bop Shop.
I also found myself at an old school R&B style show with some big names from the late 80’s, early 90’s. Grandmaster Dee of Whodini fame provided music for the concert between acts.
The show started with CeCe Peniston who has had a share of health problems (mainly due to weight) in recent years though her voice is still in good shape and she has been winning the battle. Trivia fans will like to know that she was the first African American singer to perform in South Africa after apartheid was abolished.
Rob Base came on next and while he had a ton of energy, he didn’t really impress. It felt more like listening to snippets of songs instead of the whole song. Maybe I just missed something!
Digital Underground was supposed to show up but they canceled but at least we had the White Humpty (those crazy college kids). I still hate the song but I like the look!
The main reason I went to this show was Lisa Lisa (of Cult Jam fame) and while she played some newer material, I was hoping for a couple of the big hits which she did as a medley.
Next came out Al B Sure! Who probably did the best show of the night along with his son Lil B Sure (in the white shirt). He definitely got all the ladies turned on as he went through some hits and new material.
And the show ended with an excellent set by SWV.
Hope you enjoyed those pics. I have some local bands to post along with pics from Bonzai which I have to edit through. The Bonzai show pics include Bayside, Airborne Toxic Event, Manchester Orchestra, Puddle Of Mudd, Hollywood Undead and Bush. I will be posting them as I can throughout the weekend. Take care!
