My jaw feels like a leg hold trap that has been accidentally sprung and left clamped and rusted for the winter. I had a night guard made this week, and have used one before to little effect, but suppose I will try again. My whole face feels like one giant ball of tension, reminiscent of that scene in Casino in which Joe Pesci has that one fellow’s head in a vice.
The news rolls, overwhelming in its gravity and enormity. Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Sudan, Somalia, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Burma, European Ballistic Missile Defense, Sub-Saharan Africa, Guantanamo, the War On Terror, economic exploitation, environmental rape and disregard, the disintegration of democracy and civil liberties, the never ending blindness that allows it, self serving political punditry that does nothing but placates its own existence – the list is literally endless.
I was wondering last night what sort of fruit the privatization stipulations included in the 2005 G8 debt relief package that cancelled $40 billion dollars worth of debt for the world’s 18 poorest nations is bearing. At the time, Bono declared it a massive step forward. Unfortunately, more people tended to listen to him and Bob Geldof than to men like George Monboit, who decried at the time…
“Far from challenging the G8’s role in Africa’s poverty, Geldof and Bono are legitimising its power.”
Thankfully Live8 was able to provide the likes of CTV massive ad revenues while making everyone feel as if they’d done something significant despite the fact that the fine print proved otherwise. Sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the most lucrative investment regions in the world, and the stipulations attached to that agreement will see the G8 make more through the exploitation of those countries than the debt they forgave. That is an inescapable truth, like it or not, rock concerts to the contrary or not.
I’ll not condemn the likes of Bono and Geldof for trying, for caring, or for going out of their way in an attempt to see some justice done. But the unfortunate truth is that when you willingly lay down with serpents, providing them photo opportunities that then reflect on people all over the world and their perception of progress, you, yourself, must, at some point, recognize your own serpentine inclusion.
Little Holes For The Light To Beam Through
I finally sat down and figured out Suburbia acoustically. It’s rather nice.
We’re going to launch the streaming of the entire album here on the website on my birthday, the 29th of the month. Just so everyone is completely aware, you won’t be able to listen to it by track, it’s either the whole thing or nothing.
For those of you in the States that keep asking me to tour down there, I’m going to do my utmost to make it happen. That said, being that I’m in Las Vegas for a month, I might do a little campfire thing without amplification, etc, sort of like I did when I left my old apartment. So if you’re in the area, or can get there, drop me a line at vegasthing@matthewgood.org. Like last August’s apartment show I will have to limit the number of people, so if you’re seriously interested then best to respond as soon as you’re able. We can make it a bit of a pool party, I’ll play some tunes, and maybe even preview some of the new release. Being that it’s in the high 30’s during the day, I’ll most likely do it in the evening when it cools off a bit. As for the date, I was thinking of doing it on my birthday, the 29th.
