Saturday, October 11, 2008
by Ian Ebright
I feel frustrated lately when thinking about the current state of our nation. It’s not an original response; 86% of the population believe we’re going in the wrong direction. Though the following are each significant, I don’t view the bailout, or the current financial situation, or either presidential candidate as having the capacity to inflict the final blow to our limping Constitutional Republic. No one single event should ever lead us to say “see- NOW it’s over. Because of THAT- we’re all finished.”
What I feel instead is what many have described after the past eight years: some fatigue, too much cynicism, and occasional anger. But that can’t be the end of it. No one wants a tombstone that reads “here lies an angry person who did nothing, and stayed angry.”
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Friday, October 3, 2008
Photo Credit: AntiWarPosters.com
by Ian Ebright
This year, the Republican National Convention adopted an unforgettable slogan, and I’m not paying them a compliment. As the TV cameras revealed the sprawling sign hanging inside the convention arena, I had one of those “am I really seeing this” moments. The message printed across the face of the banner: “Country First.” Country first? I thought this nation prioritized liberty, The Constitution and peace before some dutiful sense of submission to The Country (or Homeland as we’ve been trained to say, just to ratchet the nationalism dial up to “absolutely creepy”).
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
Photo Credit: The Broken Telegraph
by Ian Ebright
It’s my last day at RadioStar Studios, and a song titled ‘June Becomes July’ is on the agenda. J.R. Richards wants to re-record some backup vocals for this track, but he’s having issues and admittedly so. He is attempting to strip away the character from his voice; a struggle for a lead singer trained to impliment the very same inflections. “The best backup vocal should be really equal and flat,” Richards explains, citing U2’s The Edge as the perfect example (who sounds like Bono without the vocal signature). The giant Margarita from the night before isn’t exactly helping his vocal chords either.
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Monday, September 15, 2008
by Ian Ebright
So why is there a nice sect spreading throughout our culture, and making converts of so many? The following paragraphs take a look at this question of why- in relation to the trend towards self-serving niceness.
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Friday, September 5, 2008
Photo credit: The Broken Telegraph
by Ian Ebright
J.R. Richards and engineer Michael C. Ross are huddled in front of the Boomerang in Studio B. The song ‘Clearwater’ is booming from the speakers on top of the massive console and generating puffs of air that are blowing past my arms intermittently. Richards is in the zone; he’s leaning on his elbows and listening with intent.
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Saturday, August 30, 2008
Photo credit: Privatech.ca
by Ian Ebright
Role-playing is a significant component of American life for the nice crowd- those actors who wear pleasant masks and live underneath a plastic smile. They speak using only sanitized words.
It seems to be spreading like a virus, and I fear that our country is infected with “nice.” But what we really need in challenging times are people willing to be good. Nations don’t repair from the outside. The only thing that we’re left with is the option to look at ourselves and ask “are we adding to this mess, or are we part of the cure?”
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Friday, August 22, 2008
Photo Credit: The Broken Telegraph
by Ian Ebright
There’s something surreal about this particular August afternoon in Weed, California. Outside of the recording studios, it’s 85 degrees and the sky is cloudless, but I have to strain my eyes to realize that. The distant forest fires plaguing the state have covered the local sky with a veil of translucent blue smoke, and brought the scent of charred nature to this humbly-sized town at the base of Mount Shasta.
I get my first look inside the recording studios where Dishwalla’s singer/songwriter J.R. Richards is mixing his debut album, and like the setting outside, this space is far from predictable. The primary facility of the RadioStar Studios compound is a Vaudevillian theater that was built way back during the early 20th century. That, and it’s also haunted. Keep reading →
Thursday, July 24, 2008
by Ian Ebright
Here’s a quick look back at the first half of 2008 and the best in movies, music and television:
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Ian, for The Broken Telegraph
Brian, for The Broken Telegraph