The Gateway (Black Coffee Blues Edition)

Those looking to chew the fat with Gate will been able to see him in a rare public appearance.

Gate will be spending the day at the Atlantic Antic, and will be in the general region of the Waterfront Alehouse from about 2-6 watching the Black Coffee Blues Band (seen here providing accompaniment to Dybbuk’s dancing),  in the company of the Gate Family and various people pretending to be his friends.

Gate will probably be wearing a hat (though probably not a cowboy hat) and walking a black and silver Schnauzer. The Schnauzer and Gate are both overweight and have similar markings. Both appear to be friendly, but both are capable of biting without warning or good cause based upon their instinctual belief that they are in the presence of a bad person.

Both usually have very good instincts, though the dog’s are better.

   

 

 

Like Shirley Goodman of Shirley and Lee, Sylvia Vanderpool (later Robinson) of Mickey and Sylvia, recorded some great-boy girl R&B in the fifties before having solo disco/funk hits in the 70s. Mickey and Sylvia were most famous for "Love is Strange,", and though M&S were surely not in love, this was not the strangest part of Sylvia's story. 

Sylvia's male counterpoint in the fifties, Mickey, was the great session musician, Mickey “Guitar” Baker, in whose real story M&S (where he taught Sylvia to play a mean guitar) was really just a curious and atypical footnote (though somewhat less strange than his providing the male lead vocal on Ike and Tina’s “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine.”  

Same with Sylvia–after her disco comeback, she, as a producer and label owner, was the key person in transforming rap from a street/club thang into commercial gold–think "Rapper's Delight" and "The Message" (which has never been equaled).

“It's like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under”
 Sylvia Robinson, 'the Mother of Hip-Hop,' Dies at 75 artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com  

 

 

 

Sully: "we are at war, and that avowed enemies and traitors in active warfare against the US cannot suddenly invoke legal protections from a society they have decided to help destroy." The Un-Bush andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com  

 

 

 

The comparisons of the American Fall to the Arab Spring are especially apt because while both initially feel good, one gets the feeling the participants share little common agenda besides frustration (for most of them, well justified).

Two big differences:

1) The Arab Spring had the potential to make things better.

2) The Arab Spring had the potential to make things worse. Another Occupation Without An Exit Strategy? andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com  

 

 

 

After reading all those Gail Collin columns, I had to learn the truth, which is far worse than I expected. I would have thought, that for a dog, having one’s head outside in the wind in a fast moving car for 12 hours would be a practically orgasmic experience.

Live and learn.The dog’s actions in response should probably inspire a similar plan of action from the American public.  Did Romney's Dog Suffer on Car Roof? abcnews.go.com  

 

 

 

Fuck you Ed Koch Part Two:

During the Ninth CD Special election, Ed Koch declared that a victory for Bob Turner would, among other things, send the national Republicans a message on the need to protect Social Security and Medicare.

On July 23rd, I expressed my vehement disagreement:

“If the Republicans pick up this seat, which the Democrats have held steadily since the 1922 elections, the message which will have been sent is “we can keep suckering the old folks and then keep doing what we want after we win.

As Paul Ryan has just made clear, the message they’ve taken turns out to be "we can get away with whatever the fuck we want" Paul Ryan: GOP Special Election Wins Prove That My Budget Won't Hurt Us www.slate.com  

 

 

 

Weiner graciously sits down in secret with Turner to help give him a leg up.

Sue me for being a partisan, but I think what this really says about Weiner is that his liberalism was little better than skin deep.

This is not an executive transition, mandating some sort of continuity for the sake of the nation. This was a marginal legislative seat going to a different party.

Even forgetting for a moment that this is primarily Weiner's fault, the rule is that one does not help the other party keep it.

And I think O'Reilly knows this, and is just rubbing salt in the Dems wounds by relaying the story. The reason Weiner kept it a secret is he didn't want anyone to know. Anthony Weiner’s Graciousness « TheBlackberryAlarmclock.com www.theblackberryalarmclock.com  

With all due respect to the great Roberto Perez, the special election victory of the Dilan/Lopez forces in a Latino/Black district signals nothing whatsoever about their ability to battle Nydia Velazquez in regular primary in a district currently filled with substantial loads of yuppies, hipsters, white ethnics and Chinese. THE PEREZ NOTES: Erik Dilan Vs. Nydia Velazquez El Diario La Prensa thepereznotes.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Liz Krueger, first elected in a Special Election, rails about how the system discriminates against women. Joining her at the Press Conference were Toby Stavisky, Joan Millman, Michele Schimmel, Audrey Pheffer, Adele Cohen, Joni Yoswein, Annette Robinson and a more than few others I’ve forgotten. the albany project:: New York Special Elections: The Old-Boys Network That Keeps Women Out of the Le www.thealbanyproject.com 

 

 

New site, inspired by the success of Colin Campbell. Given the Sanford Rubenstein/Al Baldeo-like set of photos of the guy smiling with the stars, I'm not sure he has the detachment necessary for this kind of blog, but I'm still rooting for him. Queens Politics » Politics From Queens, NY queens-politics.com