SO tempted to spoil Google's April Fool's joke for the U.S.

I can barely hold myself back...

Make sure you go and hit "Try GoogleNose" - more than once.

Snare Drums ®

I can't believe there's not a drum company called "Snare." If my name was Snare - Phil Snare, or something - I would totally start a drum company.

Slogan:

Catchy beat, huh?

Arizona Group to Give Away Shotguns in High-Crime Areas

Holy mother of God:

Tucson residents living in crime-ridden areas could soon receive free shotguns.

Operating on the premise an armed neighborhood is a safer neighborhood, a group led by former mayoral candidate Shaun McClusky is raising money to purchase shotguns and provide training for anyone who lives in a mid- to high-crime neighborhood and can pass a background check.

The project is part of a developing nationwide movement to see if more guns really do translate into less crime.

Bonus: 2 Retired Cops Shoot and Kill Own Sons 4 Months Apart. (They both thought their sons were burglars.)

More: It's the same town Gabby Giffords and 18 others were shot, six of them killed, on January 8, 2011.

@GunDeaths

Loving, Part II [update]

In 1967 (1967!) the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Loving v. Virginia, a case about marriage: marriage between a black person and a white person.

A lot of people HATED with a captal HATE the idea of some awful dirty black person marrying a white person.

How's your day going?

Update, Mar. 28: Wow - he even used the word "filthy."

[image]

The View From the Pub

Christine took this shot on Monday while we were having an adult beverage or two at our local watering hole. She didn't get up or anything - this was from our table on the deck:

Ho hum.

Guitar Note: Last Night Something Happened

I've been playing guitar for 32 years. From early on I decided (or was forced to grudgingly give in to, whatever) that I was a strummer and simple picker kind of guitar player, the kind that plays to accompany lyrics. I love writing lyrics, I’ve loved writing the fairly simple guitar songs I’ve written, but I always wanted to play lead guitar. Or just much more dynamic and colorful guitar. And I just could not do it. I tried. A lot. I just couldn't do it. Nothing but anything simple, anyway. (I can SHRED a Neil Young one-note lead until the neighbors throw flaming cats through the windows.)

I don't play out anymore. My last gig was way more than a year ago, and there weren’t that many in a few years preceding. But I've picked up the guitar at home more in recent months, and I just play. I pick, I strum a bit, but more often I play - or try to play - lead-like stuff. And I just play.

Last night something happened. My brain, all of a sudden - and I mean I noticed it the way you notice you’ve almost fallen asleep and your car has left the road - my brain was all of a sudden doing something that I had never felt it do with me and my guitar. My brain was communicating with my fingers and my ears - most importantly with my ears - in a way that was, honestly, completely gobsmacking. And I was playing dynamic, colorful, lead guitar. And it didn’t suck! (Or at least I thought so. Maybe I was having a flashback?)

I know it's just me and my guitar, and I know there's a lot of hurt out there in the world, but hot damn. This is music. I am very happy and very thankful about this, and, well, there you go.

I hope I can play you a song some day that makes you feel a little better about everything.

Thanks for listening.

P.S. I'm very thankful Christine puts up with - and even seems to like - my noodling, too. Thank you, baby.

Michelle Shocked Vows to Show Up at Cancelled LA Gig

Oh dear:

Friday afternoon, the beleaguered singer tweeted that she would be appearing at Saturday night at McCabe’s in Santa Monica for a “speaking engagement” on the subject of “Effects of Gay-Bashing on the L.A. Mayoral Race.”

This came as news to the club -- and not good news. “She is not welcome at McCabe’s,” said the venue’s angry concert director, Lincoln Myerson, who had just learned about Shocked’s vow -- or threat -- to show up after he got calls regarding the singer’s mysterious tweet.

On Monday, the guitar shop and concert venue joined nearly every other club on her itinerary in canceling her planned show after the singer's alleged anti-gay comments at the opening gig of the tour Sunday night in San Francisco led to mass walkouts and media furor.

Michelle Shocked tour meltdown history:

• The cancelled shows
• Page II
• The statement
• The audio that proves she is not telling the truth in her statement.

Update: A tweet says she's chosen an alternative location:

7PM tonight A ram in the bush! 'Alternative' venue LA Mission on 5th "Can't Take My Joy" .99 cent Lemonade! See you there!! #truthvsreality
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 24, 2013

Here, I reckon: Los Angeles Mission. Here's a map. (Nowhere near McCabe's. Which is a good thing.)

Update II: I think I just figured this whole thing out: Michelle Shocked is doing a performance art take on this:



[image]

Elementary Music, Art, Gym Teachers AXED in Lansing, MI

Following up on this post:

Lansing elementary students will soon say goodbye to all their art, music, and gym teachers.

They’re among 87 staff positions getting the ax this year. The district’s got to scrape together $6 million in savings, and what with the right-to-work law taking effect next week, teachers around the state are eager to ink new contracts.

Graphic: 98 Days Since Newtown: 2,238 Dead

Very powerful and fairly sickening graphic at HuffPo right now. (Link here. It actually plays, counting up the days and number of dead.) Screen shot:

The accompanying article.

Credit page says "By Jay Boice, Aaron Bycoffe and Andrei Scheinkman. Research by Jason Cherkis, Peter Finocchiaro, Adam Goldberg, Mark Hanrahan, Benjamin Hart, Alana Horowitz, Melissa Jeltsen, Chelsea Kiene, Brad Shannon and William Wrigley." Great work, gang.

@GunDeaths on Twitter.

"Bottomfeeders" song #5: Sigh

From my CD "Bottomfeeders."
 

You might like to add this to your collection of songs. You can do this ever so easily at iTunes, Rhapsody, CDUniverse, or CDBaby, among other fine digital music establishments.

A Request From an American Public School Teacher

An email from a nephew who is an elementary school teacher in Western New York:

Hello Family, I am wondering if all of my lovely local (or not ) family would be willing to cut and save their box tops for me?

I recently discovered that my school lets me buy things for my classroom with that money.

You know what this email is? It's even more evidence that super wealthy Americans need another tax cut.

P.S. This.

[image]

Song: "Inside Joke"

More at iTunes, Rhapsody, CDUniverse, CDBaby.

PM Julia Gillard Issues Apology For Forced Adoptions

The Australian:

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has told victims of forced adoption practices: "We apologise". Ms Gillard made the long awaited national apology at a special ceremony in Canberra attended by hundreds of people, including mothers betrayed by a system that decided their children were better off elsewhere.

"We acknowledge your loss and grief," the prime minister said.

From the 1950s to the 1970s an estimated 150,000 unwed Australian mothers had their babies forcibly adopted under a practice sanctioned by governments, churches, hospitals, charities and bureaucrats.

I'll post video and trascript when they become available. *You can watch it here. This is worth putting other stuff away and watching.

Wikipedia on Australia's forced adoptions.

"Stories from the mothers who had their babies taken away":

What happened when they found out they were pregnant?

Colleen Ewen:

[My father] took me to Windang police station and told them what was going on, I think he was hoping I would tell them who the father was. In those days carnal knowledge was a crime. My father got angrier and angrier he punched me in the face in front of the police who did nothing, about an hour later a lady came to the police station and took me home and told me to pack a bag.

Update: Full apology. Rip your guts out moving:

Today, this Parliament, on behalf of the Australian people, takes responsibility and apologises for the policies and practices that forced the separation of mothers from their babies, which created a lifelong legacy of pain and suffering.

2. We acknowledge the profound effects of these policies and practices on fathers.

3. And we recognise the hurt these actions caused to brothers and sisters, grandparents, partners and extended family members.

4. We deplore the shameful practices that denied you, the mothers, your fundamental rights and responsibilities to love and care for your children. You were not legally or socially acknowledged as their mothers. And you were yourselves deprived of care and support.

5. To you, the mothers who were betrayed by a system that gave you no choice and subjected you to manipulation, mistreatment and malpractice, we apologise.

6. We say sorry to you, the mothers who were denied knowledge of your rights, which meant you could not provide informed consent. You were given false assurances. You were forced to endure the coercion and brutality of practices that were unethical, dishonest and in many cases illegal.

7. We know you have suffered enduring effects from these practices forced upon you by others. For the loss, the grief, the disempowerment, the stigmatisation and the guilt, we say sorry.

8. To each of you who were adopted or removed, who were led to believe your mother had rejected you and who were denied the opportunity to grow up with your family and community of origin and to connect with your culture, we say sorry.

9. We apologise to the sons and daughters who grew up not knowing how much you were wanted and loved.

10. We acknowledge that many of you still experience a constant struggle with identity, uncertainty and loss, and feel a persistent tension between loyalty to one family and yearning for another.

11. To you, the fathers, who were excluded from the lives of your children and deprived of the dignity of recognition on your children's birth records, we say sorry. We acknowledge your loss and grief.

12. We recognise that the consequences of forced adoption practices continue to resonate through many, many lives. To you, the siblings, grandparents, partners and other family members who have shared in the pain and suffering of your loved ones or who were unable to share their lives, we say sorry.

13. Many are still grieving. Some families will be lost to one another forever. To those of you who face the difficulties of reconnecting with family and establishing on-going relationships, we say sorry.

14. We offer this apology in the hope that it will assist your healing and in order to shine a light on a dark period of our nation's history.

15. To those who have fought for the truth to be heard, we hear you now. We acknowledge that many of you have suffered in silence for far too long.

16. We are saddened that many others are no longer here to share this moment. In particular, we remember those affected by these practices who took their own lives. Our profound sympathies go to their families.

17. To redress the shameful mistakes of the past, we are committed to ensuring that all those affected get the help they need, including access to specialist counselling services and support, the ability to find the truth in freely available records and assistance in reconnecting with lost family.

18. We resolve, as a nation, to do all in our power to make sure these practices are never repeated. In facing future challenges, we will remember the lessons of family separation. Our focus will be on protecting the fundamental rights of children and on the importance of the child's right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.

19. With profound sadness and remorse, we offer you all our unreserved apology.

According to the SMH, those words "will be moved in the Senate and the House of Representatives."

Gillard went on. (It's quite long.)

This Apology is extended in good faith and deep humility.

It will be a profound act of moral insight by a nation searching its conscience.

It will stand in the name of all Australians as a sign of our willingness to right an old wrong and face a hard truth.

As Australians, we are used to celebrating past glories and triumphs, and so we should.

We are a great nation.

But we must also be a good nation.

Therefore we must face the negative features of our past without hesitation or reserve.

That is why the period since 2008 has been so distinctive – because it has been a moment of healing and accountability in the life of our nation.

For a country, just as for a person, it takes a lot of courage to say we are sorry.

We don’t like to admit we were mistaken or misguided.

Yet this is part of the process of a nation growing up:

Holding the mirror to ourselves and our past, and not flinching from what we see.

What we see in that mirror is deeply shameful and distressing.

A story of suffering and unbearable loss.

But ultimately a story of strength, as those affected by forced adoptions found their voice.

Organised and shared their experiences.

And, by speaking truth to power, brought about the Apology we offer today.

This story had its beginnings in a wrongful belief that women could be separated from their babies and it would all be for the best.

Instead these churches and charities, families, medical staff and bureaucrats struck at the most primal and sacred bond there is: the bond between a mother and her baby.

Those affected by forced adoption came from all walks of life.

From the city or the country.

People who were born here or migrated here and people who are Indigenous Australians.

From different faiths and social classes.

For the most part, the women who lost their babies were young and vulnerable.

They were often pressurised and sometimes even drugged.

They faced so many voices telling them to surrender, even though their own lonely voice shouted from the depths of their being to hold on to the new life they had created.

Too often they did not see their baby’s face.

They couldn’t sooth his first cries.

Never felt her warmth or smelt her skin.

They could not give their own baby a name.

Those babies grew up with other names and in other homes.

Creating a sense of abandonment and loss that sometimes could never be made whole.

Today we will hear the motion moved in the Parliament and many other words spoken by those of us who lead.

But today we also listen to the words and stories of those who have waited so long to be heard.

Like the members of the Reference Group personally affected by forced adoption who I met earlier today.

Lizzy Brew, Katherine Rendell and Christine Cole told me how their children were wrenched away so soon after birth.

How they were denied basic support and advice.

How the removal of their children led to a lifetime of anguish and pain.

Their experiences echo the stories told in the Senate report.

Stories that speak to us with startling power and moral force.

Like Linda Bryant who testified of the devastating moment her baby was taken away: 'When I had my child she was removed. All I saw was the top of her head – I knew she had black hair.'

So often that brief glimpse was the final time those mothers would ever see their child.

In institutions around Australia, women were made to perform menial labour in kitchens and laundries until their baby arrived.

As Margaret Bishop said: 'It felt like a kind of penance.'

In recent years, I have occasionally passed what then was the Medindi Maternity Hospital and it generates a deep sadness in me and an odd feeling that it was a Dickensian tale about somebody else.

Margaret McGrath described being confined within the Holy Cross home where life was ‘harsh, punitive and impersonal’.

Yet this was sunny postwar Australia when we were going to the beach and driving our new Holdens and listening to Johnny O’Keefe.

As the time for birth came, their babies would be snatched away before they had even held them in their arms.

Sometimes consent was achieved by forgery or fraud.

Sometimes women signed adoption papers while under the influence of medication.

Most common of all was the bullying arrogance of a society that presumed to know what was best.

Margaret Nonas was told she was selfish.

Linda Ngata was told she was too young and would be a bad mother.

Some mothers returned home to be ostracised and judged.

And despite all the coercion, many mothers were haunted by guilt for having ‘given away’ their child.

Guilt because, in the words of Louise Greenup, they did not ‘buck the system or fight’.

The hurt did not simply last for a few days or weeks.

This was a wound that would not heal.

Kim Lawrence told the Senate Committee: 'The pain never goes away, that we all gave away our babies. We were told to forget what had happened, but we cannot. It will be with us all our lives.'

Carolyn Brown never forgot her son: 'I was always looking and wondering if he was alive or dead. … From then on every time I saw a baby, a little boy and even a grown up in the street, I would look to see if I could recognise him.'

For decades, young mothers grew old haunted by loss.

Silently grieving in our suburbs and towns.

And somewhere, perhaps even close by, their children grew up denied the bond that was their birth-right.

Instead they lived with self-doubt and an uncertain identity.

The feeling, as one child of forced adoption put it, ‘that part of me is missing’.

Some suffered sexual abuse at the hands of their adoptive parents or in state institutions.

Many more endured the cruelty that only children can inflict on their peers: 'Your mum’s not your real mum, your real mum didn’t want you. Your parents aren’t your real parents, they don’t love you.'

Taunts vividly remembered decades later.

For so many children of forced adoption, the scars remain in adult life.

Phil Evans described his life as a 'rollercoaster ride of emotional trauma; indescribable fear; uncertainty; anxiety and self-sabotage in so many ways.'

Many others identified the paralysing effect of self-doubt and a fear of abandonment: 'It has held me back, stopped me growing and ensured that I have lived a life frozen.'

I heard similar stories of disconnection and loss from Leigh Hubbard and Paul Howes today.

The challenges of reconnecting with family.

The struggles with self-identity and self-esteem.

The difficulties with accessing records.

Challenges that even the highest levels of professional success have not been able to assuage or heal.

Neither should we forget the fathers, brothers and sisters, grandparents and other relatives who were also affected as the impact of forced adoption cascaded through each family.

Gary Coles, a father, told me today of the lack of acknowledgment that many fathers have experienced.

How often fathers were ignored at the time of the birth.

How their names were not included on birth certificates.

How the veil of shame and forgetting was cast over their lives too.

My fellow Australians,

No collection of words alone can undo all this damage.

Or make whole the lives and families fractured by forced adoption.

Or give back childhoods that were robbed of joy and laughter.

Or make amends for the Birthdays and Christmases and Mother’s or Father’s Days that only brought a fresh wave of grief and loss.

But by saying sorry we can correct the historical record.

We can declare that these mothers did nothing wrong.

That you loved your children and you always will.

And to the children of forced adoption, we can say that you deserved so much better.

You deserved the chance to know, and love, your mother and father.

We can promise you all that no generation of Australians will suffer the same pain and trauma that you did.

The cruel, immoral practice of forced adoption will have no place in this land any more.

We also pledge resources to match today’s words with actions.

We will provide $5 million to improve access to specialist support and records tracing for those affected by forced adoptions.

And we will work with the states and territories to improve these services.

The Government will also deliver $5 million so that mental health professionals can better assist in caring for those affected by forced adoption.

We will also provide $1.5 million for the National Archives to record the experiences of those affected by forced adoption through a special exhibition.

That way, this chapter in our nation’s history will never again be marginalised or forgotten again.

Today’s historic moment has only been made possible by the bravery of those who came forward to make submissions to the Senate Committee and also of those who couldn’t come forward but who nurtured hope silently in their hearts.

Because of your courage, Australia now knows the truth.

The report prepared so brilliantly by Senator Siewert and the Senate Committee records that truth for all to see.

This was further reinforced by the national consultations that Professor Nahum Mushin and his reference group undertook to draft the national apology.

Their guidance and advice to government on the drafting of the apology have been invaluable.

Any Australian who reads the Senate report or listens to your stories as I have today will be appalled by what was done to you.

They will be shocked by your suffering.

They will be saddened by your loss.

But most of all, they will marvel at your determination to fight for the respect of history.

They will draw strength from your example.

And they will be inspired by the generous spirit in which you receive this Apology.

Because saying ‘Sorry’ is only ever complete when those who are wronged accept it.

Through your courage and grace, the time of neglect is over, and the work of healing can begin.

Image from here.

Michelle Shocked: Audio of Rant; Lying in Statement

I'm listening to the audio of Michelle Shocked's Yoshi's rant right now. There is no other way to say this: She lied in her statement. I'll have my own transcript soon.
 


Update: This is what MS said, after a leadup about Georgia O'Keefe:

So it's not too late, you can jump into this Jesus game any time you want. But um...

I was in a prayer meeting yesterday, and you've gotta appreciate how scared, how scared folks on that side of the equation are. I mean, I mean, from their vantage point - and I really shouldn't say "their," cuz it's mine too, um, we are at nearly at the end of time. And, from our vantage point, uh, w're gonna be, uh, I think maybe Chinese water torture is gonna be the means, the method, once Prop 8 gets instated, and once, um, preachers are held at gunpoint, and forced to marry the homosexuals, I'm pretty sure that that will be the signal for Jesus to come on back.

['what?' from the crowd, and one 'hallelujah']

[giggles] You said you wanted reality. [audience laughs nervously, then louder, claps a bit]

If someone would be so gracious as to please tweet out, 'Michelle Shocked just said from stage "God hates faggots".' Would you do it now?

That's what she said. To a quiet, respectful, adoring - until that point - audience. There was no provocation. There was no "This is what some people in my congregation believe."

Wow. Michelle Shocked's statement cannot be described as anything else but a lie. You could almost - almost - giver her the "That's what you'll say on Twitter" thing about the "Gods hate faggots" part - but only if there was some context that made that make sense. There just isn't. She clearly thought this through beforehand. (The "Chinese water torture" appears to be about how she is slowly building up to the ugly words she knows she's about to say. Just my impression.) And the part about Prop 8, which she says in her statement "was neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks - not me - feel about gay marriage," is plainly not true, according to her own words at Yoshi's. (Insert: The fact that Prop 8 makes gay marriage illegal makes that statement all the more confusing. I think she just got it mixed up.) Which just makes the whole thing, and especially with the "God hates faggots" cherry on top, simply purposely provocative, and in a purely bigoted and very ugly way.

Michelle Shocked owns all of this.

And it gets very ugly - and weird - after the part I've transcribed. Gawker has more on that. Even more from John Becker.

• From Rhondda, who tipped me about the audio, a link to a very weird 2011 interview with MS.

• And for those interested:

@slowdumbshowman @mshocked is coming on my show tomorrow morning-11am ET/8am PT LIsten at radioornot.com
— Nicole Sandler (@nicolesandler) March 20, 2013

Update, Friday, AU: Well, that was a disaster. The Nicole Sandler Interview. The WaPo even wrote about it.

Shocked did show up for an interview with a friend at SPIN. The explanation is Twitter Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Or something.

Statement From Michelle Shocked: "I'm Very Sorry"

Update: We have audio of the rant.
___

Yeah. Well, first the statement. For what it's worth I'll add my own thoughts after it soon.

The statement comes from SPIN (it's apparently all over the place), and they rightly say it "finds her apologizing for the supposedly misunderstood speech":

I do not, nor have I ever, said or believed that God hates homosexuals (or anyone else). I said that some of His followers believe that. I believe intolerance comes from fear, and these folks are genuinely scared. When I said "Twitter that Michelle Shocked says "God hates faggots," I was predicting the absurd way my description of, my apology for, the intolerant would no doubt be misinterpreted. The show was all music, and the audience tweets said they enjoyed it. The commentary came about ten minutes later, in the encore.

And to those fans who are disappointed by what they've heard or think I said, I'm very sorry: I don't always express myself as clearly as I should. But don't believe everything you read on facebook or twitter. My view of homosexuality has changed not one iota. I judge not. And my statement equating repeal of Prop 8 with the coming of the End Times was neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks - not me - feel about gay marriage.

The show, and the rant, was spontaneous. As for those applauding my so-called stance that "God Hates Faggots," I say they should be met with mercy, not hate. And I hope that what remains of my audience will meet that intolerance with understanding, even of those who might hate them.

Folks wonder about my sexuality, but denying being gay is like saying I never beat my husband. My sexuality is not at issue. What is being questioned is my support for the LGBT community, and that has never wavered. Music and activism have always been part of my work and my journey, which I hope and intend to continue. I'd like to say this was a publicity stunt, but I'm really not that clever, and I'm definitely not that cynical.

But I am damn sorry. If I could repeat the evening, I would make a clearer distinction between a set of beliefs I abhor, and my human sympathy for the folks who hold them. I say this not because I want to look better. I have no wish to hide my faults, and - clearly - I couldn't if I tried.

(Also from SPIN) Read a follow-up statement from Shocked:

I believe in a God who loves everyone, and my faith tells me to do my best to also love everyone. Everyone: gay or straight, stridently gay, self-righteously faithful; left or right, far left, far right; good, bad, or indifferent. That’s the law: everyone.

I may disagree with someone’s most fervently held belief, but I will not hate them. And in this controversy, that means speaking for Christians with opinions I in no way share about homosexuality. Will I endorse them? Never. Will I disavow them? Never.

I stand accused of forsaking the LGBT community for a Christianity which is – hear me now – anathema to my understanding of faith. I will no doubt take future flack for saying so. I’m accused of believing that “God hates fags” and that the repeal of Prop 8 will usher in the End Times. Well, if I caused such an absurdity, I am damn sorry. To be clear: I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of any so-called faith preaching intolerance of anyone. Again, anyone: straight or gay, believers or not: that’s the law.

That means upholding my punk rock values in the most evangelical enclaves and, in this case, speaking up for the most fearful of fundamentalists in, well, a San Francisco music hall full of Michelle Shocked fans.

My first thoughts: What a load of bullshit.

'When I said "Twitter that Michelle Shocked says "God hates faggots," I was predicting the absurd way my description of, my apology for, the intolerant would no doubt be misinterpreted.' [...]

"And my statement equating repeal of Prop 8 with the coming of the End Times was neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks - not me - feel about gay marriage." 

Is anyone buying this? This was all a misunderstanding, because the words she used that night at Yoshi's didn't reflect her thinking - she was talking about how others think? And she totally doesn't even like how those others think anyway?

It's hard to not get angry at that.

I'm guessing Michelle Shocked had herself an ugly realization of something I about wrote yesterday, which were, as I said, my better five-eighths' thoughts:

MS has shot her tour for her manager, her roadies, her techs, her merchandise people, for the people who own and work at the venues. She has sadly screwed a bunch of people here - not just herself.

Good luck trying to scrape a tour back together, Michelle. Sincerely. And good luck trying to explain all of this - to yourself.

Michelle Shocked, Page II: God Hates MS's Tour

Update: Michelle Shocked has issued a statment. (Thursday, Australia)
___

That first post is getting cluttered.

Here's where we stand:

• 13 14 venues have now confirmed cancellations of Michelle Shocked shows.

• MS has ZERO shows scheduled through June. (Per her website.)

• She has ONE show scheduled in July, the Burg Herzberg Festival in Beitback am Herzberg, Germany, on July 19. They've emailed me and said they were trying to get in touch with MS - and that if they didn't hear the right things they'd cancel within 24 hours. (That was 12 hours or so ago.)

• Other than that MS has just TWO shows confirmed for the entire rest of the year. (She has many more dates listed, but all of them are listed as "tentative.")

• Pete Lawrence, who recorded "The Texas Campfire Tapes," which launched MS's career, has left a message on the first post. It is worth reading.

MS has posted several tweets in the last handful of hours. Some seeming to take back what she said, some cryptic, some frankly just making this worse.

@ahuntre Just my usual troublemaking, at the expense of dear friends who trust me, even when I appear to be gay-bashing #shortsharpshocked
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013

@ftunny Most don't even know what my 'views on Gays' are. What is reported to be my views on Gays isn't. #shortsharpshocked #truthvsreality
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013

@kevinofmi @stevetrepanier If there weren't so many souls at stake we'd have a good laugh about this one. Tweak you later. #truthvsreality
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013

This exchange is the most interesting:

@ultramundane Your quote is 99% accurate and instinct about irony 100% accurate. Will give @nicolesandler Truth on Thur #shortsharpshocked
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013

That's the part that really gets me. If she says she's born again and now believes that gay marriage is wrong, well - whatever. See ya later. When she adds, "You can go on twitter and say Michelle Shocked said god hates fags" - she doesn't get to write that off to irony. Not at a San Francisco gig, where she's already purposely riled the crowd up with anti-gay marriage comments. It's just ugly, and cruel.

And then she tops it off:

@ajmorelli @korbykorby Not Fags. Faggots. The quote said Faggots. Get your facts straight. #shortsharpshocked #truthvsreality
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013

Just awful. Depressingly awful.

And my better five-eighths' thoughts: Maybe the church she's involved with has egged her on with this. To use her celebrity to spread their intolerant beliefs. Hadn't thought of that. (She also noted that MS has shot her tour for her manager, her roadies, her techs, her merchandise people, for the people who own and work at the venues. She has sadly screwed a bunch of people here - not just herself.)

Michelle Shocked Cancellations [updates; 14 confirmed; statement from Telluride]

Update, April 1: Shocked on Piers Morgan tonight? (Yep - video here.)

(Thanks for the links,  NBC, Daily Beast, E! Online, NZHerald, and A.V. Club - and to Janis Freaking Ian for commenting!)
____

Original post and updates follow:

Late update: All scheduled shows (per Shocked's website) through the month of June are NOW CANCELLED. (The latest was the Harmony Bar in Madiso, WI.) Worth noting that she has only THREE TWO confirmed gigs scheduled for the entire rest of the year.

Wednesday morning (U.S. Tuesday afternoon) update: Lots more happening. Looks like Telluride is cancelled. Michelle has scheduled a radio interview for Thursday morning (U.S.).

Page II: With several MS tweets.

_____________

American singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked has just shocked and lost roughly 99.99% of her fans:

Michelle Shocked, known for living up to her surname, cleared out San Francisco club Yoshi’s last night, and shut down the venue, after she went on an anti-gay tirade, which she summed up by saying, ”You can go on Twitter and say ‘Michelle Shocked says God hates fags.’”

Very, very depressing. (Shocked was one of my influences when I was still learning the ropes of songwriting back in the 1980s. "Memories of East Texas" and "Anchored Down in Anchorage" were two of my favorites.)

I'm going to list any cancellations of Shocked's shows I hear about here. First, here's her own tour schedule as of right now. (I've saved a screen grab of it, so we can compare if anything is deleted.)

In chronological order:

• Cancelled:

McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, CA, is getting pummelled by fans on their FaceBook page about this Saturday's show. No cancellation announcement yet that I've found. 

Update 3:30 PM Sydney (9:30 PM U.S. PDT): Cancelled. Thank you commenter.

• Cancelled: March 28, Santa Cruz, CA, Moe's Alley (thank you for the comment)

• Cancelled: March 29, Novato, CA, Hopmonk Tavern

• Cancelled: April 24, Winters, CA, Palm's Playhouse

• Cancelled: April 25, Portland, OR, Alberta Rose Theater

• Cancelled: April 26, Seattle, WA, Meander's Kitchen

• Possibly Cancelled: April 27, Eugene, OR, Cozmic. A friend in the radio business in Eugene told me this just a bit ago, I'll update when I have more; for now, Shocked's schedule shows the show - Cozmic's does not. Update: a tweet from Cozmic.

• Cancelled: May 3, Boulder, CO-based radio show eTown

• Cancelled: May 4, Madison, WI, Harmony Bar. My sister in Madison called the Harmony. Oy:

I just got off the phone with Harmony. He sounded a little stressed. They must have had a lot of calls. "The Show's Been Canceled." Even before I asked!

• Cancelled: May 5, Evanston, IL (fixed), Evanston Space. Thank you to Space for the comment below: "After looking into last night's incident in SF, we have cancelled our May 5 show with Michelle Shocked. Refunds given at point of purchase." Tweet here.

• Cancelled (Wednesday AU Update): June 23, Telluride, CO, Telluride Blugrass Festival. Hey Reverb says that Telluride has confirmed they have cancelled. It looks like this was a very hard decision for Telluride, as they have had whatthey call a 20-year relationship with Michelle, and they talk about the phone call with her:

Planet Bluegrass has told us that Michelle Shocked (Sister Shocked & The Campbell Brothers) has been replaced by Drepung Monks on the Telluride Bluegrass lineup. According to festival organizers, Shocked said on the phone “God loves everyone” and will do a lengthy radio interview this within the next few days to talk about the Sunday show in San Francisco.

Interesting. I've reached out to Telluride for a comment. They've responded:

Hi Thom- Thanks for reaching out to us. Yes, we have replaced Michelle Shocked's appearance at our Telluride Bluegrass Festival lineup with The Drepung Monks. They will be opening the 40th anniversary festival with a special meditation on love & peace open to all Festivarians as they begin the creation of a large mandala sand painting. Their powerful presence will be woven throughout all 4 days of the festival's tapestry culminating in a profound main stage set on Sunday morning (which replaces Michelle Shocked's previously scheduled performance).

We've known Michelle for 20 years and she has always been open and loving - and a thoroughly unique and inspiring artist. So we were very saddened and concerned by the reports from Sunday's show.

Best, Brian

• Cancelled: October 11, London, UK, King's Place Folk Union (via this message; this was listed as "tentative")

• Cancelled: October 13, Cork, Ireland, Triskel Arts Center

• Cancelled (14th confirmed cancellation):

    Late response from Germany (8 PM Tuesday, Sydney): I just got a response to an email to the Burg Herzberg Festival in Germany, where MS's website says she's performing on July 19. From Gunther:

Thanks for the e-mail!

Due to the fact of nine hours difference we expect some words from Michelle, because this has come to a complete surprise to us. Anyway, if it is like it seems right now, we will cancel the show within the next 24 hours.

MAKE LOVE WORK,

Gunther

   I'm guessing that's a "No."

   Update, Thursday, 2 PM, AU: From the comments, Burg Herzberg now has this on their website:

We had to cancel Michelle Shocked. During a concert the last days in San Francisco she said things like: "When they stop Prop 8 and force priests at gunpoint to marry gays, it will be the downfall of civilisation" and "You are going to leave here and tell people, 'Michelle Shocked said God hates faggots.'" Personally as well as the managers of a festival with the motto "Art of Peace" we can not deal with such crap.

Not exact quotes, but when it comes to parsing parsley, I ain't persnickety.

• Radio Interview: Michele is scheduled to do a radio interview on Thursday morning. Here's the Twitter exchange.

• Michelle has responded to a tweet:

@litthom @amyjomartin #TeamRenegades! #shortsharpshocked#truthvsreality Way to go! Quite an awesome feat for just one woman's opinion!
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013

________

Michele Shocked on FaceBook and on Twitter. (Standard request that if you leave her a comment, please be more respectful than she was.)

Petition: From the comments: Change.org has started a petition to get the rest of her shows cancelled.

Michelle Shocked in 2008 (h/t):

Q: Early on in your career, you were incorrectly assumed to be a lesbian. You once said that you were an honorary lesbian. Now that you’ve been married, divorced and found religion, why do you think many who claim to be Christians are so openly hateful toward homosexuals?

MS: In his time, Jesus was hanging out with the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the lepers, all the people that proper society had banished or had determined were underclass. Today, it is easy for me to imagine that Jesus would hang around those who have been scorned, abandoned and neglected. We live in a homophobic society. But homosexuals are a group of folks who Jesus would recognize. Jesus even says that he didn’t come here to be righteous. He came here for those who needed salvation.

Wo. Yoshi's cut her mic. And banned her for life. Good for them.

Janis Ian, from the comments (!):

Well, that's too bad. As a performer with 45 years of shows behind me, I've had walk-outs when I sang about interracial couples, and when I sang about AIDS, and walkouts more recently when I sang about gay marriage. I am the first to argue that I have a right to sing and speak about those things on stage, just as the audience has the right to walk out, object to the management, and ask for their money back if they feel deceived.

Our country is in large part founded on the concept of free speech - the right to speak your mind politically and socially. But there is a huge difference between "Free speech" and "Hate speech." It is sad when a talented person chooses to use that talent in the service of their own misplaced rage, and their disappointment in their own life. I often wonder if people like this die and meet God, who will smack them upside the head and say "Did I really LOOK like I needed your help?!"

And isn't it odd to see someone who was so woman-identified turn a 360 degree like this? Then again, "Hell hath no fury..."

Janis Ian

I know this post is already very long, but I have to add a comment that just came in from British recording artist Pete Lawrence:

For better or worse, I'm the guy who brought Shocked to wider attention through a recording I made at Kerrville Folk Festival in 86 - the meeting came about around the dying embers of a campfire shortly after encountering her for the first time, after walking up and asking if I could make a recording as part of my travelogue tape as I wended my way open-eyed around the States for the first time. A very intimate performance followed for an audience of one, a magical moment in my life.

That session subsequently became known as the infamous 'Texas Campfire Tapes' which was then released on the small indie label I had just started, Cooking Vinyl.

I knew from the first moment that there was a dark side to her, but still made the decision to move forward and contact her again as the recording was very special. She gave her unqualified support to the project (though later re-writing history by claiming it was a bootleg!) She soon moved to the UK, determined to give the singer / songwriter thing her best shot, touring it here, there and everywhere around Europe.

I quickly learned that Michelle was very calculating and also did things her own way, to the extent that she fell out with pretty much everyone she ever worked with, including her first manager, with whom she was locked in a five year legal battle with after deciding not to pay him any commission for the work he did in securing her deals with Polygram and Polygram Music and much more. Then she sued her record company by citing the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery.

There are many things I could say, especially about her re-writing the history around her Cooking Vinyl years, the supposed 'bootleg' we were meant to have released "without her knowledge" that she endorsed at the time, and years later, her 'bootlegging' a third generation copy of my campfire cassette recording I sent her for reference purposes, only to find she then released it on her label with not even a mention of my involvement, let alone an attempt to negotiate any sort of deal with me for the release, although she was happy enough to use my photo on the cover.

Enough for now. This really hurts to even think about all this stuff once more alongside the grief that she's causing so many people once again. This latest twist does not surprise me at all, much as I feel pity for this lost soul too. All very sad.

Pete Lawrence

[image]

Sandstone Cliff, Middle Head, Sydney Harbour

Middle Head.

Beach, Bath

Beach, Bath 

Holes are part of Nature. 

They're Inherent 

In this
This System
Of Bringing, 

Absorbing,
Vomiting,
Replacing,
Absorbing,
Vomiting...

We are all these grains. 

We are all these holes. 

All these gaps. 

We are shoes, too. Waterproof, 

For a while, 

 Then