Laws And Sausage - The Uptones of The United States Of America

Winston Churchill said,
"THOSE WHO LIKE LAWS AND SAUSAGE SHOULD NEVER WATCH EITHER BEING MADE."

And most of us agree. The process in which laws (and sausage) are made is a horrible and disgusting, step by step process. In ordinary day to day peace we may find disagreements. Disagreements can turn into to arguments. Arguments turn into fights. Fights lead to political upheavals. Political upheavals turn into war. The winner of wars make new laws to reestablish peace. A bizarre cycle. It is a strange hoola hooping of history, I say. But that isn't the worst of it. Nay. The greed that motivates politics is the worst of it. The reasons politicians go to war are usually not that complicated. It's always for money and the power to control the money. The method is this type of madness. And it destroys everything in its path.

With that being said, I would like to lighten the subject matter.

My good friend Eric Din from The Uptones has addressed this topic with one of my favorite methods of topic addressing. With a song. A catchy song, too. An amazingly well written and very poetic reprise of Churchill's quote. A tune called Laws and Sausage. This tune has a habit of getting stuck on replay in my brain for hours. I had so much fun with The Uptones when we recorded this. I think this song should be attached to our national anthem, actually. A mandatory musical suffix, if you will.

Anyway...

A brilliant woman named Lisa McElroy took The Uptones' "Laws and Sausage" song and illustrated it most poetically with archival footage, says Eric on his new facebook page called Laws and Sausage. Check it out if you want to get your rant on. I will see you there if you do. And now...

your friendly cyberhood

Uncle Samurai

Fly on... Amy Whinehouse

Artists cannot hide behind the back stage curtain anymore. The Sinatra era is over. No more "knocks on the door" if you know something you're not supposed to know. The age of discretion is over. Artists, especially mainstream, are completely vulnerable, naked and wide open to the media hawks who reveal everything. The ugly truth that none of us want to deal with or admit. The dark side. And I guess some artists are just blessed with the right tone to say and/or sing it for us.

And like Amy Whinehouse, not all of us are able to function while attempting to do this. And while this truth is trending for its 4 or 5 day stint, I can't help but notice the familiar switch from, " That stupid crackwhore...to OMG, I'm so gonna miss her..." in all the twitter and facebook posts. Is this not the yin and yang side of humanity in a nutshell? I will admit that I had not thought of Amy Whinehouse for about a year until her recent passing. Or that I was tuned in to her spiraling life style in the last weeks of her death. In fact, yesterday, I just googled her last show on youtube. The one where she got boo'd off stage for being too wacked out of her mind to perform. Poor Amy. I don't feel sorry for her because she is an addict. I feel sorry for her because she is an addict and a person...in the limelight. In an era where folks at TMZ want to expose peoples misery and death to gain publicity and money for themselves. It's cruel, yes. And completely glossed over in one simple catch phrase: That's the biz.

And for people like Amy Whinehouse, it is a quick roller coaster ride up into the spotlight and down into her grave. It makes me really wonder about people. So impressed and grateful when someone can sing our woes and struggles and pain. And then so damn envious and jealous of the money they make while doing it. Never once thinking of her friends and family who had to bear the weight of her entire journey from rags to riches and now death. Her family. They feel the way your family would if you died for any reason. Any reason. And how would your family feel? Most of us won't even ask that question to our self. But anytime I see people on line chiming in about how " that crack whore dying was no shock" it makes me wonder, who the fuck asked you? And why are you saying that now? And how does that make you feel better about your self?

We artists are people who write and play music to bring joy and understanding. To vent pain and sorrow with the idea that it will heal us somehow. To let others know that they are not alone in this crazy world. And to get caught up in the volley of conversation and personal opinion wars over music is a waste of music writing time. Check out the haters in the youtube comment boxes if you wanna see for yourself.

So all I have to offer is my condolences to her friends and family. And that her songs will always be amazing to her fans. Rest in peace Amy Whinehouse. I feel that chill on the back of my neck like you are reading this and you are free.

Fly on...your friendly cyberhood

Uncle Samurai

Right About Now

In this crazy world of narcissists and high tech vanity tools, it's too easy to get caught up in your own stress bubble. Twitter, Facebook and the whole lot of virtual soap boxes allows one to be overt about introspection. And I don't know about y'all, but that sounds fucking insane to me. Especially at the pace and speed of it all.
I was caught up in that same bubble the other day. Then I watched Katt Williams break it down. I laughed.
The bubble popped. I wrote this tune. And now I'm sharing it with all of you.
Sometimes I just want a song to sit on your shoulder like a little bluebird...when we forget what it is we might be taking for granted in this short trip called life.

your friendly cyberhood

Uncle Samurai

Right About Now by mooselethridge

GTFOFB

If you know anyone who has been on Facebook for too long...here's a song you can play for them...

:)

GTFOFB by Uncle Samurai