Xchoboomer

So apparently Rage Against the Machine has just announced a show next week, July 23 at the Hollywood Palladium in support of SoundStrike which supports PUENTE Arizona and The Florence Project all in protest of  SB1070, Arizona’s controversial immigration law.

I was excited to hear that today. Minus Coachella and Rock the Bells  in 2007 which were just east of LA and both large festivals, the LA band hasn’t played a show in Los Angeles in ten years. Considering one of there last performances in LA was at the Democratic National Convention and got shut down by 2000 police in riot gear shooting rubber bullets and getting some “stick time” in, as they(cops) like to put it, this rare LA show is welcome news to Angelino’s whom have largely opposed SB1070 in masses. So a show at a legendary and intimate venue like the Hollywood Palladium with the most politically influential and loudest voices in the Rock and Hip-Hop world is gonna be off the hook! Now the problem is gonna be getting in? I’ll have to figure that out as they haven’t yet announced when tickets are going on sale and its just 8 days away!

True to their roots of political activism, led by the revolutionary Zach de la Rocha, RATM are catalysts of the democratic process and are doing what they do best. Using there massive influence and turning awareness into action by galvanizing the masses and changing the system from within to act upon policies that don’t make sense all in the name of freedom and democracy. Awesome! I hear after the show Zach de la Rocha is leading a convoy straight from the Palladium into the heart of Flagstaff, Arizona for a coup d’etat! Who’s in?

I just heard the news about Dennis Hopper ’bout a couple hours ago and we’ve lost a great artist.  I can’t say that I (we) didn’t see this one coming though. It was only a month or two ago that he was getting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He looked so frail and it was evident that the time was near.

Nice to see George, err, I mean Jack out there seeing an old friend off.  To bad they didn’t light one up for old times sake. I’d like to think they did behind the cameras but that was the thing about Easy Rider, written and directed by Hopper. It was all in front of the cameras like a big middle finger to the “man” a.k.a, the  “establishment”!

Dennis Hopper was the embodiment of  “coolness”. Even in his early days of Rebel without a Cause he was banging Natalie Wood off-camera. Now that’s cool!  I wonder if she tasted like peaches too? (True Romance reference if you didn’t get that.) Cultivating his skills in the Actors’ Studio payed off in roles as a photojournalist in Apocalypse Now,  Easy Rider, Hoosiers, and even in the last few years with his hit series “Crash”, a Stars original series, he always came across with that aura of coolness. Heck, I even thought he was cool in Red Rock West and Speed! Plus did you know he directed “Colors” too? He probably came up with the name Pac-Man for Sean Penn!

Well, it just so happens, and probably not by accident either, that Dennis Hopper stars in one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history, in my mind at least, in one of my all-time favorites, True Romance. Starring opposite Christoper Walken playing a Siccilian mafioso, who was also phenomenal in this scene I might add, Dennis Hopper, with the help of  Tony Scott I’m sure,  just nails it with the language and tone as he insults the Sicilian as he realizes he is facing certain death whether or not  he gives up his son. In true Dennis Hopper fashion he verbably and intellectually  sticks a middle finger in the Sicilian’s face, choosing not to give up his blood and savoring his Chesterfield before the inevitable.

His method acting was is a beautiful thing to watch. He had a thing about that middle finger. He was the counter-culture before their was a counter-culture. He was cooler then cool. Let’s hope he finds his “Freedom” now. R.I.P.

		PHOTOJOURNALIST
"Do you know what the man is saying? Do you? This is dialectics.
It's very simple dialectics. One through nine, no maybes, no
supposes, no fractions -- you can't travel in space, you can't go out
into space, you know, without, like, you know, with fractions -- what
are you going to land on, one quarter, three-eighths -- what are you
going to do when you go from here to Venus or something -- that's
dialectic physics, OK? Dialectic logic is there's only love and hate, you
either love somebody or you hate them."

Kurtz throws a book angrily at him :

		PHOTOJOURNALIST
"This is the way the fucking world ends! Look at this fucking shit
we're in, man! Not with a bang, with a whimper. And with a whimper,
I'm fucking splitting, jack!"

Photojournalist leaves :

Sometimes it just doesnt matter!

I think we were all shocked this week when we heard about the death of David Caradine and the bizarre stories surrounding his passing.  Now I just want to say a few things about this. I didnt realize how someone like David Caradine had influenced my life until the other day when I heard the news and I was so upset about it.  I grew up watching reruns of Kung Fu and was glad to see the rebirth of David Carradine in Tarrantino’s Kill Bill Series. I’m a fan. And frankly I’m upset by some of  the misinformation, incompetence, and handling of this case by the Thai Authorities. Sometimes the details just dont matter.  Let me illustrate this with a story. An old friends sibling past a way a few years ago from tragic circumstances. Although I attended the funeral in support of an old friend, I still dont know what the cause of death was, I didnt ask, as I could see the pain in their eyes and I realized that was of little relevance. Sometimes it just doesnt matter! RIP Mr. David Carradine, aka, the snake charmer, aka, Kwai Chang Caine!

He will live on in the spirit of us all!

w/ Conan O'brien

Who would of thunk it seventeen years ago when us stoned night owls first started watching Conan Obrien in the early nineties, that he would take over a staple in American culture, The Tonight Show.  For those of us who can remember Johnny Carson and the transition to Jay Leno we can appreciate the huge deal this is. I was lucky enough to catch the tail end of the Johnny Carson era and I remeber it being a huge deal. Jay Leno taking the reigns after three decades of Carson was like passing the torch to a new generation. And this week the torch was passed again to Conans generation, us.  I know hes not for everybody, but for those of us who enjoy and appreciate his offbeat sense of humor, the self deprecation, the wittiness and sharpness of his mind, the seemingly naturalness and flow of his conversations with his guests,  its like the torch was passed to us, the target market, right, but hey, isnt everthing in life a tradeoff? Ill trade some laugh for a few minutes of commercials, and I think Johnny would too, although I’m sure he would of had some witty remarks for the new Angelino.  Its great too see that he brought everyone along for the ride, Max, the band, and especially his old sidekick Andy. I hope they can make it work…

Hello and welcome! I should probably start with an introduction before I get ahead of myself with the awesome news of today and the multitude of generations that witnessed it.

I am an xchoboomer. We are the sons and daughters of the tail end of the Baby Boomers generation, the recently validated lost generation, thanks in part to the presidential election of 2008, known as Generation Jones. We were born at the tail end of the Generation X era, at the dawn of the Generation Y’ers or so dubbed the Echo Boomers, and because the exact Omega of Generation X and the Alpha of the Echo Boomers is a blurred line at best, I believe that we belong to a distinct generation that has not yet truly been identified.  Being caught in the middle of Generation X and Generation Y, not unlike our parents who were caught in the middle of the Baby Boomers generation and Generation X, I feel that, in time, the world will come to realize that we are part of another lost generation. This generation, I have so dubbed the XchoBoomers for obvious reasons.

We lack the unique characteristics that defined each generation but feel an overwhelming sense of uniqueness about ourselves and our peers, and the times we grew up in. Because we were born in the late 1970′s, we cannot completely identify with the older Generation X’rs, nor can we completely identify with the younger Echo Boomers. However, we have a foot solidly in both camps, and thus we can relate to a lot of the culture that our parents grew up in, and we understand how the younger echo boomer generation came to be.

I find that a rewarding gift, to be a bridge from my parents generation to my siblings who were too young to remember things that I experienced or caught second hand knowledge of through my parents as they came into their own, such as the music, civil/social activism, and pop culture that was the late 60′s and 70′s, to the the cold war stresses, cheesiness and yuppi-ness I witnessed as a kid growing up during the 1980′s, into the still to be defined awesomeness that was the 1990′s as I came into my own, and now into the informational and social revolutions we now work, live, and play in, in this new millenium. I almost feel like an only child because of the so many things my younger siblings have no memory of – the nuclear fire drills, the spread of A.I.D.S, D.A.R.E, the crack-cocaine epidemics, the rise and fall of the bloods and the crips, somehow entangled into the mess that was the Iran-Contra scandal, the Challenger explosion, Tieneman Square, Ronald Regan, the first president I remember, “Mr. Gorbachav, tear down that wall”, the fall of the Berlin Wall bringing unity to the west and the east governments of the time, soon followed by the collapse of the “evil empire” communist regime known as the USSR in the early nineties. So many things to numerous to list as I was coming into my own, propelled by the music and counter-culture which was coming through full-swing once again, as it did in the 60′s and early 70′s. Oh, what a time I chose to be born!

This blog is an attempt for me to convey my own xchoboomer perspective to the world, to let my voice be heard anonymously, to challenge myself mentally and intellectually, and to express myself socially and politically as well as be a conduit for my artistic expression in the written word. I’m sure to make enemies but hopefully I’ll make some friends as well!

This blog did not come about in one day, yet it has been something that I have been wanting and planning to do for quite some time now. Today was the day! Today provided the perfect back drop and inspiration to launch my own personal therapy.

Today, I, awoke on the west coast, about an hour and a half before the 44th President of the United States of America would be sworn into office. A black man, and the first African-American President of the United States. A man they call Barack Obama. You may have heard of him? I had first been introduced to the man like so many other Americans not residing in Ill., after he announced his run for the presidency nearly 2 years ago. At the time, I must admit I wasn’t paying attention much to the political bru-ha-ha due to my distain for the Bush administration, and my lack of faith in politics in gerneral. That was until I heard this man speak at one of the debates. Who was this man spoke bluntly, honestly, compassionately, and with an intellectual prowess and inspiration that I cannot recall in my own memory from a previous American president, but only from file footage of the likes of John and Bobby Kennedy and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, did I feel the same sense of purpose. It made me wonder of what it must of been like to live in a time when great men came forward, risked and in some cases gave their lives, their families lives, to a purpose greater then themselves and I started to believe that I was living in such a time. During one of the first debates, I was mesmerized by what he had to say and how eloquently he said it, but I realized that he was a huge longshot, standing against so many white men and a famous white woman. Early on I was considering Hilary Clinton as my choice, and also the frontrunner of the Democratic Party, but well before the primaries I had to ask myself a few brutal but honest questions that went against everything I have been taught and what I truly believe as a human being. “Can I vote for a black man?”,”Can I vote for a woman?”, “A black man over a white woman?”, “Would my vote even count or would it be a waste like voting for Nadar?” When I first considered these questions, it was eye opening to say the least, a black man or a woman for President of the United States of America. That truly indicated progress in our country and I was grateful and inspired by that. As I became more interested and started paying closer attention to the canidates themselves, the debates, and deciphering there platforms, I realized that I was much more in line with Senator Barack Obama. There were times where I just didnt believe that Hilary was 100% behind what she was saying, I think particularlly on the Iraq war. But, there were many times I heard Barack speak at some rally, fundraiser, or news byte, that I would get chills and goosebumps because of how his message resonated and how sincere he seemed to be. I cant pinpoint the exact moment I decided Barack Obama would get my vote, but I can say it was well before Super Tuesday. But it wasnt until after Super Tuesday that I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that I had made the right decision for myself and I will live with my decision and have no regrets about it, ever. That moment was when Barack gave his speech on race, the more perfect union speech, after the fiasco with Reverend Wright. I haven’t looked back since, no not this time!

Yes, I can vote for a black man, and a woman for that matter, although I am not voting for a black man (or woman), I am voting for a person who is honest, sincere, blunt, compassionate, articulate, intelligent, and truly inspirational. I am voting for a person who believes in peace and prosperity, but can lay down an iron fist if and when needed. I am voting for a human being with a vision for this country and the world like none other I have known, someone who can inspire people from the grassroots and lead them into greatness. I am voting for the content of ones character.

Needless to say, on Tuesday, February 5^th, 2008, I cast my vote in a local pub for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois over Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton of New York in the State of California. He lost the state to Hilary Clinton but the nation spoke when he was elected as the first African-American Democratic Nominee. On November 5^th, 2008 I walked into the local chapter of th American Legion and cast my vote again for Barack Obama and I was glued to my television set on election night, as the polls closed, at precisely 8pm that I heard Charles Gibson utter the words “Barack Obama will be the 44^th President of the United States”. I watched in delight as the world lit up as we experienced history together, a moment that will define many generations.

So, today I woke up a little bit earlier then usual and left to work later then usual so I can be witness to history as the 44^th President of the United States was sworn into office. After another amazing speech, I walked onto my balcony, facing westward, I noticed what reminded me of a cherry blossom tree blooming that is so famous of Washington D.C. directly across the street. I smiled, I took a deep breadth, and I left to face the day with a refreshed sense of hope and a craving for a mustard and relish sandwich.