Hiroshima: The Photos

On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped a uranium bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. 130,000 people blew up instantaneously or were incinerated within seconds. It was the wrath of God, unlocked by science. Harry Truman, our President at the time, agonized over the decision and truly never put it to rest. The debate over the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the city we bombed three days later (at a cost of 80, 000 lives), will most likely never end. I myself am torn over the topic. A dear family friend may have had his life saved by the bombs. On the other hand, why bring total war to a country where defeat was fact except in the mind of its military leaders? Since those two bombs, no one else has used a nuclear explosive in combat. The possession of nuclear arms has become a goal of nearly every developing country. On August 6, 1945, the nuclear genie left its bottle. No amount of earnest wishes, prayers, and hard work have since contained it.

The American government banned photos of post-atomic Japan from publication. The only images I remember were done by American photographers years later photographing the terrible disfigurements of survivors. Eight years ago, a Massachusetts man was walking his dog and doing a bit of garbage picking. He spied a beat-up suitcase, and unlatched it. Inside he found about 700 b & w military photos of post-bombing destruction. DesignObserver.com has the man's story, as well as the story of the man who originally owned the photos, and many more photos of Little Boy's (the bomb's name) impact. Consider it a must-see.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on the Election

No matter how wonderful Obama's election has made me feel, nothing must compare to the feelings of our black neighbors. A major irritant for me during MSNBC's election night coverage was Keith Olbermann and his pale pals telling us how much this must mean to blacks while showing footage of them weeping and hugging at Ebenezer Baptist and Grant Park. How in God's name does Keith Olbermann know how it feels to be black in America? If you cannot possibly relate, take a lesson from Walter Cronkite and shut your pie hole. The images themselves spoke volumes, and needed no white interpretation. None of us whites know how it feels to be a second-class citizen day in and day out. Whites encounter prejudice, surely, but we are in no way defined by prejudice. Obama's victory must be nothing less than miraculous for blacks. Shambollocks wanted to make sure we included a black record of their important evening, and now we do.

Henry Louis Gates. Jr. is one of the great black intellectuals of our day. Currently, he is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. That's a whole lot of words basically telling you he's Harvard's black face. As editor of chief of the Oxford African American Studies Center (yes, the man collects titles like MJ), he wrote an article describing his feelings the day after Obama's election for the Oxford University Press blog.

So what does Barack Obama’s election portend for the future of race relations in America, and for African Americans in particular? I wish we could say that Barack Obama’s election will magically reduce the number of teenage pregnancies or the level of drug addiction in the black community. I wish we could say that what happened last night will suddenly make black children learn to read and write as if their lives depended on it, and that their high school completion rates will become the best in the country. I wish we could say that these things are about to happen, but I doubt that they will.

But there is one thing we can proclaim today, without question: that the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States of America means that “The Ultimate Color Line,” as the subtitle of Javits’ Esquire essay put it, has at long last been crossed. It has been crossed by our very first postmodern Race Man, a man who embraces his African cultural and genetic heritage so securely that he can transcend it, becoming the candidate of choice to tens of millions of Americans who do not look like him.

How does that make me feel? Like I’ve always imagined my father and his friends felt back in 1938, on the day that Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling. But ten thousand times better than that. All I can say is “Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound.”

Sweet, indeed. I can only pray that Obama's victory gives much-deserved succor for a peoples whose enslavement provided the foundation for this great experiment, America. We wish the Obamas safety and good health, and Barack, in particular, the wisdom and courage to continue the healing which began on our historic evening.

The Last Call 11/12/08

The further we get from Elvis' death, the more controversial he becomes. Unlike his predecessor Frank Sinatra or his successors the Beatles, Elvis' 21st century coolness factor is nil. He receives very little hipster love. Yet there is little argument that his '50s singles changed the world. The man's work embodies the rock n' roll revolution of pop culture, which we know today as the predominant global culture. In many ways, anti-modern religious fanatics are not fighting American imperialism or preserving the dignity of heterosexual marriage. They are fighting Elvis Presley and the forces he unleashed.

If you are in doubt of this look at the 1955 pop charts. They are dominated by artists like Frank Sinatra, Mitch Miller, and the Maguire Sisters. The black artists represented are the Penguins and the Platters-smoothed-over doo-wop that is most definitely NOT blues-based. The outliers are Bill Haley and Fats Domino- true r & b and what would become know as rock n' roll. In 1964, the pop charts are alive with rock n' roll and r & b, with Harry Mancini's 'Pink Panther Theme' marking the only real connection to the sound of mid-'50s America. The vessel of this revolution, the figure who brought white America to the race music party? None other than Elvis Presley.

Right. Where's the love, than? The quality of the Elvis catalog pales in comparison to the Beatles, and even to many of his own peers like Johnny Cash. His '70s studio work is in large parts pure rubbish. The worst thing that happened to Elvis was living. Elvis also is completely Southern. You can't separate him from his upbringing. Many of his early hits were covers of black artist's material. He capitalized on the work of black musicans and songwriters, so many young listeners take his contribution lightly because he didn't invent his sound. Also, he was at the right moment at the right time. Why not idolize Buddy Holly, who wrote his own music and presented a distinctive sound? Or Chuck Berry, who made the guitar the premier instrument of rock music? Aren't they just as responsible for rock n' roll's success?

No. Elvis was a force of nature. First, look at him. Look at that picture. The young Elvis was what Marlon Brando wanted to be after years of method-acting training. He was pure, raw, unbridled sensuality. The man could have given you that look while selling vacuums, and you wouldn't have any rugs left. Sex always had a place in pop music, but after Elvis sex was the dominant theme of pop music. Second, there was the voice. If you disregard the increasingly vanilla material RCA gave him to record, Elvis had the premier white voice in pop music. He brought the Church into pop music with just as much success as Ray Charles and Sam Cooke. Track down the From Elvis in Memphis album if you have doubts about this. The man loved race music, he loved gospel, and he loved country. Addictions and general ignorance robbed him of an opportunity to leave a greater artistic impact. In the end, he was a product- a product mishandled by his long-time manager Col. Tom Parker. But what a product it was.

Our track today is 'Don't Be Cruel'. The track opens with maybe the most famous bass riff of all time by Bill Black backed by basic rhythm support on the downbeat by drummer D.J. Fontana. Elvis comes in with the lyric, penned by Otis Blackwell, followed precisely by his back-up singers, the Jordanaires. Although Steve Sholes is listed as the producer by RCA, the musicians stated that Elvis himself produced these sessions, which included 'Hound Dog' as well. Elvis makes this into a doo-wop song with a country shuffle. Elvis plays piano on this track, and he inserts a Fats Domino influence in the mix as well. Right from the beginning you have pop, country, and r & b. Elvis' genius was never in writing or creating unique sounds, but in synthesizing what he heard on the radio and in honky-tonks. At 21, he already possessed an amazing ear and knew exactly how to deliver the sound he wanted. Piano, snare on the downbeat, and cymbal on the upbeat guide the Jordanaires through the melody. The song proceeds toward the bridge, where we get a descending rhythmic bar escorting Elvis' vocal. At the bridge, Elvis throws in a vocal "Hmmmmm." It was common in jump blues and gospel songs to add non-verbal vocal fills, but rare on white records. Finally, let's listen to the tone of Elvis' vocal. His vocal is strong but breathy, very emotive. Whereas Frank Sinatra would work toward a cool, easy register for his vocals which would allow the lyrics to be followed, Elvis placed the importance on delivering emotion, soul. He rises and drops through registers many times during the song. This reflects his Church roots, where ministers performed operatic vocal feats to fill members with the 'Spirit'. Near the end we get a stop-start, so common in r & b of the day, and Bill Black comes back with a bass line to usher us out.

Next time anyone accuses Elvis of being a 'redneck' or 'tool', fix them with a long stare and ask them who the Beatles' biggest influence was. Sure, someone else could have been Elvis, but he was. And there was only one.

What The World Can Do For Us

Thomas Friedman, resident sage of the New York Times and Shambollocks favorite, wrote yesterday on what an Obama presidency should expect from the global community.

So to everyone overseas I say: thanks for your applause for our new president. I’m glad you all feel that America “is back.” If you want Obama to succeed, though, don’t just show us the love, show us the money. Show us the troops. Show us the diplomatic effort. Show us the economic partnership. Show us something more than a fresh smile. Because freedom is not free and your excuse for doing less than you could is leaving town in January.

Hmmm...I don't think the world is going to snap back into line behind an Obama administration. Further, I believe that Friedman's wish reflects the exact same type of arrogance which earned us international calumny. The mess we created in Iraq and Afghanistan will not be shared by the international community just by an Obama victory. No, I imagine it will take some diplomatic effort and Obama charm.

Instead of these high expectations, how about an Obama administration which begins its diplomatic dialogues with a dose of humility? Just as this momentous election reflects positively on all Americans, the last eight years reflect negatively-and the misdeeds of the last eight years need to be addressed. By all means, President Obama need not apologize for his predecessor, but he should acknowlege how we found ourselves here. After that, President Obama can demonstrate that he has learned from our mistakes and is willing to be more cooperative with our allies. Only after those conditions have been met should we expect to receive any international assistance in Iraq or Afghanistan.

We lack the superpower strength we held at the beginning of the Bush administration. China and Russia, in particular, realize that we do not have the same support amongst our allies, particularly in Europe. An honest effort to open dialogue with Iran would be a terrific first step. But until we show a willingness to eat a little crow, I don't know how we can expect ridiculous offers of monetary and military aid to clean up our own international messes.

The Back Up

It's approaching holiday spending time, and we at Shambollocks are always on the look out for what to buy that armed-to-the-teeth, friendly, neighborhood paranoid who has everything. I present to you the Back-Up, a metal mount for your shotgun that easily slides into place between your mattress and bed-spring. I know what you're thinking. "Gee Mike, that's great and all, but what about the M-16 I have in case it's not just a burgler but a personal visit by al-Queda?" Shambollocks recommends that you buy TWO Back-Ups, placing the automatic on the other side of the bed in easy reach of your wife or mistress.

It goes without saying that to get the full protection from these ingenius devices you must keep the safeties and your brain off. Shoot first, and apologize to your family later.

The Sound of Young America

A few songs into the dance portion of my wedding reception, my Aunt Margaret, a proper woman of leisure, told me, "Play some Motown." We did immediately. The music Barry Gordy's little-record-company-that-could made in the '60s is already timeless. I remember hearing Motown music growing up from my sisters and brother, and it sounded like it came out the day before. Like their chart peers the Beatles, the Motown artists never age. The Temptations always sounds as fresh as they look in the picture above.

On a broader level, Motown paved the way for Barack Obama. The popular black artists who preceded Motown were not young. Motown brought young, black America into whites' car radios and The Ed Sullivan Show. They were the non-threatening vanguard of the civil rights movement. I truly love and admire the artistry of the Motown musicians. This year is the 50th anniversary of the label, and I'm sure you will see much publicity about that fact. Vanity Fair provides an oral history on the label that made it all happen.

Star Wars Set Photos

I always thought that the creature the stormtroopers rode in Tattooine was a digital effect for the '90s re-release. Either way, the Spanish website Taringa has a series of great on-set photographs from the original Star Wars film. Enjoy shots of George Lucas filming Han Solo and not raping him.