The Ballad of Henry K. Lee featured on KQED news blog

Jon Brooks posted our Henry K. Lee song on the KQED news blog this morning, and added further mythologizing to the legendary Lee:

A Musical Homage to the Chronicle Crime Reporter: The Ballad of Henry K. Lee

June 30, 2011, 10:29 am • Posted by Jon Brooks

I don't think you have to do exactly what I do every morning to fully appreciate the video below, but it would probably help.

See, it's my 6:30 a.m. pleasure each day to sift through a hundred or so articles from Bay Area media, culling the most important news for inclusion in our Morning Splash feature. Among the municipal affairs of state -- the budgets, court decisions, and political goings-on -- inevitably, included in the pool of potentially newsworthy items, is the crime reporting of the Chronicle's Henry K. Lee.

• Man found shot to death in downtown Santa Rosa - Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer (Jun 30)
  
• Fairfield, CA, market owner killed in robbery - Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer (Jun 29)
  
• Mom, daughter guilty of murdering Dublin woman, 91 - Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer (Jun 28)
  

During those groggy 6:30 a.m. sessions, it's been my indulgence to picture Mr. Lee as a Weegee-like figure, working late into the night to chronicle the region's noiresque underbelly. Haunted, perhaps, by the things he's seen, the places he's been, the dark corners of minds touched by just enough madness to murder. Yet driven by duty, professionalism -- hey, it's a job -- he carries on, carries on, cigarettes and flask at the ready for the rare moments it all becomes just a little too much...

And then I'm moving on to read about the Twitter tax break or the redevelopment fight...

Silly, I know. But someone else has also engaged in projections about the man-of-a-thousand-crime-scenes, the Berkeley-based rock duo The Manna Tease. Pretty awesome song, I think:

Lyrics and more about the song here.

And he linked to The Manna Tease facebook page and to this blog! most excellent. Thank you Mr Brooks. The "real" Henry K. Lee posted it on his facebook page and added "Thanks to KQED's Jon Brooks for this post -- and his comparison to me as a 'Weegee-like' figure! (I had to look that up on Wikipedia!)."

There were also some positive reactions from other Bay Area journalists on Twitter:

@JulieStrack: Which former @dailycal writer has contributed more to popular music -- Jann Wenner or @henryklee ?http://t.co/UCQti7T

@matthai: @MannaTease We loved it. Your song was just hilarious. Those of us who work with @henryklee have been singing the lyrics to him.

@katieworth: Amazing ballad about Chron reporter @henryklee: http://t.co/5vUmbUG. Hey @hankschulman, how come you don't have one?

@SovernNation: @Josh_Richman @HenryKLee I want one about Melrose! A guy on the street sang me a song he wrote about me once called "The Lonely Newsman"

@Josh_Richman: My career will not be complete until someone writes a song about me, as this man has done for @HenryKLeehttp://t.co/HZM35QH via @youtube

@jpanzar: A truly amazing ballad: "If it's crime and it's grimy, it's written by @henryklee."http://t.co/E36YeQ8 ... via @WgKANE

Most of those twitterers were reporters who work for the SF Chronicle, SF Examiner, Daily Cal, and others. The biggest fans of that song seem to be journalists who actually know the man himself. I wonder if I can cull some promotional quotes from those. All I've got so far is "croons... for seemingly no reason at all." -SF Weekly.

Here's the demon mp3 of the song, available for a dollar if you desire:

More Verbiage Spoilage: Sarah Palin's uses "cackle" as a collective noun

Again, I have to disagree with the blogosphere about Palin's twisting of language, & side with the sometime governor for her creativity. I love the use of "cackle" as the collective noun for "rads." The Huffington Post complains that none of the standard dictionary definitions of cackle "are appropriate in the context of Palin's tweet." I recommend wading thru the whole quote:

A big welcome to "Refudiate", Sarah Palin's new word in the English Language!

I was just reading at Mediaite.com about Sarah Palin's invention of the word "refudiate" (which she tweeted yesterday afternoon), and the tweetosphere's subsequent mocking embrace of her malapropism.

This was taken down by her people & a correctly spelled one was quickly put up. "Refudiate" was already a big hit tho, & her response is endearingly both self-deprecating & aggrandizing:

She was mocked for comparing herself to Shakespeare. The headline at Mediaite was "Sarah Palin 'Refudiates' Criticism, Declares Self Shakespeare on Twitter". Okay, that's a masterpiece of a headline, but slightly false advertising, because comparing yourself humorously to a great writer is a different bird than Declaring Self. (Somewhat unrelatedly, John Lennon actually said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, but he didn't mean he wanted them to be. He was just making an interesting point that resulted in a lot of Beatles burning parties. When he later sang "they're going to crucify me," he actually was Declaring Self, but again with a wink. Luckily, bardophiles aren't generally into book-burning, and have a subtler appreciation of celebrity metaphor, or there'd be a lot of "Going Rogue" bonfires.)

I want to urge the blogosphere to back off from defending Shakespeare against Palin's comparison! She's absolutely right! And she even makes an important point that Americans especially of all English-speaking nations shouldn't forget. In France, there is a committee that makes sure no foreign words creep into their pure tongue. And they ended up with a very silly language! English has always been mostly the opposite, letting itself evolve naturally, and gladly welcoming slang, foreign words, incorrect foreign words, mistakes, malapropisms, portmanteaus, nonsense, & coinages from all corners. I think that this makes English healthier, more chaotic, more fascinating, and more honest about the nature of language than faux [sic] French puritanism. Palin was also dead-on to compare it to "misunderestimate", because a number of Bushisms were lovingly adopted by a world that hated him & are now used widely even in contexts which contain no reference to Bush. (Another word, "strategery ", was invented by Saturday Night Live in 2000 to parody Bushisms, & not only became a real English word, but was adopted by the Bush administration itself; they had an official Department of Strategery. Stephen Colbert's word "truthiness", coined in 2005, is included in the latest American dictionaries.) .

If you want to read a good book which discusses the debate between keeping English a controlled language versus letting English be an organic language, I recommend Simon Winchester's easy read The Professor & the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. On the losing side of this argument was 18th century Irish author Jonathan Swift, here's an excerpt from his treatise "A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue".

There is another Sett of Men who have contributed very much to the spoiling of the English Tongue; I mean the Poets, from the Time of the Restoration. These Gentlemen, although they could not be insensible how much our Language was already overstocked with Monosyllables; yet, to same Time and Pains, introduced that barbarous Custom of abbreviating Words, to fit them to the Measure of their Verses; and this they have frequently done, so very injudiciously, as to form such harsh unharmonious Sounds, that none but a Northern Ear could endure: They have joined the most obdurate Consonants without one intervening Vowel, only to shorten a Syllable: And their Taste in time became so depraved, that what was a first a Poetical Licence, not to be justified, they made their Choice, alledging, that the Words pronounced at length, sounded faint and languid. This was a Pretence to take up the same Custom in Prose; so that most of the Books we see now a-days, are full of those Manglings and Abbreviations. Instances of this Abuse are innumerable: What does Your Lordship think of the Words, Drudg'd, Disturb'd, Rebuk't, Fledg'd, and a thousand others, every where to be met in Prose as well as Verse? Where, by leaving out a Vowel to save a Syllable, we form so jarring a Sound, and so difficult to utter, that I have often wondred how it could ever obtain.

That is right, under Swift's proposals, we would not or should not be allowed to contract or abbreviate words, lest English be difficult to utter. It cannot be! Swift also had grievances about many 'slang' words entering the language, like "banter" & "mob", which he accused of being "invented by some pretty Fellows" & "now struggling for the Vogue." Heaven forfend! Since the beginning of time, every generation has groaned about newfangled words becoming trendy. The word "lengthy", for instance, was once thought to be a horrible American abomination.

I think the archtype for an American nonsense word becoming common in languages around the world, is "okay." The etymology of "okay" is shrouded in academic controversy, probably because some academics have trouble accepting that it could have originated in a dumb joke. To sum it up, incorrect acronyms were popular jokes in New England newspapers in the 1830s, and "O.K." (meaning 'All Correct') came to being during the presidential campaign between Andrew Jackson (who was supposedly a bad speller) and Martin van Buren (who maybe tried to re-define the acronym to stand for his nickname, Old Kinderhook.) According to the wikipedia, "The country-wide publicity surrounding the election appears to have been a critical event in okay's history, widely and suddenly popularizing it across the United States." But there you go, political humor leading to the creation of a word that's now ubiquitous all over the world. It's alternately been attributed to Greek origin, Native American (Choctaw), & African slaves, each of which is a more tidy & rational explanation, but language isn't tidy or rational.

Anyway, the speed with which trendy words or political jokes can become language has increased with the internet, so that Sarah Palin can coin a word on Sunday & I can write an essay defending it on Monday. Welcome to the English language "refudiate", whatever the fuck it means.

(PS, to prove it wasn't a typo, and actually a word that Sarah Palin thought existed, here's the archive video of her actually saying it earlier this year.)

Apologies: Explanation for the Furlough

Sorry again for the occasional furlough of this blog - - - between a newly busy work schedule, a slow-as-Exodus computer, and working with the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, I haven't been able to post anything here. But we'll return on an ass with palm branches soon!

Speaking of the LCSNA, our "Far-Flung" blogging efforts therein have MOVED to be fully integrated to their main website: www.lewiscarroll.org/blog. Add this feed to your blog readers, &c: www.lewiscarroll.org/feed. And please follow the Far-Flung twitter @AliceAmerica.

Yesterday, I conducted Twitter interview with the illustrator of the stick figure version of Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland. (I recommend it as a medium for public conversations, keeping the questions & answers short, and possible for everyone to follow it live.) Here are some excerpts:

AliceAmerica We're about to have a Twitter conversation with@JamisonOdone, creator of Stickfiguratively Speaking.#AliceinWonderland #LewisCarroll
about 11 hours ago from web

jamisonodone @AliceAmerica ahoy!
about 11 hours ago from web

AliceAmerica Hello @JamisonOdone This is the Lewis Carroll Society of North America's first ever interview conducted in 140 characters.
about 11 hours ago from web

jamisonodone @AliceAmerica This is The Jamison Odone Society's first 140 character interview ever as well! Glad to take part:)
about 11 hours ago from web

AliceAmerica @JamisonOdone WHO ARE YOU?
about 11 hours ago from web

jamisonodone @AliceAmerica HI! I'm jamison odone. author and illustrator of children's books, raconteur and all around funny guy. Redsox fan, new dad...
about 11 hours ago from web


AliceAmerica @JamisonOdone It looks a bit to us like your Caterpillar resembles your own drawings of yourself. Is he a deliberate self-portrait?
about 11 hours ago from web

jamisonodone @AliceAmerica Yes he is. No reason exactly why I did that. Perhaps his glib wisdom is just something that I aspire to.
about 10 hours ago from web

Read the rest here.

Department of the Tweetosphere: Some from 2009 & also Herner Werzog

2009 was the year the media freaked out about Twitter. The inner/outer community of itwaslost writers & artists, & many choice comrades, also occasionally wandered around the tweetosphere. In Twenty-ten, we recommend you follow @itwaslost, @ssandrigon, & the rest of us, subscribe via sms on your motherloving superphones, follow our community lists (@itwaslost/community), & ride this fad hard till it passes a kidney stone.

Here's some excerpts from 2009 for those of you too cool for twittering:

ssandrigon
Ever heard of Lady Mondegreen? the martyred eponymous patron saint of mishearing song lyrics? some examples to follow...11:48 AM Oct 1st, 2009 from twibble

ssandrigon
Lady Mondegreen's sacrifice for the cause itself came from the scottish lyric: "They hae slain the Earl of Moray / & laid him on the green."11:52 AM Oct 1st, 2009 from twibble



ssandrigon
Lady Mondegreen's creepy stalker friend: "Surely Good Mrs. Murphy shall follow me all the days of my life", as misheard from Psalm 23.12:56 PM Oct 1st, 2009 from TwitterGadget



ssandrigon
I just had a money-making genius breakthru - sell 2 buck chuck to high schoolers for $5. That's 150% profit & everyone wins.3:32 PM Sep 29th, 2009 from twibble




ssandrigon
Say you had $40k. You could: 1) go to a liberal arts college for a year; or 2) rent a large plastic event tent for one day. Your choice.4:04 PM Sep 29th, 2009 from twibble



ssandrigon
Of course you have to rip off a lot of high-schoolers to make $40k - about 13333.3 by my math. Is that how Qadaffi affords his big tent?4:13 PM Sep 29th, 2009 from twibble


The sagas of Samamamidon, when we usurped Sam Amidon's personality on Twitter, were replaced by Herner Werzog, or Young Werner Herzog, who for obvious reasons kept the same profile picture as samamamidon. (A lot of the tweets from that samamamidon era were posted around here.) These are funnier if you say them in my phony Werner Herzog impersonation.

hernerwerzog
We will now be tweetering & filmmaking as @hernerwerzog, the real Werner Herzog. Please make the appropriate adjustments. #wernerherzog8:43 AM Jul 3rd, 2009 from web


hernerwerzog
I had also plotted a movie about Julia Child's days in Paris. But in my version, Christian Bale plays Julia Child, & it was filmed in Burma.1:17 PM Aug 8th, 2009 from web


hernerwerzog
What was that? I believe I've been shot. Actually, twitter is not very friendly towards film-making. I will keep tweeting tho.9:52 AM Aug 11th, 2009 from web


hernerwerzog
I'm a problem that'll never ever be solved. And no matter what, you'll never take that from me. My reign is as far as your eyes can see.7:29 PM Aug 12th, 2009 from web



hernerwerzog
I was just over at Christian Bale's house, on his scenic piazza. I suspect he is plotting to kill me, so I only drank from my own flask.7:02 PM Aug 21st, 2009 from web


hernerwerzog
I got to know Teddy Kennedy while filming for my documentary "Huge Potomac Delta", where he kindly offered me a Portuguese Waterhound.4:24 PM Aug 26th, 2009 from web



hernerwerzog
I thought it was some sort of stew, so I politely declined. I could have been the owner of Obama's dog, but now all I own is ashes & memory.4:27 PM Aug 26th, 2009 from web



hernerwerzog
Meryl Streep, Schmeryl Schmeep -- Charlize Theron & Leo DiCaprio are the greatest American Actresses. ( RT @itwaslost: http://bit.ly/AEpyn )11:50 AM Sep 2nd, 2009 from web



hernerwerzog
I am proud to announce the opening of my new Young Werner Herzog discount Rogue film school- ½ price off the other one, & foxier instructors11:39 AM Sep 25th, 2009 from web



hernerwerzog
It's dirt cheap & fly-by-night & will be conducted entirely via twitter RT @yaaraDromi where do I sign up? [Young Werner Herzog film school]11:38 AM Sep 27th, 2009 from web



hernerwerzog
Congrats: all the first students signed-up for my discount Young Werner Herzog tweetospheric rogue filmmaking school appear to be pornbots.4:17 PM Sep 27th, 2009 from web



hernerwerzog
I call upon the theoreticians of cinema to go after this one. Go for it, losers. Don't stop fucking that chicken.1:02 PM Dec 7th, 2009 from web


ssandrigon
I'm at a concert of Luigi Russolo's noise machine boxes, recreated, celebrating "the 100th anniversary of the launch of futurism."8:05 PM Oct 16th, 2009 from txt


ssandrigon
May futurism reign for another 100 years!!8:06 PM Oct 16th, 2009 from txt

Okay, there's a lot, so this may have to be a several-part series celebrating the twots of 2009. More anon!
PS, Also there's this list - @hernerwerzog/wernerherzogs - following the many Werner Herzogs of Twitter.

Nico Muhly's "The Only Tune" with Sam Amidon

Someone on Twitter named awork wrote "I generally like the music of NIco Muhly but the vocal on The Only Tune is obnoxious", which was promptly retweeted by both Sam Amidon & Nico Muhly. The tweet linked to lala.com, where I see you can listen to the whole piece, which you should if you haven't heard it yet, from Muhly's 2008 album Mothertongue. I heard them do it live twice last year in San Francisco & L.A. The picture is of a Humpback Whale tongue, get your mind out of the gutter.

The Only Tune Pt. 1: The Two S...

The Only Tune Pt. 2: The Old M...

The Only Tune Pt. 3: The Only ...