After doing some research for a blog post including The Afghan Whigs, and their profound album Congregation, I uncovered some interesting tidbits of information about the band and the recording process.

Here we go with 5 Factoids About The Recording of Congregation:

1.) There were a lot of tense moments in the studio over the direction of the album, and this tension is what made the record sound so great, according to singer and songwriter, Greg Dulli. Dulli wrote and produced the majority of Congregation with audio engineer Ross Ian Stein. Dulli and Stein did not see eye to eye on the recording process. “I did not get along with Ross Stein,” says Dulli. “He was in my way. I never saw hide nor hair of that guy ever again.”

2.) Gregg Dulli was stranded in California until Nirvana had a huge hit with “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Well, kind of. The rest of the band went home after finishing up their parts, while Dulli stayed behind to finish his vocals and mix the album. During that time Sub Pop nearly went bankrupt, so the production process stalled, forcing Dulli to get a job to pay for studio time. Later in the year, Sub Pop would recover as they received royalties from the success of Nevermind, and Dulli was quoted as saying that while “stranded in L.A. … Nirvana saved the whole fuckin’ label.”

3.) Greg Dulli congratulated Kurt Cobain on his success, in person, at a show in California, and thanked Nivana for bailing out the Afghan Whigs and bringing Dulli home. “I went to Nirvana’s show at the Palace in L.A. and hugged Kurt and said, ‘Good one, bro. Congratulations. And thank you—now I can go home.'”

4.) “Miles Is Dead. Don’t Forget The Alcohol.” These are the words uttered by music executive David Katznelson on the day that Miles Davis passed away, and left as a voicemail on Dulli’s answering machine. Dulli was inspired to write a song that day and used “Milez Is Dead” as the title of the song, and “Don’t forget the alcohol,” as the chorus. Man, I love this story!

5.) Caroline Records ended up distributing Congregation and Sub Pop released two singles, “Turn On The Water,” and “Conjure Me,” from the album. Uptown Avondale, an EP of soul covers, would be the last release on Sub Pop, from The Afghan Whigs, before the band left to sign with Elektra Records.

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Cognitive health is the new buzz word on everyone’s mind. Simply stated, cognitive health is the ability to think, learn, and understand. It also includes our capacity to remember, see, hear, and use fine motor skills.

Hypertension, diabetes, sleep disorders, vision and hearing loss are some of the underlying health issues that can impact changes to cognitive health. Recent research indicates that hearing loss is the number one modifiable risk factor. In other words, treatment of hearing loss can help combat changes in brain health.

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting a more rapid progression of decline with untreated hearing loss. Even the mildest hearing loss can lead to physical changes in the brain if left untreated. Early identification and treatment can lead to better outcomes.

The importance of addressing early changes can not be overstated. With hearing loss, mild cognitive impairment can be reversed or the progression can be slowed down simply by wearing hearing aids.

There are other ways to positively impact brain health. It is important to eat a healthy diet, get 6-8 hours of sleep each night, reduce stress, and correct vision. In addition, aerobic exercise, reading, and working on puzzles are good ways to maintain cognitive health. Socializing with others also offers a multitude of benefits for brain and body health.

If you haven’t seen an Audiologist, schedule an appointment. We can impact the quality of your life and look forward to meeting you.

Many of my friends are sending email and posting on social media about “being educated” concerning the proposed Illinois Constitutional Amendment to allow progressive income tax rates. They’re just cutting-and-pasting the same text. It’s very likely you’ve seen it.

This “education” came from a misleading post full of scare tactics and lies.

The amendment would not give legislators the power to raise taxes whenever they want without voter approval – they already can.

The amendment would not give legislators the power to tax retirement income. They already can, but they haven’t.

The amendment would give the legislators the power to tax different incomes at different rates. That’s the only change.

Is it a good idea? I think it is. But you can decide with facts instead of misleading claims from just one side.

The little blue pamphlet you should have gotten in the mail has lots of good accurate information along with opinions from both sides which do not engage in exaggeration or falsehood. There are legitimate reasons to support or oppose this amendment.

Also, check out Ballotpedia for more information than you could ever want to know about this proposal.

Timothy Evans and Toni Preckwinkle. (Chicago Tribune staff)

Borrowing from the legendary ‘Paddy” Bauler, the crooked alderman and saloonkeeper who in 1939 pronounced Chicago “ain’t ready for reform,” the same holds true more than 80 years later.

Cook County Board Democratic Boss Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans and the lapdogs who still contribute millions to House Speaker Michael Madigan have demonstrated it to be so.

Preckwinkle and Evans engineered  a Kremlin-like political poisoning of  Cook County Judge Michael Toomin because he ordered a special prosecutor to investigate State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s handing Jesse Smollet a get-out-of-jail free card. Preckwinkle led the move to not endorse Toomin for retention in the coming election even though, as John Kass noted, the judge is “a well-respected, veteran judge.”

Here’s the sad part: Preckwinkle began her career as a progressive, anti-machine alderman from Hyde Park. Evans, her close ally, was once the voice of reform-minded independents representing the black community and was seen as a fitting successor to Chicago’s first black mayor, Harold Washington, the premier anti-machine politician.

They now have embraced the same autocratic methods of Richard J. Daley and the demonic Democratic machine, punishing those who are “disloyal” and who put the public interest ahead of party subservience. Lord Acton was right:

• Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
• Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.
• Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.
• Absolute power demoralizes. 

Which leads us to Michael Madigan.

As telling as the Toomin’s knifing is, the story about Madigan’s obese campaign funds might even top it. Crain’s Chicago Business reports:

Madigan’s war chest is overflowing: Heading into the final stretch of the election season, and despite being implicated in a ComEd scandal, the four funds House Speaker Michael Madigan controls are flush with campaign cash.

How much would that be? About $25 million.

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)

And despite Madigan’s alleged linked to the scandal (he hasn’t been indicted and has maintained his innocence despite being the apparent official named in the indictment), the money keeps flowing in.

Madigan controls four campaign funds, the largest of which—Friends of Michael J Madigan—raised roughly $10 million in the last year alone, despite federal raids on the homes and offices of many of Madigan’s closest associates launching in summer 2019. That committee has raised $1 million since the ComEd deferred prosecution agreement implicated Madigan in July, with big donations from the Chicago Land Operators Joint Labor-Management PAC, LiUNA Chicago Laborers District Council and the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters PAC.

By all means, keep the money flowing. In the immortal words of Sgt. Schultz, they “know nothing.”

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My historical novel: Madness: The War of 1812

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Were those right-wing fanatics attacking police at Buckingham Fountain?

Where do I start?

This blind-as-a-stone assertion came from  Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, a group dedicated to nailing right-wing extremists for today’s violence.

Her full quote is, “Most of the violence lately is right-wing extremism, but that doesn’t mean that groups on the left aren’t using social media….Everybody’s using social media in this way. … Why wouldn’t that exist on the fringes of the left?”

In other words, while the left is increasingly employing social media to spread hate, the right is much worse.

So, the people shot and killed, the fires that destroyed businesses and homes, the attacks on police and their headquarters, the weeks and weeks of uninterrupted juvenile delinquency in Portland, the gun-totting “guards” keeping the police out of the “summer of love” fortress in Minneapolis, and on and on. Clearly it’s the far right, don’t you see?

Beirich’s quote showed up in a Washington Post article, “Violent memes and messages surging on far-left social media, a new report finds: Such images have increased, raising once again whether social media companies can keep up with threats on their platforms“

Oh, wow, I thought to myself. A Washington Post article seemingly holding the left accountable for its transgressions. This I got to read.

Read I did, only to discover that it was a thinly veiled attacked on right-wing groups that are abusing social media, extensively quoting like-minded liberals about the dangers of right-wing tweeting.

Here’s another piece of it:

Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, said there are stark differences in the types of direct action promoted online by left- and right-wing extremists.

“It is overwhelmingly the far right — not the far left — that makes direct incitements for terrorist attacks and celebrates mass shooters as heroes to the movement,” she said. “Far-left activity usually doesn’t extend beyond destruction of property — that being arson against police vehicles, sabotaging infrastructure and similar activities.”

“And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done, full of tasks, claims, and demands; and let us see that we learn to take it without letting fall too much of what it has to bestow upon those who demand of it necessary, serious, and great things.”

― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke, 1892-1910

I went in to work today, the actual building and physical space. I have the rare privilege of being able to teach face to face with my first-year students once per week. I say that it’s a privilege because the classes are small enough that we can be in a classroom safely. The campus is almost empty, which is comforting in this time of COVID. I’m finding that I don’t even notice masks anymore. We’re just people, just a few people.

It’s a tradition in academia to attach news clippings, flyers and such to our doors. During the 2019-20 school year I posted a new poem every month. The last thing I posted was this excerpt from a letter Rilke wrote. It’s often shortened to, “And now let us believe in a a new year, full of things that have never been.”

I don’t think Rilke meant what we use him to mean: that the new year is full of joy and good things. Instead I think his emphasis would have been that each new year is full of work, work that always falls short, but that meets the demands of “necessary, serious, and great things.”

This new year, now an aging year, has been long indeed and has been filled with new demands. So much has fallen, at least in my life. But when I work, when I demand serious and great things, I begin to understand what Rilke means.

These new things have been so hard. The isolation, the fear, the masks—all things that hide us away like family secrets.

This week has felt very different to me than other weeks. It feels as if all of this—COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, political insanity, social distancing—is new. I wake up and the reality of it all hits me as I throw on shorts and a shirt that I’ve found on the floor by the bed and that I wore yesterday. Some days I don’t shower at all, some days not until 2 or 3 p.m. when I can’t stand myself any longer. I’ve stopped even trying to look put together for yet another Zoom meeting or even online classes.

The future is something that makes me anxious. I can’t think about the election or about another year stuck at home, ordering groceries from Instacart.

Instead, I’m in survival mode. How do I get through this day, this moment? Where can I find comfort? Have I watched everything on Netflix that’s worth watching? Will I abandon reading yet another book after 10 or 12 pages? Can I improve the percentage of wins I’m achieving in my favorite Solitaire game?

But going onto campus today reminded me that I must do work in order to discover what this year has to bestow on me.

On my face to face days—I meet two classes for 2 hours one time per week—I get up early and shower and put makeup on. I wear clothes that are hanging in my closet. I wear jewelry. I go over the plans for the classes in my mind. I eat breakfast and get in my car and drive to work. And when I get to work, I wring out of those 2 hours as much as I can. I look in the eyes of real people and have real conversation.

I am focused on these mornings, laser sharp, on facilitating an atmosphere of community for my students that I hope will carry them through the semester. I hear their problems. I try to help them solve those problems.

I watch as they begin to find connections with each other. I am touched by their openness, something, oddly, that these masks seem to make easier. We are hidden from each other, while also being present with each other.

Do you find it easier to tell your secrets in the dark? To tell someone something true without being seen? I do. Masks create this darkness in a way. They provide some safety, both physical and emotional.

I am doing work that has never been done. Not in this way, not by me. And the work feels necessary, serious, and great.

This long, new year still has much to teach me. But I must rise to it and work to keep it from falling into boredom and needless repetition.

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Oktoberfest is launching at beer bars and brewers across Chicago. And yes, for the quick summary, the first Oktoberfest in 1810 was held on October 18, but as the event grew bigger, it was determined to move earlier in the year so as not to interfere with the harvests. Now, the festival in Bavaria runs for the 16 days leading to the first Sunday in October.

Meantime, the new beer and community space, Ørkenoy, is opening this weekend. They’re at Kimball and Bloomington in Chicago, at the 606 Trail. And in Naperville, Noon Whistle is opening its second outlet.

Personal Note: I finally took the opportunity to visit the reopened Rock Bottom nearest me, in Lombard. Surprised to see the same server from before it closed. She said she had no idea they might ever plan to reopen, but was available when they called. The brewing is currently being supervised by Iain Wilson, brewmaster of the Orland Park restaurant. They’ve kept some of the beers from the previous version of RB available, including their yearly Rocktoberfest.

Friday, September 18

Saturday, September 19

Sunday, September 20