Issue #17 - December 1, 2017 - Dancing Days are Here Again (Although I don't care for dancing)

Broster - A combination of a bro and a hipster. Has the party-loving attitude of a bro, the pretentious taste of a hipster, but is somewhere in between. 

Recent News/Surprising History
Since 1926, there has existed in NYC a Cabaret Law that required any businesses in the city that sells food & drinks to obtain a cabaret license in order to host "musical entertainment, singing, dancing, or other forms of amusement." However on Monday, this law was officially repealed.

While the law was initially aimed at illegal speakeasies (enacted in Prohibition era), the law was often used in discriminating fashion. From targeting largely African American jazz venues at its inception to requiring mid-century musicians to carry a "cabaret card" to Rudy Giuliani's use of the law as part of his "broken windows" policing, the selective nature of its use has found many opponents, which is why the laws repeal was widely championed throughout the city.

NYC neighborhoods are zoned into three categories: residential, commercial and manufacturing. Within these zones are "use groups" determining specifically where and how businesses can operate within a zone. The repeal affects only businesses in areas zoned for commercial and manufacturing, where the cabaret licenses were available.

This is beneficial in cutting the red tape for business owners, and helpful for musicians booking more gigs I'd imagine. It also prevents any further aforementioned controversial use of this law.

It is reminiscent of Theodore Roosevelt's role as NYC police commissioner when he shut down saloons on Sundays in strict observance of the Sabbath Excise law. At the time this was not a respected or popular law, and saloons generally continued to stay open with proper bribing of police officers. The goal was to either get this law repealed as it benefitted no one but the corrupt cops and politicians who profited off of these bribes and to reduce endemic corruption in the NYPD.

Both unpopular laws creating unnecessary hassle and just really limiting some fun.

Positive News

This Photograph of a Llama in a Lobster Costume. 

Music
Dancing Days - Led Zeppelin
Let's Dance - David Bowie
Lose Yourself to Dance - Daft Punk
Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim (more for the greatest dancing music video)
Blame it on the Boogie - Jackson 5

Issue #16 - November 24, 2017 - Back to Black

Broster - A combination of a bro and a hipster. Has the party-loving attitude of a bro, the pretentious taste of a hipster, but is somewhere in between. 

Some Black Friday History - 
In 1924, the Eaton's parade inspired Macy's Department Store to launch its famous Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Macy's wanted to celebrate its success during the Roaring 20's and the parade ended up boosting shopping for the following day.

In the 1950s, people began calling in sick the say after Thanksgiving, essentially giving themselves a four-day weekend. Since stores were open, as were most businesses, those calling out could also get a head start on their holiday shopping. Many businesses started adding that day as another paid holiday reflected in today's four day weekend.

The origin of the term "Black Friday" comes from 1950s Philadelphia when the police department there used it to describe the chaos that ensued when hordes of suburban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city in advance of the big Army-Navy Football game held on that Saturday every year. Not only would Philly cops not be able to take the day off, but they would have to work longer shifts to deal with additional crowds and traffic.

The term eventually spread throughout the country by the 80s with business marketers advertising discounts and attempting to mark the occasion when retailers go from "red to black" making a profit. The attempt to wash over the chaotic origin of the term Black Friday has definitively failed as chaos persists. The deals and store openings continue to encroach on the thanksgiving holiday as retailers face failure and extinction from e-commerce competition.

Instead of Black Friday
What should be the media focus and general humanity focus is that this Saturday, Nov 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent, and devastating human rights violations in our world today.

To get informed and read more details on the topic and methods undertaken to expose and eliminate violence against women and girls see the below links and consider making a donation.

UNITE to End Violence Against Women - UN Secretary General Campaign

Spotlight Initiative - Initiative to bring focused attention to this issue, moving it into the spotlight and placing it at the center of efforts to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Music
Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
Thank U - Alanis Morissette (Thanksgivingish)
Home - LCD Soundsystem

Issue #15 - November 15, 2017 - Cards For Humanity???

Broster - A combination of a bro and a hipster. Has the party-loving attitude of a bro, the pretentious taste of a hipster, but is somewhere in between. 

Positive News: Cards Against Humanity, a snarky party favorite, has purchased a piece of land on the Mexico/U.S border. The game company also claims to have hired a law firm "specializing in eminent domain to make it as time-consuming and expensive as possible for the wall to get built. Although seeming like profiting off of of going political, humor is often the ideal platform for political commentary, to get people to pay attention to seemingly bland stories, and make subtle (sometimes) jabs as a form of protest.

This isn't the first time the company has done this sort of thing. In 2014, the company purchased a tiny island in Maine (for nature conservation), called it "Hawaii 2", and gave away one-square-foot plots to those who signed up for its "Ten Days of Whatever of Kwanzaa" holiday campaign. That year, it also sent real poop to people who paid $6 for its Black Friday mail campaign, presumably through Shit Express (real company).

However the best campaign is the 2015 science-themed expansion pack to benefit women in STEM fields. The profits from its $10 Science pack went into a full-ride college scholarship for women studying science, technology, engineering or math. They also were accepting rounds of applications since then.

Glad the company responsible for the below is giving back to the world.

Daniel Radcliffe seems to have autographed this one. 

Music:
Human Nature - Michael Jackson
This World is Going Up in Flames - Charles Bradley

Issue #14 - November 10, 2017 - Dog Days

Broster - A combination of a bro and a hipster. Has the party-loving attitude of a bro, the pretentious taste of a hipster, but is somewhere in between. 

Around the World
The Hindu festival of Tihar is a five-day celebration in Nepal and in the Indian states of Assam and Sikkim, where each day is dedicated to different religious figures including cow, crow, and dog, which signify deep relations between human beings, gods, and animals. The second day, Kukar Tihar, is dedicated to worshipping mans best friend, dogs. People offer garlands, tikka and delicious food to dogs and acknowledge the cherished relationship between humans and dogs.

Photos from The Daily News

Presidential Pets (and other animals):

- Theodore Roosevelt's dog, a bulldog named Pete, once chased down the French Ambassador - Jules Jusserand- down a white house corridor and tore the bottom of his pants. The incident made the news causing the French government to formally complain about the incident.

- Herbert Hoover bought a Belgian Shepherd during his campaign to improve his popularity ratings. This might be a good idea for Trump who is currently the First President in modern presidential history without a pet.

- James Buchanan was reportedly given a herd of elephants, Martin Van Buren received a pair of tiger cubs (subsequently given to the zoo)

- Woodrow Wilson kept a flock of sheep and a ram on the White house lawn, and William Taft had a Holstein Cow.

- Calvin Coolidge's wife, Grace, had a pet raccoon named Rebecca, whom she walked on a leash. She also adopted an opossum.

Trump Family Breaks with Presidential Pet Tradition

Topical Music
I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges
Diamond Dogs - David Bowie
Atomic Dog - George Clinton

Issue #13 - November 7, 2017 - An Economical Project

Broster - A combination of a bro and a hipster. Has the party-loving attitude of a bro, the pretentious taste of a hipster, but is somewhere in between. 

Surprising History - Daylight Savings Time, the seasonal time change that just occurred on November 5th, is often credited as originally an idea conceived by Ben Franklin. In 1784, as an elderly diplomat living in Paris, he wrote An Economical Project, a discourse on the thrift of natural versus artificial lighting. He included several comical regulations that Paris might adopt to use and simply suggested that Parisians could economize candle usage by getting people out of bed earlier in the morning. These jokes included such suggestions as a tax laid on every window built with shutters to keep out the light of the sun, and candles rationed to one pound per family per week, and use of church bells and cannons to inform the citizenry of the advent of light, essentially a city wide alarm clock. On the assumption that waking up earlier would conserve energy and usage of candles, Franklin proposed these joke regulations as a means to alleviate the issue. Over two centuries later, nations around the world use a variation of his concept to conserve energy and more fully enjoy the benefits of daylight. Church bells and cannon to wake the sleeping populace were replaced by simply altering the clocks in the spring and fall to maximize daylight hours.

The official history of its use in the United States dates back to the Standard Time Act of 1918 with the intention of saving electricity for seven months of the year during WWI. Repealed in 1919 it was then enacted again in 1942 during the War Time Act as a wartime measure to conserve energy resources. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 mandated Daylight Savings begin nationwide on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October. After the 1973 energy crisis DST began earlier but returned to Uniform time Act mandate in 1976. After March 2007, DST was extended another four to five weeks and was added to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, seemingly as an Iraq war time energy conservation measure. Overall there is very little research into the actual positive effects of this policy aside from the populace enjoying an extra hour of sleep one day and longer days for a bit in the spring.

More Franklin Reading

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
by: Benjamin Franklin (Duh)

A timeless classic in the Autobiography genre details bits of Franklins life from 1771 to 1790. All around interesting guy as a statesman, author, inventor, printer and scientist, the book highlights Franklins diligent work ethic and methods of self-improvement and habit formation. It highlights his boyhood, determination to achieve high moral standards, his work as a printer, experiments with electricity, political career, experiences during the French and Indian War, and more. I enjoy it for the biographical information about one of America's greatest individuals but also for its self-help habit formation guidelines, the candidness and pretty funny anecdotes. See below:

"Then I asked for a three-penny loaf, and was told they had none such. So not considering or knowing the difference of money, and the greater cheapness nor the names of his bread, I made him give me three-penny worth of any sort. He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy rolls. I was surprised at the quantity, but took it, and, having no room in my pockets walked off with a role under each arm, and eating the other. Thus I went up Market Street as far as Fourth Street, passing
by the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father; when she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance."

PDF fo Free

Topical Music
Time - Hootie & The Blowfish
Time After Time - Iron & Wine
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - Elton John
Time - Pink Floyd

Issue #12 - November 2, 2017 - Orwellian Grunge

Broster - A combination of a bro and a hipster. Has the party-loving attitude of a bro, the pretentious taste of a hipster, but is somewhere in between. 

Surprising Historical (Music) Figure - An surprisingly unknown (at least to me) but important music figure is a man named Jack Irons (no relation to Jeremy Irons). Irons was the original drummer and founding member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and occasional drummer for the band that would become Pearl Jam, and most importantly led to their acquisition of frontman Eddie Vedder.

After undergoing a series of name and bandmate changes, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were officially formed in 1983 consisting of Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Hillel Slovak and Irons all attending the same high school. After some slight early success, difficulties struck the band as Kiedis and Slovak both developed serious drug addictions. Slovak's addiction led to his death in 1988, not long after the conclusion of the bands tour. Kiedis subsequently fled L.A considering the situation to be surreal and dreamlike. Upon his return, with the band in a state of confusion, Irons quit, stating he did not want to be part of a group where his friends are dying.

After leaving the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Irons went to a psychiatric hospital to receive treatment for his severe depression. In 1990 he formed a band called Eleven but during this time he also departed to occasionally drum with a band called Mookie Blaylock, which would become Pearl Jam. At the time Mookie Blaylock was looking for both a drummer and a lead singer. Because he was committed to his band Eleven at the time, Irons declined an invite to join the band officially. He did, however, pass on a cassette of the bands work to a singer in San Diego named Eddie Vedder. Irons had formed a friendship with Vedder after meeting him through the Southern California music scene and playing basketball with him. Vedder then joined the band, who renamed themselves Pearl Jam. Irons also called his friends who continued the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1991 and asked the band to allow Pearl Jam to open for the band on its upcoming Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour.

The rest is of course music history....

Additional side note: When Eddie Vedder flew up to Seattle from San Diego to audition for the newly formed Pearl Jam, he was at one of the Temple of the Dog rehearsals and ended up providing backing vocals. "Hunger Strike" became a duet between Cornell and Vedder. It became Temple of the Dog's breakout single and was Vedder's first featured vocal on a record.

Book Recommendation - 

Finding George Orwell in Burma (2004)
by Emma Larkin

An interesting book that takes the reader along on a journey to Burma (present day Myanmar) as the author looks to retrace George Orwell's life as a British Colonial officer in the country from (1922-1927). The book is part travelogue, part political commentary, part biography, and is well-researched and informative. The author theorizes that Orwell's writing was greatly influenced by his time spent in Burma including his anti-colonial viewpoints and cynicism. She also poses the argument that three of Orwell's Novels - Burmese Days, Animal Farm, 1984 - can be viewed in parallel with the history and evolution of Burmese politics in the 20th century. Burmese Days highlights the colonial days, Animal Farm - the assassination of popular country hero Aung San (Snowball in Animal Farm) and the failed socialist experiment and the rise of the military regime under Ne Win (Napoleon in Animal Farm), and 1984 - authoritarian regime and system of government censorship, control and suppression.

Though written in 2004, and events have changed significantly in Myanmar since this release (Aung San Suu Kyi went from political prisoner to State Counsellor; ethnic conflicts with government remain ongoing- Rohingya), it provides a very useful insight into the country, culture, and politics from an outsider perspective (both historical and at the time current) but with significant insight from candid conversations and interviews with locals.

Topical Music - 
"Hunger Strike" - Temple of the Dog
"Say Hello to Heaven" - Temple of the Dog
"Reach Out" - Eleven
"Fight Like A Brave" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Corduroy" - Pearl Jam