Scott Gordon

Seriously. The body that conducted the Nuremberg trials didn’t have “jurisdiction” when the Nazis were committing atrocities bc it didn’t really exist yet. Big whoop, two can play at Calvinball

A correct opinion that would be the consensus in a reasonable world

I really fell in love with sci-fi through the absolutely unreal amount of great contemporary writers rather than thru trying to chew thru the roughage of the earlier guys and you know what I don’t feel bad about it (Delany and PKD exempt from this statement)

I honestly would not have thought of that angle!

I get wanting to have the big music industry presence involved but like, this is a company that our state is currently suing as part of a federal antitrust lawsuit. Live Nation’s acquisition of Frank is SPECIFICALLY mentioned in the lawsuit! Sheesh

In Madison arts funding, $1 million should not be a big deal – Tone Madison Putting the newly announced Dane Arts grant program in context.

Spending public money for Live Nation’s benefit is *particularly* obscene given the crisis in public arts funding at federal, state, and local levels. Our local governments have historically *sucked* at allocating direct funds for artists (link from 2021) tonemadison.com/articles/in-...

The Creative Company would be expected to produce a narrative statement, logos, and other marketing materials, says Angela Puerta, a city planner and local musician. Three firms were reviewed prior to The Creative Company being selected, Puerta says. Puerta says organizations like Destination Madison or Frank Productions could potentially use such marketing materials to promote events or artists and strengthen the city’s musical tourism profile — performance metrics might include increased page clicks or tourist visits. Similar efforts have been undertaken in Nashville and Albuquerque, she says.

This is particularly troubling. (Again, not picking on the person quoted, who is trying to do important work in a flawed system.) Frank Productions/FPC Live is Madison’s Live Nation subsidiary. Spending public money for Live Nation’s benefit is obscene

Finally, more details on Madison's largest arts subsidy How the Overture Center uses its annual chunk of City money.

Side note: Thanks to Wisconsin state law, the taxes local governments collect from hotel stays essentially go right back into a system of legalized self-dealing for the tourism industry. Another wonderful thing we can thank Scott Walker for (link from 2024)

Music, money, and "butts in beds" – Tone Madison How should the City of Madison pay for its music initiatives?

Pairing these goals is awkward. A City-funded program that puts money directly in local musicians’ pockets? Room Tax Commission doesn’t care about that goal. It cares about “more people come to Madison and stay in hotel and line go up" (link from 2017) tonemadison.com/articles/mus...

The people working on this project understand this and absolutely want local musicians to get paid fairly for their work, more opportunity, more support. They are up against a funding model that requires things to be justified in terms of tourism (link from 2022) tonemadison.com/articles/mad...

Right… I mean if the city created a branding thing, sure, anyone would be entitled to use it, but yuck

Bigger picture: A “music city” needs to be a city that isn’t economically wretched for musicians. And that isn’t necessarily the same as having *a music industry* per se. And it’s not the same as creating a perception. No place illustrates the gap between lip service and reality like Madison

Madison's hip-hop community already gave us 31 ideas for addressing racism and policing – Tone Madison A June 22 livestream event continues the work of the City of Madison's Task Force on Equity in Music and Entertainment.

Everyone quoted in the story comes to this from a place of genuine commitment. Karen Reece and Rob Dz have fought uphill battles for YEARS to carve out more space for hip-hop and artists of color. They get how music intertwines with policy (link from 2020) tonemadison.com/articles/mad...

I’m glad another journalist has discovered the l̵i̵v̵i̵n̵g̵ ̵h̵e̵l̵l̵ rewarding challenge of covering the City of Madison’s primary arts funding mechanism, the Room Tax Commission. I have uh mixed feelings about the city spending $14,060 on a music marketing contract

So Loud, It Makes Me So Sad, by Threadmaker 3 track album

Threadmaker, the all-improv band I play in, has a new album out today. Title courtesy of a woman who saw us play at Mickey’s Tavern last year and told us, through drunken sobs, “YOUR BAND IS SO LOUD! IT MAKES ME SO SAD!” (She was OK and had a friend to get her home safe)

State police assisted ICE in the performative brutalization and arrest of protesters today. @govpritzker.illinois.gov must answer for this.

Wrote about the dire necessity of it all

Gritty reboot of THE FOG

One of the better Wisconsin professor threads, though of course @donmoyn.bsky.social’s “tantalizing top of human heads” and @nickfleisher.bsky.social’s Robin Vos ones remain eternally at the top

Is there anything people in the Madison area can do to help, if we can’t get down there?

ACA is a flawed policy built atop an unconscionable system. It has helped people and I know because I am one of them. Republicans have been lying/screaming bloody murder about it for 15 fucking years but have no answers beyond that. This would be a fatal weakness if they had an effective opposition

you know what’s a great idea is giving ice designated target areas to shoot pepper balls and “less lethal” rounds into

Journalism association to leave El Salvador over government pressure El Salvador’s Journalists Association is moving its legal status out of the country in response to a foreign agents law passed earlier this year.

Deporting a journalist back to a country where the government has already smothered press freedom to the extent that its journalism trade group is move out. Some will call it un-American but repression and cruelty are plenty American if we choose them. Fuck this

apnews.com/article/el-s...

Fuck you to everyone who has minimized and enabled the right’s generational war on press freedom, to every middle-management piggy in media who scolds journalists about political advocacy, to anyone who denies that the US owes people from the countries in which it murderously interferes

the president of the united states wants to use the american military to kill american citizens on american soil. that's the whole story!

This isn’t a “striking about-face” so much as the usual two-step cop discipline process. Lip service followed by “yeah he still works here and has a gun lol”

Madison folks: I’m looking to sell a great and simple loop pedal, the EHX Nano 360. In good shape, cheap at $65!

www.facebook.com/share/1BMWbK...

rupaul: taz, you’re born naked and the rest is drag. now sashay away!

taz (spinning in a tornado): GUUAANDHDNEMDHDHEBJK