The Melon

The Sweet-Spot Presents: Jocelyn Skillman

Electric Elliot — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:00:32 +0000

Artist’s Statement:

I am fascinated by the encounter of consciousness embodied–that is to say, the existential platform of self encountering otherness. I am also enchanted by the exploration of “reality” as an embodied relationship between finitude and the transcendental.

My visual art depicts monsters and suffering as a metaphor for the state of despair and suffering that Self encounters as Separated Consciousness (e.g. arising into a body/Separation from Source). Thus, my art also seeks to explore the embodied point of contact between that state of despair/separation and the state of reconciliation: Enlightenment, the Kingdom of God, Relationship to Unconditional Love.

I feel called to producing visual images because they seem to convey deep and subtle relationships–e.g. between objects that are involved in suffering and freedom or relief from that suffering. My spiritual “work” usually evolves into the imagery I am drawing, and I will find myself in agreement with a principle that appears in the work: of reconciliation or aspects of despair, separation, or transcendent love. Teachers and traditions that have been fundamental to the development of my thought and art are Buddhist Foundations: Chogyam Trungpa, Shunryu Suzuki, Christian Foundations: Soren Keirkegaard, Thomas Merton, Other: Hafiz and other Sufi voices, Martin Buber, Early Indian theology, and my Friends!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocelynskillman/

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Newt Gingrich Joins Muslim-Baiting Movement

Walid Zafar — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:38:35 +0000

Early this week, disgraced former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich warned that “a commitment to religious freedom and God-given rights is being replaced by a secular oppression…” Just hours after those words appeared on Human Events, Gingrich issued a statement forcefully opposing the construction of a community center and mosque in downtown Manhattan, two blocks from Ground Zero.

Gingrich’s affinity for religious freedom and his belief in God-given rights it would seem, doesn’t extend to Americans who are Muslim. Such outright bigotry and blatant hypocrisy from Gingrich, an avid historian and former college professor, is even more repulsive when you consider his reasoning.

“There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York,” he writes, “so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia.” Gingrich, who has been railing against the so-called secular socialist machine for trying to take religion out of the public square, and who, like most conservatives, decries the influence of foreign law, wants the U.S. to apply the same standards on Muslims that Saudi Arabia applies to those who are not Muslim.

That’s rich.

As the Washington Monthly’s Steve Benen, after noting that conservatives continually justify despicable acts of torture on the premise that other nations and non-state actors employ such tactics, points out, “We’re not supposed to lower ourselves to the levels of those we find offensive.”

Gingrich’s clarion call continues: “Those Islamists and their apologists who argue for ‘religious toleration’ are arrogantly dishonest.” What makes them Islamists, apologists or even dishonest? Gingrich doesn’t say but if you ask him, he’ll likely tell you about the Katusha rockets that Hamas has fired into Sderot or how Iran is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons. Anything and everything to take the subject away from the “religious freedom and God-given rights” to which American Muslims are entitled.

To understand Gingrich’s paranoia that “America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization,” one must delve deeply into the polarizing, overzealous and paranoid minds of professional Muslim-baiters and the politicians who depend on their support and cater to their illiberal demands.

Many of them are monomaniacs who have made it their life’s mission to defeat Islam and “expose” all Muslims as radical Islamofascists. If one asks them for evidence to support their claim that no Muslim can be trusted, they will likely mention a purported plot by Muslim Brotherhood operatives to destroy America from within. The Council on American Islamic Relations and their intern/spies are routinely placed at the epicenter of the evil conspiracy.

Among these folks, any and all Muslims who “refudiate” such insane theories — who denounce violence and terror, profess their loyalty to the American system, take part in the democratic process and who have assimilated into the American landscape — are cleverly employing taqiyya, which, as any Muslim-baiter would tell you, is religiously sanctioned deception. The same was said about Jews decades ago and anti-Semites once evoked the specter of “Judeo-Bolshevism” the way that Muslim-baiters and politicians like Gingrich today warn of “Islamofascism.” But none of those awful facts really matter, even to a historian such as Gingrich, because facts have long been accused of being part of the secular-socialist machine.

Gingrich’s stand against the mosque project and his attempt to smear its backers as “Islamists” and apologists earns him his anti-Jihad bona fides, and with that, the support of an increasingly mistrustful and hateful electorate which lives off of tying American Muslims to every heinous act that occurs anywhere that remotely sounds Islamic. In this world, if the media fails to make the connection, they are clearly part of the soft-jihad.

Here is the key: The connection rarely has to be solid. In fact, the more specious the connection, the more the Muslim-baiter will be seen by others as a patriot and an enterprising investigative reporter. For instance, the New York Times‘ Robert Wright highlights one smear that has been contrived to defame the man leading the effort to bring the project to fruition. The imam behind the project is not to be trusted because conservatives say that “[his] wife has an uncle who used to be ‘a leader’ of a mosque that now has a Web site that links to the Web site of an allegedly radical organization.” If you can’t keep up with all of that nonsense, then you’re complacent about the Jihad.

Any and all statements against violence made by Muslims must always be placed in the right conservative context: scare quotes. Gingrich does this masterfully. That simple act in effect says that Muslims who preach peace are actually jihadists.

As Gingrich and his buddies believe, either you are with them or you are, through your dhimmitude, a proto-Jihadist. No, you’re worse since you probably support a second genocide against Jews. (Prominent Muslim-baiters have argued that Muslims instigated the Nazi holocaust!) Now that you’ve learned all of these made up facts, you simply do not have an excuse to not fight! Wake up and oppose the “Ground Zero Mosque” the “Islamization of America” and prove to those who hate the freedom in America that those freedoms, as Newt argues, don’t actually apply to all Americans.

Cross-posted on Huffington Post.

whizARTbang #1

Electric Elliot — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:00:50 +0000

On July 3rd, a plethora of artists gathered at the Satori Group’s loft in downtown Seattle for a new collaborative event called whizARTbang! What is it? whizARTbang is a new collective of artists and supporters. It hopes to connect, collaborate, and support art in any way it can.

Each month, members host an intimate gathering featuring culinary art, visual art, live performances, and libations. The Melon was on hand for July’s gathering which featured a sampling of work from: Culinary arts, Painting, Stand-up, Dance, Video Art, Experimental Theater, and Sketch Comedy. Here’s our footage from the event which featured The Melon’s own Electric Elliot:

Artists included:

-Zoe Scofield
-Derek Shankland and Mike Klotz
-Stephen Ross
-Emmett Montgomery
-Jason Miller
-Juniper Shuey
-Boom! Theater
-Kevin Kantner (not to be confused with Kevin kantor)
-Counsel Langley
-Harlequin Hipsters
-Elliot Trotter

http://vimeo.com/13289890

Fice’s Two Five Three Hits Home

Electric Elliot — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 02:37:41 +0000

The Melon just got wind of a great new music video from Fice, a T-Loc hip hop artist. The video for the song “Two Five Three” features a some shots and props to a lot of great locations (hello MSM deli) and captures the proud spirit of Tacoma well. Look for Fice’s song to become Tacoma’s new unofficial anthem. Take a listen.

The New Face of BP

Electric Elliot — Mon, 31 May 2010 00:57:41 +0000

In response to the current oil spill disaster in the Gulf, Green Peace has developed a design competition charging participants to redesign BP’s logo to better reflect their image. Here are some of my favorites.

Pierce County Arts Commission Turns 25

Chris Van Vechten — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:00:40 +0000

On Thursday, June 3^rd, The Pierce County Arts Commission will celebrate its 25^th Anniversary. Though it may all but be defunded (currently facing a proposed budget for 2011 that will comprise a mere 10% of the funds it received in the year 2000, effectively ending Artist-in-Residence programs in Pierce County Schools and annual community grants to deserving Pierce County non-profits) the commissioners have nevertheless decided to celebrate yet one more year of public funding for the arts – at least in theory, if nothing else.

Therefore, Commission President Bonnie Egbert is organizing an awards ceremony – using funds from the commissioners’ personal bank accounts, to honor some of the individuals and organization that over the past 25 years played a crucial role in the rise of Pierce County’s cultural economy. Dubbed, The President’s Awards, the recipients include: Pierce County Councilwoman Barbara Gelman (A Founding Member of PCAC), Elida Kirk Lathrop (PCAC’s first president), Arts Downtown (Puyallup’s Outdoor Gallery) and more.

Artists and Arts Advocates who have already RSVPed include: Tacoma Sculptor Larry Anderson (whose works can be seen at places like Slovonia Hall, Fireman’s Park and Union Station), Melanie Kirk Stauffer (Vice Chair Dance Theatre Northwest), Judy White (President of Arts Downtown) and Becky Condra (Chair of Valley Arts United).

The Ceremony will be held at 3602 Pacific Avenue, Suite 200 in Tacoma at 5:30. We would like to invite any and all interested members of the media to attend this very special occasion.

Ergun Caner, Ex-Muslim Evangelical Leader, Exposed As Fake

Walid Zafar — Thu, 20 May 2010 15:00:14 +0000

Originally @ Huffington Post

Ergun Caner is one of the most prominent figures in the evangelical movement. He is also one of the most deceptive.

A self-professed Muslim convert to Christianity, Caner plays an important, and arguably dangerous, role in the community. After the 9/11 attacks, when many Americans were searching for answers, Caner stepped up with enthusiasm to present himself as an expert on Islam. He used his own “personal history” (much of it since demonstrated as bogus) to confirm his audience’s deeply-held suspicions about the faith that many of them blamed for the attacks.

Today, as president of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and a professor of apologetics, he exhibits tremendous influence in shaping the next generation of evangelical leaders.

A burly man with a charming smile, Caner is an eloquent speaker and an even better storyteller. He blends the Gospel with humor. He’s a big fan of Glenn Beck and NASCAR. He speaks about love. He tweets. And, he is well-liked by his students. In the five years that he’s been at Liberty, the school’s enrollment has nearly tripled.

Caner is a protégé of Paige Patterson, the controversial and successful leader of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, who is perhaps best known for forcing the Southern Baptist Convention into the political right. Paterson spoke at the school’s commencement this year.

By the time he came to Liberty University, a Baptist school in Lynchburg, Virginia founded by the late Reverend Jerry Falwell, Caner had already become a prolific writer. He and his brother had written several books aimed at evangelical audiences. Many of the books recounted their paths to Christ. It’s hard not to be moved by the narrative — true or not.

Born in Turkey to a religious father, a muezzin (one who performs the call to prayer), Caner grew up detesting the United States and all it stood for. He learned bits and pieces about his future homeland from watching the Dukes of Hazzard. During his teenage years, his family immigrated to the United States. His father came here to spread the message of Islam and build mosques.

During his senior year in high school, his life changed. Caner found Christ. A friend, “a solitary Christian boy,” refused to take no for an answer and insisted that Caner learn about Christianity. He invited him to his tiny store-front church where Caner talked to the pastor, a man with a sixth grade education who questioned him about his firmly-held convictions. Caner was amazed to discover the true teachings of a faith he had been trained his whole life to hate. He accepted Christianity, as did his two brothers, Emir and Erdem.

When he told his father, he was disowned. It was, he writes, a difficult experience for young Ergun, who didn’t speak to his father for many years. In one of his books, he writes, “For the other 95 percent of the world’s population, conversion to Jesus Christ often means disowning, disinheritance, expulsion, arrest, and even death.” But he was resolute in his newfound faith and was willing to give it all up for eternal salvation. Caner and his younger brother Emir (president of Truett-McConnell College, a small Bible college in Cleveland, Georgia) became shining examples to evangelicals.

If a hardened and hidebound jihadist “trained to do that which was done on 11 September” could come around to accepting Christ, the logic went, it proved beyond doubt that the message of Christ was universal.

The main problem with Caner’s journey from Jihad to Jesus is that much of it is fiction, a complex lie made up to give his conversion more authenticity. He fabricated almost everything. For someone who allegedly fought jihad, Caner’s understanding of the very basic tenets of the faith he is a so-called expert in is rudimentary.

Caner does not know the difference between Islam’s article of faith and the first chapter of the Qur’an. He’s claimed that the lunar month of Ramadan lasts for 40 days. In his book, he writes that he performed all of the rakats (daily prayers). The actual word is salah. It’s not a difference most people would know, but he says he is an expert on Islam. Muslims, he once said, followed something he called the “tobaad.” He’s claimed to have debated Muslim scholars who’ve never heard of him. Court records from his parent’s divorce indicate that he was in Ohio when he was a young child, long before his alleged move from Turkey. On his books, his middle name is Mehmet (Muhammad in Turkish), yet it is listed as Michael on his concealed-weapons permit in Virginia. Before 9/11, he went by E. Michael Caner.

In one speech, Caner told a crowd that outside the mosque in Kabul there was a sign that read, “Do not teach the women to read and write.” The story may or may not be true, but Caner, to give authority to the tale, told the crowd what was written in the native tongue: “bahasha uwtara muwtara seeteeroh.” That’s neither Dari nor Arabic nor Urdu nor Turkish nor Pashtu. It is an entirely made up language.

To his audience, Caner’s tale of moving from darkness to light reaffirmed their convictions about the superiority of Christianity and the decadence of Islam. But the facts eventually caught up with Caner, thanks to a Muslim student in London who methodically went through his speeches and interviews, chronicling each and every one of his lies. Others quickly piled on, including some within the church.

Ironically, in 2005, Caner came to the defense of Florida-based preacher Jerry Vines who angered the Muslim community with his demonization of the Prophet Muhammad. A piece in the Florida Times-Union quoted Caner, who defended Vines by saying, “No one expected a Baptist preacher to actually research.”

That’s precisely why Caner’s duplicitous persona went unchallenged for so long. No one expected a preacher to so boldly fabricate his entire background. It was all a ruse, intended to play off the evangelical movement’s ignorance and fear of Islam.

For months, Liberty University refused to investigate Caner’s background. Now that local press and even the Associated Press have written about the controversy, the school has set up a committee to investigate the allegations. If they excuse his behavior, they risk tarnishing their credibility. If they punish him, they risk provoking the anger of the evangelical community.

An unrepentant Caner maintains his innocence, saying that he “never intentionally misled anyone.” He blames the campaign to discredit him on Calvinists and their Muslim interlocutors. At the same time, many of his duped followers are refusing to accept reality. They are taking their anger out on those who have exposed the fraud and not on the charlatan himself.

Interview with Tacoma Poet Laureate Tammy Robacker

Electric Elliot — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:00:35 +0000

Just weeks after being announced Tacoma’s 3rd Poet Laureate at Poetry in the 253, Tammy Robacker joined Electric Elliot in the Melon studio to chat about her wonderful achievement, her plans as Poet Laureate and to learn more about Tammy Robacker the poet.

Completely unique from our previous Poet Laureates, Tammy’s work delicately develops clear moving pictures and presses the reader to make those images dance. The focus on craft and development is evident in the art of a focused and experienced poet. Take a listen to our interview to learn more and hear Tammy read a couple pieces from her book The Vicissitudes.

Download audio file (TammyRobackerFINAL.mp3)
Download mp3

Note: There are some unfortunate audio glitches towards the end of the recording…

Mouth & Mics: Poetry in the 253 (Full Event Video)

Electric Elliot — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:00:09 +0000

On Saturday, April 28th, in celebration of National Poetry Month, the Washington State History Museum hosted Mouths & Mics: Poetry in the 253, a collaborative event featuring 7 talented Tacoma poets and an abundance of local artists and musicians. Hosted by Antonio Edwards, Poetry in the 253 took art form to new heights, as Tacoma poets enhanced their timeless pieces using visual imagery, theater, dance, lighting and music.

Featuring performances by: Kiah lee, Emilie Rommel Shimkus, Elliot Trotter, Josh Rizeberg, Ariel Zimmer, Korama Williams, Zeek Green, Antonio Edwards, Colin Cronin, Mark Monlux, Lee Sledd, Tammy Robacker and more, Poetry in the 253, kicked ass. Everyone brought something fantastic to the equation and all of collaborations were out of sight. Anyone who missed out on seeing this live really missed out.

The evening was capped with the passing of the poetic torch to the 2010 Urban Grace Soul of the City Tacoma Poet Laureate Tammy Robacker.

The Melon was on site to film and document this awesome occasion. Thanks to Antonio Edwards for his work making this happen and Adam the Alien for his photography work.

Tacoma’s $2000 Puma Album Released!

Electric Elliot — Sat, 01 May 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Born on the campus of the University of Puget Sound, $2000 Puma has just released their freshman album “Last Night’s Kill”, streaming free on bandcamp. Sometimes loud and angry, but often solemn and ponderous, “LNK” presents a young band unabashed about what it is and the type of music it intends to play.

Having seen Puma live, “LNK” captures the same energies and careful releases of beautiful emotion that beam off the stage. Polished or not, Puma’s “LNK” is raw and real, just the type of release we’d expect from the creative-core of area 253.

Helmed by Greg Merrell on vocals, guitar and numerous other instruments, the band features other UPS talents in Jake Berenbeim, Mark Maples, Sean Bernfeld and Charlie Bevis.

In the band’s own words:

$2,000 Puma is homemade eclectic electric indie rock music that will leave your temples drenched in sweat. Drawing from a variety of sounds, they have never stuck to a single genre. However, there is one commonality between their songs- they all rock hard. Their music is composed of spacey then rocking-effect-tripped-out-noisy guitar, groovy-jazzy-funky bass, explosively intricate jazzy and rocking drums, vocals with occasional vibrato application and the over-layering of synthesizer and simple guitar melodies. It pulls elements from Jazz, Blues, Math-Rock, Dub, Glitchier Electronic, Folk, and just straight up rock and roll. Like many talented artists $2,000 Puma doesn’t restrict their music to a particular meter. Syncopated rhythms are a common thread in $2,000 Puma songs such as “The Seasons”, “Ultraviolet”, “Money/Love Problems”, and “Paladin-Drome”.

Although their album has just released, rumor has it that Puma is already no more. With band members no longer students at UPS, they are looking to go their separate ways. I had a quick Q & A exchange with Greg Merrell about the band, the album and the future:

The Melon: How was the band formed?

Greg Merrell: Jake and I got really angry and frustrated with Organic Chemistry and needed to vent somehow. We did so by playing really LOUD rock music. Then eventually started writing songs, playing with other people, and played our first “show” at a house party in January of ‘08.

What goes into a song/ How does one come about?

Well it really depends on the song…

As far as songwriting processes go, I would say a majority of songs come from my initial rough ideas and I put them into a loose structure. Then, Jake and I will play through them with Mark or Mark and Sean and they’ll come up with some finer details to add to the song. This was the case for these songs on the album – Vitamin R, Hummingbird, Vose & Sons, Miscreation, and You’re a Slave, You’re a Stone. Some songs have just come out of jam sessions and then were refined later like – Wake Up Call and Blues. McNulty and Pulse are both tracks that I purely did and Jake just added some percussion texture (Lion’s Roar).

Pulse actually has a pretty interesting story as to its origin. The original idea of that song came from Elliott Snyder noodling around on a guitar and I was sampling what he was playing through a kaoss pad. Then I subdivided that sample into an 11/4 (A) beat and a 4/4 (B) beat and the song alternates sections using those respective drum patterns. Then laid down a bass and vocal track. You can listen to that track on our muxtape, its called Sleep Serene. Then later Jake and I recreated that song to perform live and it turned into a different song. We tried to record that version of the song and it didn’t really work out… so we took samples of that take and made it into an interlude.

It’s really interesting when you go to record these songs though because they take a bit of a new form (like I was explaining for Pulse). Vose & Sons was a song that was just recorded as it was written.

What is the future of Puma?

Well… unfortunately the puma is done but I’m sure we’ll play in other projects as time goes on. Jake and I have an agreement that if we ever happen to be in the same city or near by we’ll play music together again.

Sean and I currently play in a project called Redolent Entropy (redolententropy.muxtape.com/) with Nico Sophiea and Colin Taggart. I’ll always be working on recording projects with a friend of mine Greg Harpel who lives in Portland called Mellowtron and the Harp (mellowtron.muxtape.com/).

Any other projects on the horizon?

Not really. Marks going to Taiwan, Sean to St. Louis, Jake to Denver, and I’m heading off to Shanghai, China.

What’s the goal of this album? – take that one as you will.

The goal of our music has always been to express ourselves as musicians and as people. To bare our souls if you will. I think that’s definitely the goal of this album and I feel like it’s been accomplished.

Artists you compare Puma to?

Heh… that’s an interesting turn on the infamous “influences” question. I would just compare aspects of songs of ours to artists. The last song = Radiohead. Miscreation = Grizzly Bear meets Elliot Smith. Blues = Kusikia meets Black Keys meets some doom metal band. Hummingbird = Mice Parade meets Beruit meets The Globes – a Seattle band (specifically the track “The Glower”). Vose & Sons = some Jim O’Rourke instrumental. Its hard for me to think of some artists that Wake Up Call, Vitamin R and McNulty remind me of though…

Define $2,000 Puma in 3 words.

Pacific Northwest Rock.

Check out Puma’s full album @ http://2000puma.bandcamp.com/