The Contrarian

Do you know what it is? My boss at FMC, Ann Chaitovitz, does some ’splainin’ at Huffington Post:

Who gets paid when “Respect” is played on terrestrial radio? You might think it’s Aretha Franklin, the artist whose soulfully commanding vocal made it one of the most indelible tunes of any era. Nope. Since the late Otis Redding wrote the song, his estate gets the spoils (as does his publisher). While no one would deny Otis his due, Aretha’s performance is a huge part of that recording’s success. Her contribution is recognized by satellite radio and webcasters, who pay a royalty to Aretha and her label when the tune is broadcast. Terrestrial radio, however, fails to compensate her.

Full disclosure: I had a hand in writing this thing. This graf is the giveaway:

Just like all other types of U.S. copyrighted works, sound recordings should have a performance right. Entertainment is America’s number one export, yet the U.S. stands alone in the industrialized world by not requiring radio stations to pay for the use of copyrighted sound recordings — putting us in such exalted company as North Korea, Iraq and Iran. Call it an axis of exploitation.

If you’re interested in music business stuff, you can check out the whole piece here.

(Oh, and FMC is about to launch a new website, so we can finally kiss that web 1.0 design goodbye!)

For those current and ex-Vermont readers out there, unfortunate news today that former Seven Days political columnist Peter Freyne has passed away.

Those familiar with 7D know Freyne for his witty, barbed coverage of the VT political scene. He had a style of writing and reporting that made the daily banalities of Burlington and Montpelier government sparkle. It’s no wonder he was consistently voted the top VT journalist in yearly best-of polls.

To many of us young writers that worked with Freyne he was constantly an enigma, frequently an inspiration and occasionally a right bastard. The dude knew his craft and was dedicated to his writing in the way that far too few are.

He will be missed.

Seven Days has an official obit here.

The word inversion has two opposing meanings when viewed from the perspective of the Western Yoga tradition. In Hatha yoga, an inversion is an Asana in which the feet (or heart, depending on who you ask) are above the head.

The purpose of the inversion of Hatha yoga is to renew, refresh and change perspective. Going upside down, whether in simpler forms such as downward dog or more difficult inversions such as headstand, brings fresh blood to the brain, releases pressure from the feet, and builds core muscles. It also redirects the usual flow of spiritual energies and provides a different view of the world. It is recommended that every person with the physical ability (easy there, Angler) should spend 10 minutes in an inversion every day.

Shifting to another branch of Western Yoga, the pentagram is one of the oldest, and most powerful, symbols in the magickal tradition. It represents the perfection of the natural world. The five equidistant lines that form the star represent the perfect balance of the elements: earth, air, fire, water and spirit. Inverting the pentagram is a sign of working against nature, of perverting the balance for personal gain.

In Hatha inversions, you are doing good things for mind and body by shifting energy and blood. In black magick, the inversion represents perversion of the perfect. The first, I recommend wholeheartedly. The second, not at all. Perhaps, given the actual meaning of an inverted pentagram (or cross, flag, etc.), the word subverted would be more accurate, as you are overthrowing the original meaning of a symbol.

Anyone else come across any good autantonyms lately?

Sad news today that Ron Asheton, guitarist for the Stooges, passed away at his home in the Motor City. He was 60 years old. 

I trust any self-respecting Contrarian follower will have already spent many late, sloppy nights with Iggy and the Ashetons. If, however, any of you out there aren’t deeply familiar with the Stooges records (well, except for the last one) you are wasting your time reading this post. In an increasingly hype-heavy world these boys deserve every slobber.

RIP, Ron.

. . .And gosh darn it, he’s your new United States Senator from Minnesota! And by 225 votes, at that. For my money, of which there is very little, I’d take an entire Senate made up of ex-Saturday Night Live cast members.

[Editor's Note: Al may be certified, but those wily Repubs are gonna keep this tied up in the courts for a while. We'll be lucky if we see Franken in DC before Labor Day.]