Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Also, are you sure you want people to rate your comments?

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Music & Postcards Thread

Music & Postcards Thread

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POSTCARDS / WISCONSIN ELECTION April 4

This time around, postcards are one way we can make a difference.

Addresses are from Voces de la Frontera.  If you want to write postcards, send email to WaterGirl at balloon-juice.com and let us know your nym, which campaign you want to write for and how many addresses you would like to start with.

You can start writing at any time.  Details at the link.

Postcards + Instructions for Wisconsin

Reader Interactions

56Comments

  6. 6.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Music OT

    I realize that these songs don’t fall within the singer songwriter category. This setlist is my tribute to Bethany Mandel’s marvelous, deer-in-the-headlights meltdown on the Hill’s Rising program when she was asked to provide a definition for the word “woke”.

    I Can’t Explain – The Who

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voMja9C-coI

     

    Stage Fright – The Band

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZMfZe7OFFk

     

    Dazed And Confused – Led Zeppelin

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w772GXG5LnE

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    @Wyatt Salamanca: Since brendan didn’t make it with his playlist, I removed that part from the post.

    So any music is fine

    edit: oops, I see that while I intended to delete the singer-songwriter portion or the post, my keyboard when rogue and I delete the wrong part.  Remedied now.

  12. 12.

    Mousebumples

    I’m here. Just been a crazy last few days.

    Follow up from Tuesday’s thread – I’ve broken a bone in my arm near the elbow. Doing much better now, only a few days later, and no cast needed, at least.

    And, in other news, my husband and I tested positive for Covid yesterday. We’ve avoided it for 3 years, but no longer. We haven’t tested the kids but my guess is they got it from the nanny, and we got it from them. Thankfully, we’re mostly doing okay. My husband has all the weird taste/no smell stuff, but otherwise, mostly just coldlike symptoms.

    So far as postcards go, I dropped off my first batch of 160, I think, earlier this week and restocked my stamp supply. Got another 38 out for Jodi this morning, and I’m working on my 10 Spanish postcards next, to mail on Monday, hopefully.

    I see PtV is doing a campaign for Jodi, too, so hopefully we’ve got an avalanche of postcards incoming to Wisconsin… 🤞

  16. 16.

    BlueGuitarist

    Writing postcards in Spanish
    with these fabulous Playing for Change (PfC) videos:
     Guantanamera

    https://youtu.be/blUSVALW_Z4

    La Bamba
    Los Lobos, La Marisoul, and musicians from Veracruz Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, and Mali 
    https://youtu.be/k5dkwQY-_tk

    Oye Como Va
    Carlos Santana (guitar) Cindy Blackman Santana (drums), Tal Wilkenfeld (bass), Tito Puente, Jr. (percussion), Cory Henry (keyboards), and many others, from New Orleans, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Haiti, the Congo, and Bahrain
    https://youtu.be/NJZW8U9bbmM

  19. 19.

    Amir Khalid

    Bruce Springsteen’s acoustic/folk music often gets overlooked by fans who think of him as a rocker. But here’s Dry Lightning from his Ghost of Tom Joad album, gracefully covered by Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris.

  23. 23.

    BlueGuitarist

    Ben Wikler, Wi Dem chair, had said that the main priorities for this election were
    statewide: the Wisconsins Supreme Court
    state Senate district 8
    local elections, especially Eric Genrich for mayor of Green Bay

    Very pleased the addresses I got for Spanish language postcards are in Green Bay

    so, as with super swing districts, can focus on turning out voters who can cast multiple votes in swing elections:

    in Green Bay for Eric Genrich for mayor and Judge Janet for Justice and
    in SD-08 for Jodi for Senate and Judge Janet for Justice

  24. 24.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Do y’all know Andrew Bird?  Amazing singer/songwriter, violinist and whistler.

    You might like him.  He has a ton of material out there but here are some of his better, more folky ones:

    Masterfade

    Lazy Projector (40 second intro)

  26. 26.

    PaulB

    @WaterGirl:  That seems harsh!  Not comforting at all to the firstborn.  I guess that’s where the comedy part comes in?

    It’s definitely comedy. As they say in their intro, “There are thousands and thousands of lullabies, songs written to lull your children to sleep. There are very few, if any, songs designed to wake your children up.”

  29. 29.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Mousebumples:

    re broken bone and Covid: yikes, so sorry

    awesome that you’re getting so much done in these circumstances, but take care of yourself, and
    as Bob Dylan put it in Forever Young,   

    “always do for others and let others do for you”

    Mailed my (first?) 49 for Janet and Jodi in SD-08
    hoping to finish my (first?) 40 for Janet and Eric in Green Bay.

  33. 33.

    kalakal

    @Mousebumples: Sorry to hear about the Covid. My wife and I got it about 6 weeks ago after 3 clear years. I hope it’s as mild for you both as it was for us. Basically cold & sore throat. I was fine after a week or so, my wife had a bad case of the sniffles for a few weeks

  34. 34.

    mvr

    We finished and mailed our first 50 for Supreme Court this past week and i have (by email) put in a small request for a few more (but not more than we can do in a day or so given other commitments). No hurry as it will be tomorrow before we will do them.

    Also, on the Steve Earle theme, his two Iraq War albums were, along with Balloon Juice, a couple of the things that kept me sane in the early to mid aughts. As well as James McMurtry. More of a Rock thing than just singer/songwriter, though of course they both are singers and songwriters.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    @Mousebumples: Oh right, you did get a few spanish cards, so as long as your addresses are in Green Bay, you are welcome to add Eric for mayor.

    When BlueGuitarist asked about that, I got the correct wording from Voces for that.

    English: “And by the way, don’t forget to vote for Eric Genrich!”
    Spanish: “Y por cierto, ¡no olvide votar por Eric Genrich!”
  38. 38.

    mvr

    @Mousebumples: ​
     Sorry to hear about bones and covid. Glad that the bone seems to not need a cast.

    I got my first bout in early February. I was fully vaxed and it wasn’t too severe, though I notice that I got tired a bit earlier than usual on our regular walk on the prairie a week or so back which is 3 weeks later.

    I recommend paxlovid if you can get it. Leaves a horrible taste in one’s mouth but we avoided anything too dire possibly as a result or possibly as a result of the prior vaccinations. In any case I was OK enough to work around the house while I was isolating at home. But I’m old so it was not hard to get antivirals via telemedicine. It may be different if you are younger. I don’t know.

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    @Mousebumples: Interesting.

    I have been handing out Brown County – for Spanish cards

    and

    the OH Indivisible group took all 1800+ addresses for Racine.

    and

    I have been handing out Milwaukee for everyone else.

    If you want to check on the the other mayoral race (Racine vs. Kenosha)… if it turns out to be Racine I could give a heads up to the Indivisible group that is writing for Racine.

    But i know you have a lot on your plate, so don’t worry about it if it’s not convenient.

  45. 45.

    mvr

    @WaterGirl: No “Wow” is appropriate really.  Jenny wrote most of them.  I’m finding writing by hand harder as I get older, at least writing so another person can read it.  I used to get held after school for penmanship in grade school. So I mostly print. But I think old age and lack of practice makes that harder than it used to be.  I don’t think Jenny finds it easier, but she has a bit more grit about this than I do.

  47. 47.

    Sure Lurkalot

    I’m a newbie postcarder so I asked WG for (only) 20 addresses. I found the exercise fairly relaxing and listening to a podcast or music makes the time go fast. In short, hardly a chore. I’m a bit tied up to do more this election but I will definitely participate in other drives in the future. Maybe get some cooler pens.  Or make my own postcards.

    Thanks everyone.

  50. 50.

    Mousebumples

    @Sure Lurkalot: Thanks for the 20 postcards! As a Wisconsinite, I appreciate the effort!

    @WaterGirl: Haha, yeah. I didn’t have much room on my postcards, with the length of their Spanish text as is, but that was a quick translation I could do myself. Though I did double check tambien didn’t have an accent or anything that I’d forgotten about.

  53. 53.

    Mousebumples

    Thanks again to everyone for the chat and postcarding and music tonight! I’m off to bed – can’t speak for others but Covid is making me extra tired!

    Hope to see some/all of you for Tuesday’s music & postcarding thread!

  54. 54.

    Trivia Man

    Tonight I went to a live event, Pod Save America at the Barrymore. Ben Winkler, Mandela Barnes, and the three folks from PSA. Big take away is that in 2010 the progressive candidate was up by 9 points 2 weeks out, then a huge dump of out of state money came rushing in to goose republican turnout. If just one more voter turned out in every precinct – the state of Wisconsin would be in much better shape today.

    Special guest was Judge Janet and it was nice to hear her speak. She says “I can not promise anything” in regards to future cases, but she also indicates that her judicial philosophy tells her that some of the recent decisions were decided wrongly.

    A full house, very white crowd, a lot of enthusiasm.

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