the icarus line. sxsw 2004.
posted by Sam Velde on 7:57 PM

battles. cold sweat/buddyhead backyard party. austin, tx 2004
posted by Sam Velde on 7:56 PM

high on fire at emos. sxsw 2004
posted by Sam Velde on 7:55 PM

posted by Sam Velde on 7:47 PM

February 11, 2004 (67th anniversary of the Great Flint Sit-Down Strike)
An Open Letter from Michael Moore to George "I'm a War President!" Bush

Dear Mr. Bush,

Thank you for providing the illegible Xeroxed partial payroll sheets (or whatever they were) yesterday covering a few of your days in the National Guard. Now we know that, not only didn't you complete your tour of duty, you were actually paid for work you never did. Did you cash those checks? Wouldn't that be, um, illegal?

Watching the press aggressively demand the truth from your press secretary -- and refusing to accept the deceit, the dodging, and the cover-up -- was a sight to behold, something we really haven't seen since you took office (to watch or listen to the entire press conference, or to read the full transcript, go here).

More than one reporter pointed out that those pieces of paper your press secretary waved at them yesterday mean nothing. Even if they aren't forged documents, getting paid does not necessarily mean you showed up to do your duties. As retired Army Col. Dan Smith, a 26-year veteran, told the AP:

"Pay records don't mean anything except that you're in or you're out," said Smith. "It doesn't necessarily reflect what duty you've actually performed because pay records simply record your unit of assignment and then all of your pay and benefits per pay period."

Mr. Bush, this issue is not going to go away -- and I think yesterday's actions just dug you into a deeper hole. You're probably wondering why the heck this story won't just die. You probably thought that after I brought it up last month and then got slammed by Peter Jennings for uttering the "d" word, the whole matter would just disappear as fast as a bag of blow being thrown out the window of a speeding car on a deserted Maine highway.

But your "desertion" didn't go away -- and here's the reason why. You have sent countless numbers of our sons and daughters in the National Guard to their deaths in the last 11 months. You did this while misleading their parents and the nation with bogus lies about weapons of mass destruction and scary phony Saddam ties to al Qaeda. You sent them off to a never-ending war so that your benefactors at Halliburton and the oil companies could line their pockets. And then you had the audacity to prance around in a soldier's uniform on an aircraft carrier proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" -- while the cameras from your re-election campaign ad agency rolled.

THAT is what makes this whole business of your being AWOL so despicable, and makes the grief-stricken relatives want to turn away from you in disgust. The reason your skipping-out on your enlistment didn't matter in the 2000 election was because we were not at war. Being stuck in a deadly, daily quagmire now in 2004 makes your military history-fiction and your fly-boy costume VERY relevant.

You still have not answered the questions surrounding your National Guard "service." Let me repeat them as simply as I can for you (all of them based on the investigative work of the Associated Press and the Boston Globe):

1. How were you able to jump ahead of 500 other applicants to get into the Texas Air National Guard, thus guaranteeing you would not have to go to Vietnam? What calls did your father (who was then a United States Congressman representing Texas) make on your behalf for you to get this assignment?

2. Why were you grounded (not allowed to fly) after you either failed your physical or failed to take it in July 1972? Was there a reason you were afraid to take the physical? Or, did you take it and not pass it? If so, why didn't you pass it? Was it the urine test? The records show that, after the Guard spent years and lots of money training you to be a pilot, you never flew for the rest of your time in the Guard. Why?

3. Can you produce one person who can verify that he served with you in the Guard during the year that your Texas commanders said you did not show up? Why have you failed to bring forth anyone who served with you in the Guard while you were in Alabama? Why hasn't ONE SINGLE PERSON come forward?

4. Can you tell us what you did when you claim to have shown up in Alabama for Guard duty? What were your duties? You were grounded, so what did they have you do instead?

5. Where are the sign-up sheets that would have your name and service number on them for each weekend you showed up? Aaron Brown on CNN told us how, when he was in the reserves, he had to sign in each time he reported, and his guest from the Washington Post said, that's right, and there would be "four copies of that record" in the files of various agencies. Will you ask those agencies to release those records?

6. If you were in fact paid for that time when you apparently went AWOL, will you authorize the IRS to release your 1972-73 tax returns?

7. How did you get an honorable discharge? What strings were pulled? Who called who?

Look, I'm sorry to have put you through all this. I was just goofing around when I made that comment about wanting to see a debate between the general and the deserter. I had no idea that it would lead to this. And there you were, having to suffer through Tim Russert on Sunday, saying weird things like "I'm a war president!" I guess you believe that, or you want us to believe that. Americans have never voted out a Commander-in-Chief during a war. I guess that's what you're hoping for. You need the war.

But we don't. And our troops in the National Guard don't either. I know you see the writing on the wall, so why not come clean now? We are a forgiving people, and though you will not be returned to White House, you will find us grateful for a little bit of truth. Answer our questions, apologize to the nation, and bring our kids home.

Yours,

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com
posted by Sam Velde on 4:38 PM

feb 2004-
diggin..

bowles
stanley kubrick
enslaved
angels of light
jolie holland
cursed
canyon demo
battles live
rain in this dry desert of hollywood
21 grams
city of god

Bluebird had the pleasure of playing with BORIS in Tokyo last year. Here is a pic of Wata, Their effortless guitar player:

posted by Sam Velde on 7:57 PM

sam's top ten of 03 (in no order):
1.) constantines-shine a light
2.) tv on the radio-young liars
3.) animal collective-here comes the indian
4.) pleasure forever-alter
5.) khanate-things viral
6.) devendra banhart-black babies
7.) born against-re issues
8.) cedric im brooks-anthology
9.) rock city-rock city
10.) pentagram-first daze here

i had the pleasure of intereviewing j. spaceman last year. here's a pic of Spiritualized from that night:

posted by Sam Velde on 12:44 PM

quickness: sept 23rd. 2003-
yes new songs. yes new songs for tour.
summer is over. fall is beginning.
mars is slowly fading back into the atmosphere.
design for 'falling back to earth' vinyl is fucking killer.
video for 'falling back to earth' is fucking kill dead!

sam

n/p: CCR-willy and the poor boys

quick update: sept. 13th 2003-
we just finished some local shows here in los angeles. were presently working on new songs here in the bluebirdsounds/dark brown studios. we hit the road next month (oct.) for a few dates with friends LION FEVER. a new band from Portland, OR featuring members of vss/lost kids and pleasure forever. then back into the studio to create new sounds and sonics for the next bluebird explosion (album, tour, space travel, etc.). well update you on song titles and what not soon......when i figure out how to post MP3s and photos (as soon as possible).
im an ape in a white boy's costume!
sam

n/p 80's matchbox b-line disaster-horse of the dog
posted by Sam Velde on 11:14 AM

w. hollywood, CA Aug. 15th 2003 troubadour...set list:

1.space 2.bird on a wire (extended) 3.beautiful believer 4.le bitch 5.hereditary transmissions 6.rider 7.sundown 8.shedding skin (extended) 9.forms 10.get in 11.kill the lights.


posted by Sam Velde on 11:01 AM

august 10, 2003
some of you may or may not know that Barry Thomas is no longer playing in BLUEBIRD. due to immigration problems Barry has returned to Canada. Where he is now enrolled in University. Below is the set list from the last UK/European tour show, as well as Barry's last show with the band:

nottingham, england May 25 2003 old angel....set list:

1.black presence 2.shiny twitches 3.kill the lights 4.get in 5.falling back to earth 6.le bitch 7.rider 8.bird on a wire (extended version) 9.birth of inertia 10.genius 11.wrecking ball.


posted by Sam Velde on 3:10 PM