I don’t want to hear about the inner torment Tim Kaine is said to have about his role in allowing 11 men to be executed on his watch as governor of the state of Virginia. Citing his devout adherence to Catholicism, Kaine is on record saying he’s personally opposed to capital punishment. Yet, during a single four-year term as Virginia’s chief executive, Kaine refused to intervene as 11 death row inmates were put to death at the state’s snuff chamber at a large prison in Greensville County.
When Hil picked Kaine as her running mate last weekend, the Times went front page with a piece on Kaine’s pain vis-a-vis life and death decisions and his role in them. The paper published what felt like a sympathetic take on Kaine’s contradictory bystander stance on capital punishment given the way the political wind blows in his home state.
Both President Obama and Hillary used the term “progressive” in describing Kaine.
On the death penalty, Kaine has tried to play on both sides.
That’s not progressive.
-I’ll be anxious to hear reports from Woodsist Fest this week. Just a little more than 24 hours before it was to begin, Jeremy Earl and the Fest’s promoter Folk Yeah announced it was moving the two-day event to a site about 175 miles north of Big Sur because of spreading, mostly uncontained wildfires in the Soberanes Creek area. The new Fest space in Marin County is appropriately named (With Light and With) Love Field. Folk Yeah said ticket holders to the Fest can camp for free on the event’s grounds. The last-minute change to a site so close to San Francisco will perhaps not be problematic for those coming from the Bay Area but it will likely pose a challenge for attendees and performers launching from Los Angeles. Good luck to all those involved – especially Jeremy – who suddenly is forced to sweat a lot of logistical details.
-Soon after my favorite WNYU DJ Laura retired from her regular Friday shift on the New Afternoon Show, loyal listeners got an unanticipated middle-of-summer surprise with spot duty from music writer Jenn Pelly in Laura’s old time slot. Without any advanced word or fanfare, Pelly has appeared on 89.1 FM on two of the past three Friday afternoon shifts, playing extraordinary three-hour plus music sets. A few days ago, Pelly launched a block of music with a great song called “Buddy” sung/written by former WNYU music director and DJ Kayla Cohen (recording as Itasca). Pelly segued subsequently into K-Morb’s “Cut Me Down” and then a great tune by Gun Outfit. When melded with her writing gift, Pelly’s expansive taste range and dedication to attendance at gigs makes for an enthralling output when she does the live radio show. What a treat – and what a surprise to hear such great sounds and anecdotes on the traditional FM airwaves here in NYC.
-Viggo Mortensen wears a 1988 Jesse Jackson campaign t-shirt near the end of the great film Captain Fantastic. I saw the movie at the Sunshine on Houston with my Mom when she visited last week. Mortensen likely gets a best actor nomination as much for his facial expressions as for any other acting move he makes (there are many) throughout this thought-provoking flick set in the great Northwest. The movie’s closing scene is masterful for the amount of deep breathing it’s allowed to do before the credits roll.