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In the November 25th edition of The Nation, Sean Penn wrote an article concerning a trip that he, Douglas Brinkley, and Christopher Hitchens took together to Venezuela and Cuba to meet with Hugo Chávez and Raúl Castro, respectively.  Sean Penn has been at the forefront of celebrity critiques of the Bush Administrationâ??s policies in the Middle East and here at home, and so it really comes as no surprise that he has chummed up with two men with which the United States, at least ostensibly, has major clashes.  Of course, we still buy oil from Chávez, but weâ??ve maintained our embargo against Cuba in spite of the fact that Fidel is no longer in control. Sean Penn garnered attraction from Chávez from his early critiques of President Bush and his administration’s policies and has made several trips to Venezuela to meet with him.  He has also traveled to Iran.  On each of these trips, including the one to Cuba, he has traveled as a journalist, which is necessary if you don’t want the U.S. Government coming after you for traveling to restricted nations.  I am aware of how politically charged of a figure Penn has become, and so I want to focus more on his trip and the things that were revealed during his interviews than on his politics.  But a few things, nonetheless, just to make sure I’m exposing all potential bias.  Penn acknowledges during the section of the article concerning Castro that he is glad that he lives in a nation that allows him to print things critical of the government and that he most likely would be detained or jailed for writing such things as a journalist in Cuba.  His rhetoric concerning both Chávez and Castro can be a bit fawning, but never becomes as irritating as I’m sure it could have been.  During the Chávez interview, Hitchens maintains his acerbic style of questioning and thus gives balance to Penn’s all too soft approach. There were three things of interest that I learned from this article.  Thing #1: Chávez is a big fan of John F. Kennedy and thinks that The Alliance for Progress was a positive step for North and South America.  The Alliance for Progress was Kennedyâ??s brainchild and was intended to act as a buffer between Communist Cuba and the rest of South America, which the Alliance was hopefully, among other things, going to turn into a bunch of democratic countries.  While many critics of what some have called American â??Imperialismâ? have highlighted the Alliance as a prime example, if one looks over the intended goals of the Alliance, one can see how a democratic socialist leader such as Chávez would approve of such a policy.  (The Wikipedia article on The Alliance for Progress should provide those unfamiliar with the project with enough information, but I suggest reading some source material and following the references and links at the bottom for a more well-rounded view of the Alliance.) Thing #2: The United States refused to send any aid to Cuba after the same series of hurricanes that ripped our coasts to shreds steamrolled the entire country of Cuba, in spite of the fact that Fidel Castro made an offer to send aid after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.  The part about New Orleans isnâ??t in the article, but I remember hearing about it on the news at the time of the hurricane.  I was reminded of it again when I read this article.  I donâ??t mean to say that the United States hasnâ??t given its fair share of humanitarian aid.  I just find it disappointing that we werenâ??t the â??bigger manâ? and didnâ??t return the favor that Castro, a man who clearly opposed to our democratic aims, offered in the wake of our own catastrophe. Thing #3: Castro isn’t as eager to jump into bed with Obama as a lot of conservative pundits would have many believe.  We’ve maintained an economic embargo on Cuba for decades now.  It is difficult to ascertain the actual reason for our embargo.  The official position of the United States is that it wants to bring democracy to the Cuban people.  But this could hardly be the reason.  After all, we trade with China, a country that is known to violate as many human rights as Cuba.  We trade with Russia, which appeared to get a little better for a few years after the Cold War ended, but it’s government has recently began resembling an institutionalized mafia more than a democracy, which they supposedly still are.  Obama has stated that he would maintain the embargo on Cuba.  Obviously, he needed to say that to win Florida in the election, and Castro admits as much. He says that he’s willing to meet with Obama, but his reservations are apparent.  Cuba still doesn’t altogether trust our government. I would love to see the embargo against Cuba lifted in my lifetime.  Cuba used to be one of the most culturally rich countries in the Caribbean, and after years of being cordoned off from the world, it has maintained its cultural awareness.  Its people are united and proud to be Cuban.  In the U.S., we hear a lot about those who leave Cuba.  Make no mistake; Cuba is strong, and its people love their leaders.  Obviously, some of this has to do with propaganda and the iron fist (or at least a really hard wooden fist) with which the country is ruled.  But one shouldn’t forget that even people who are oppressed to the point of starvation, which Cubans are surely not, will find the strength to rise up and crush their oppressors.  I began by talking about both Venezuela and Cuba, and ended up mainly talking about Cuba, and that’s fine.  I’ll post again sometime on the Chávez problem.  For now, keep Cuba in your mind.  Consider the plight of its leaders.  We may disagree with them, but we are forgoing a potentially brilliant relationship with a beautiful people in the process.  What will it take for it to end?

It would be a lie if I said that I didn’t understand why folks think that ska is a joke, a niche that doesn’t matter, a dance hoax. I really do. But people who think that way probably have no idea what a ska band sounds like. And some of those people probably like Sublime (which is really inexcusable), rationalizing it by pretending they were a reggae band with rock tendencies.

For those that know and care, the English Beat began touring again a few years back – they even shared the stage with Devo for a bit. This winter though, the two tone act are planning a set of dates with none other than Bad Manners - who actually come closer to the generally perceived notion of what ska is, although the band predated the ‘90s explosion by a good twenty years or so.

And while this news alone is probably worth being passed along, the Three Floors of Ska show will play host to both of these groups as well. Slated to appear along side their British brethren are the Hub City Stompers (former Inspector 7), Hellcat Record’s Westbound Train, King Django (who has recorded with Rancid), the Allstonians and a host of others.

This yearly show has grown over the past few installments and has become a mainstay of the American ska back drop. Playing host each year is the Knitting Factory (NYC), but recent online references to the show have referred to it as the last of them. There isn’t really any explanation posted anywhere, so for the time being, it seems like it’s over. At least there’s still the High Desert Ska Festival to look forward to every year.

Emcee and producer Sole has had a rather remarkable decade. His label, Anticon, has risen to the vanguard of underground hip-hop amidst his innumerable album releases.

The underground though can be divided up into two categories – and for the most part it seems that this division can be guided by race. Really in this day and age that’s pretty ridiculous, but if you’ve ever been to a show by an Anticon crew member, the audience is overwhelmingly white. That’s not good or bad – but I guess than that Anticon is at the vanguard of white, underground hip-hop.

Now that that’s sorted out, Sole (aka Tim Holland, man’sbestfriend) has released such a volume of projects that it really is ostensibly impossible to keep track of them all. Since he’s begun working with the Skyrider Band, the pace hasn’t seemed to slow up too much. After touring on their first collaboration, Sole and company has assembled a remix album with a good number of Anticon folks represented (Telephone Jim Jesus, Dosh, Odd Nosdam) as well as some less well known producers like Thavius Beck.

The interesting aspect of this release is two fold. Firstly, Sole founded and ran (runs?) Anticon, so the emergence of his own imprint, Black Canyon Records, is confusing – maybe it’s just me though. Second, in the digital promo of the new disc, Sole beings by saying that in sending digital promos, they’ve decided to use a new model. He then goes on to explain that the model isn’t actually new at all, but you can download the disc anyways. Along with the downloadable tracks is a note. It reads as follows:

thank you for downloading this promo. i aplogize if the "this is a promo" gets annoying, but thats kind of the point. we wanted people to get a chance to download and preview the record, but in order for us to continue to afford to make music it is important that people support our releases, especially in these rough times. the record drops on february 3rd, so preordering guarantee it'll arrive at your doorstop early.

Ignoring the fact that there isn’t any capitalization, it seems that Sole and company feel the economic downturn as much as anyone else. But by judging by turnout from recent tours, no one would have guessed.

Whereas the original LP wasn’t rock oriented, it involved a band of musicians. These remixes though are supposed to be IDM as opposed to Sole’s own unique downer hip hop of lore. It ends up sounding more far afield from the original work than Sole’s other recorded work, but good nonetheless.