SamPratt.com

So says the Times

Reviewing last weekend’s Basilica Soundscape, music writer Ben Ratliff refers to “Hudson, where taste has become serious sport.”

Brooklyn’s loss is the Valley’s gain

The celebrated Brooklyn record shop Dope Jams lost its lease on bustling Myrtle Avenue—and has decided to move its entire operation to Oak Hill, about a 30-mile drive from Hudson... (A friend reports stumbling upon “about 200 hipsters dancing in the street” of the sleepy Greene County village during their grand reopening a couple of weekends ago.)

Get directions to their new digs at 7811 Main Street via this Google maps link.

Kirsten vs. The Internet

The Albany Times-Union reports that appointed Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (formerly of Greenport) is siding with Hollywood and music industry lobby groups over, well, pretty much everyone else when it comes to internet censorship. The PIPA and SOPA bills in Congress have inspired numerous sites (from Wikipedia to Boing Boing to Reddit) to go "dark" for the day. More than a passive supporter, Gillibrand actually co-sponsored PIPA in the Senate.

As if to illustrate what such censorship might be like, a reader reports that comments about these bills were being erased from Gillibrand's Facebook page, though now it appears they are coming too fast and furious for monitors to keep up with.

Public outcry has already caused some initial supporters, such as hosting provider Go Daddy, to withdraw support from these measures (which would help rich entertainment businesses eke out a modest improvement in profit, at the expense of free speech). A former attorney for Big Tobacco, Gillibrand has a history of changing her noxious positions if there is enough pressure: she formerly opposed gay marriage, and held anti-immigrant positions such as making English the "official" U.S. language.

But such pressure has rarely come from Hudson Valley Democrats, who have tended to value their personal access to a "local" politician over their own political principles. Will Columbia County Dems hold Kirsten's feet to the fire on this huge issue?

At this link Google has an action page for speaking out to Congress.

Setlist for a Hudson cover band

 

1. The Clash / Hudson Calling
2. The Smiths / Panic (on the streets of Hudson)
3. Electric Light Orchestra / Last Train to Hudson
4. Bob Dylan / Stuck Inside of Hudson with the Holcim Blues Again
5. Public Enemy / Black Steel (“Bass for your face, Hudson”)
6. Pet Shop Boys / 5th Ward Girls
7. Elvis Costello / Hallenbeck’s Army
8. Bob Marley / Concrete Jungle
9. The Cure / Fascination Street
10. Talking Heads / Take Me to the River
11. Encore: Journey / City by the Bay