ALSO JONESY'S DJING IN NEW YORK ON THE 25TH - SEE YOU THERE

Fascinating to learn of the attribution debate.

1. Ol' PJ's got a new hip-hop mix for you, so go get it. He writes:

I got into hip-hop in high school right around the time of getting my turntables, but from a DJ standpoint I approached it with a very un-hip-hop mentality. I never had any doubles routines or even attempted to learn to scratch, I was just content, as I am now, to get a nice flow going. Apart from the recent vintage of the songs, this mix could have been the product of a 16-year-old Jones (or Turnstyle, as I called myself back then) bedroom session. It's definitely not going to be heavy in the streets and because of its construction, pacing, lack of sound FX and drops, and complete absense of any actual DJ trickery, the songs are really the only thing that make it a hip-hop mix. But here it is! What an occasion.

In other Jones news, he'll be back East for a few nights next month. More on that later on.

2. Writing in Slate, Deborah Blum explores how and why the federal government deliberately killed 10,000 Americans via poisoning during Prohibition.

Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.

3. Newly released color footage of JFK & Jackie arriving in Dallas on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963. Fifteen-year-old Ward Warren captured the couple, along with VP LBJ, exiting Air Force One and making their way through an adoring crowd. It's remarkable to watch - incredibly melancholy, as we of course know the impending horror that a smiling Kennedy could not. The colors, too: the blue sky, the fuzzy pink of Jackie's coat and hat.

4. E.J. Dionne Jr. - one of my favorite columnists - on what's wrong with the Democrats as of late:

On health care, months of delay in a futile quest for Republican support got the Democrats the worst of all worlds. The media gave them no credit for reaching out to the other side but did blame them for an ugly, gridlocked process.

The demands of moderate Democrats for concessions -- remember the politically lethal Nebraska payoff for Sen. Ben Nelson? -- made the process look even seamier. The bill's conservative opponents shrewdly focused on such side issues and on made-up issues such as the "death panels." Nobody wants to admit that on health care the moderates won all the big fights. Single-payer was out at the start. The public option died. A Medicare buy-in died. The number of Americans who would be covered shrank. The insurance companies kept their antitrust exemption. If a bill eventually becomes law -- as it must if the Democrats are not to look like a feckless, useless lot -- the final proposal will be much closer to the moderate Senate version than to the more progressive bill passed by the House.

And if the Republicans refuse to cooperate, this will not mean that the bill isn't moderate. It will mean only that Republicans refuse to vote for a moderate bill.

5. Relatedly - and this should be read immediately following Dionne's op-ed - here's Jonathan Chait on the impending conservative freakout over the use of reconciliation to tweak the provisions of health care bills that have already passed the House and Senate:

Some of us realized all along that there was no rational reason that the Massachusetts election had to kill health care reform. Fundamentally, the main barrier -- getting sixty votes in the Senate -- had already been crossed. The remaining obstacles are puny. All the Democrats needed to do was have the House pass the Senate bill. If they insisted on changes, most of those could easily be made through reconciliation, which only requires a majority vote in the Senate. Most conservatives paid no attention to this basic reality, though they did indulge in some gloating mockery of those of us who pointed it out. (I've "gone off the deep end." "It is all rather pathetic." Etc.)


But the mustache-twirling bonhomie has started to give way to the realization that the legislative door to health care reform is wide open, and Democrats simply need to walk through it. By no means is it clear that they'll succeed. But I've been waiting for conservatives, filled with hubris at having swept liberalism into the dustbin of history, to wake up to the fact that health care reform is very far from dead, and start to freak out.

caps (9:46:31 AM): hi
finny (9:46:35 AM): hi
caps (9:46:43 AM): it's me
finny (9:48:11 AM): i know

Just dug the car out of the bank. I got lazy - all "fuck Brooklyn; these fuckers don't know snow like me CAN I LIIIIIIIIIVE" - and so I didn't touch the car all week after alternate side parking was suspended on Wednesday. Today my car was encased in a couple feet of dirty-ass ice chunks and I hacked it out with a plastic shovel while the block scoffed at me behind venetian blinds in upstairs windows. The sun sank while I labored, and by the time I had secured my ride everything was a soft blue. Now I'm indoors to watch the last Sabres game before the break - desperately needed, long-awaited for my hurting squad.

Links:

1. Stayed in to watch the Olympics opener last night; here's my write-up for the Bloglin.

2. Friend-of-el-stence and excellent photographer James Ryang went to Korea and Japan in December. His pictures from the trip are mesmerizing.

3. Disguised weapons.

4. Computer engineer Barbie.

5. "Sign Out" by Josef Schulz.

caps (10:47:12 AM): if we get a dog
caps (10:47:16 AM): can we name him "Yeller"
finny (10:47:24 AM): depends on the dog
finny (10:47:29 AM): but i dont think so
caps (10:47:33 AM): o
finny (10:47:38 AM): thats like getting a dog and namin it lassie
caps (10:47:55 AM): no not "OL YELLER"
caps (10:47:58 AM): just "YELLER"
caps (10:48:45 AM): then when it gets old, then maybe we could call him Ol Yeller
caps (10:48:58 AM): until then he would be regular Yeller
caps (10:49:08 AM): also: I want a yellow dog

Item from today's Buffalo News:

Marijuana possession charged after traffic stop
Updated: February 09, 2010, 6:39 am
Published: February 09, 2010, 12:30 am

WHEATFIELD-- A motorist stopped on Luther Street for having heavily tinted windows ended up in heavy trouble Sunday after Niagara County sheriff's deputies said they noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from his vehicle and a large amount of ashes on his lap.

Asked by deputies if he was "done smoking," Alexander T. Skupien, 18, of Forbes Street, North Tonawanda, turned over a bag in his center console, which he explained was for him and his friends for a concert, and "cost him 200 buckaroos," deputies reported. "Any chance of letting bygones being bygones and letting me have it back?" he asked deputies, according to reports.

Deputies confiscated the pot, which they said had a total weight of more than 25 grams, and charged Skupien with fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana after the 2:30 a. m. traffic stop.

He was further charged with driving without a seat belt, inadequate windshield wipers, operating an unregistered motor vehicle and tinted side windows.

Kinda like they pulled over Anchower or Spiccoli.

Once again, my man Phil from Black Rock is hosting the best damn Super Bowl party in Buffalo. And once again, I'll be stuck in Brooklyn - but if you're in the Greater Buffalo Metropolitan area, getcher ass over there! This is the place to be at 6:25 PM Sunday. Oh man I wish I could be there. Go in my stead - tell 'em ol' Caps sent ya! They'll slap you on the back in a welcoming fashion, say "Hell yeah," and welcome you on in.

Here's Phil with the the details:

The best Super Bowl party in Western New York is back in 2010 and we'd like to once again extend an invitation to all of you!

What began as a house party nearly a decade ago has evolved into Buffalo's premier attraction on Super Sunday. The 2010 edition is dubbed the "Marshall Goldberg Memorial Super Bowl Party," in honor of the legendary Chicago Cardinals running back and WWII Veteran. So come in, get warm, get fed, watch the game with a friendly crowd, and leave with an armful of prizes at the end of the night. This year's big winner will walk out of the place with a Playstation 3!

For the price of admission you get:
--> Free Food
--> A commemorative all-access party pass
--> $2 beverages all night, including top-shelf
--> Access to Raffles, Games & Prizes
--> A chance to win a Playstation 3

The date is Sunday, February 7th , 2010. Gates open at 4pm. Party passes can be bought in advance at Voelker's Bar, from Phil or Christy for $10, or at the door on game day for $20. Voelker's Bowling Center is located at the corner of Elmwood & Amherst, Buffalo, NY 14207. For more info email Phil at urban.phil@gmail.com.

Free food AND two bucks for top shelf at Voelkers? Holy moly. You could wake up with that exquisite caliber of hangover that only comes from quality alcohol AND find yourself lying in bed with your new PS3! Hot damn!

Back in Brooklyn, me and Finny and the gang are planning a smaller but equally enjoyable evening. We call it the Superb Owl party, out of a recognition that until my Buffalo goddamn Bills are in the Super Bowl, the game's strictly for the birds. Well, if Finny's Vikings had made it, that mighta warranted the title. At any rate, here's the flyer my talented spouse cooked up:

I stumbled upon this almost comically maudlin scene walking home on 4th Ave through Sunset Park just now. I looked over both shoulders, wondering if it was a set-up. But no one was to be seen. This is how it's going down tonight.