Saturday 17 August 2013

The Delusional World of David Rovics



It must really fuck David ‘Blowing in the Wind’ Rovics off being American.  

Via his songs he doesn’t have a good word to say about the place he calls home, votes Democratic and pays taxes. 

But at least he does pay tax somewhere. 

He hoped to come to New Zealand and ply his trade and keep all the coin. 

Duplicitously rallies along with his followers against corporate greed in music yet is a tax dodger himself.  

Perhaps “the little bit” of money you made in N.Z could have translated into a “little bit” of tax towards our health system etc, eh Davy?  

Back to the facts, not hyperbole.

Our Immigration Service told Rovics the same as anyone else entering the country to work “you’ll need a work permit to do that” and off he trots into the world of paranoia implying it was a Governmental plot stemming via Washington to Wellington to have him banned.   

That’s delusion one.  

Funny how he was similarly banned from playing in that fellow puppet state of the CIA, Canada, for exactly the same reason?   

You would have thought a musician and his management team would have worked-out that a number of countries have different ‘sovereign’ employment rules and sort them out before you book a gig. If it's good enough for Devo and Radiohead to pay tax in New Zealand it's good enough for a c-grader like you. 

Psssst....let you into a secret...if you are going to take drugs it also doesn’t pay to boast about it on your blog site. 

No need to bug your phone, place agents on your tail 24/7 when the shadowy figures of our respective secret services can simply access your lifestyle on the internet.

Having our own laws has up-set Rovics who ingratiates himself with all Kiwis by describing the country as “three million people and 60 million sheep and is located in the middle of nowhere.”  

It’s 4.5 million and 40 million by the way Dave. 

Still going to a school system where the first thing they teach is “get under the desk Jimmy has his fathers hunting rifle” it wasn’t a bad guess.

One imagines the pissed-off Rovics penning a new ‘blowing in the wind’ folky ditty about New Zealand. 

‘Great Satan’s Kid Brother’ has a certain ring to it. 

The Occupy bunch will buy into it and everything you have to say about the evils of the country you carry a passport from, hate so much.   

Now to the all- important second strain of Rovics delusion.

The belief you are going to change the world singing this drively Woodstocky stuff. 

Musicians can change the world.  

Like fuck they can.  

The only people that listen to your stuff are ‘the converted’.  

The left-wing anti-American greenies at you first concert in New Zealand, inside a Nelson yurt, will be left-wing anti-American greenies before/after you began strumming and singing say the praises of that serial sex-offender Julian Assanges flunky Bradley Manning. 

I wonder if Rovics will now be changing the lyrics of his ‘theme’ song after the namesake is on record last week stating “I want to start off with an apology. I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States”? Still I suppose Manning was tortured.  

The barman at Nelsons Free House is hardly likely to sell his worldly goods, shack-up with some hairy arm-pitted hippy chick at an anarcho commune out the back of Motueka after listening to a Rovics concert.    

Spookily Rovics actually believes he is a threat to 'the system' and people are out to silence him.    

Another example of paranoia, what is going on in this guys head.   

He's started to believe his own rhetoric!   

Say bat-shit-stupid conspiracies that the U.S Government was behind 9/11 then weaving them in with German politics in the late 30's.



Mean-while back on planet Earth.

Attn Mr Rovics: The reason you get banned and searched at airports is you are unprofessional, you don’t do your homework before embarking on a world tour and write about your use of recreational drugs on a blog which any Customs official around the globe can gleefully read about and alert their global border partners. 

The Immigration Department of New Zealand did the country a favour banning David ‘Blowing in the Wind’ Rovics. 

It stopped the possibility of him breading in this country.   

Creating more loony hippy balladeers.

Where's Cartman when you need him?   

PS: The CIA paid me to write this.


    

Monday 5 August 2013

It’s all good on Pledge Me



For ulterior reasons I ended-up on the Pledge Me ‘crowd funding’ site. 

Amongst the “please give me” pages I then stumbled on-to one from the local band Von Voin Strum.

Bands and charity have always equated to the same thing in New Zealand, just ask any musician.  

VVS were chasing $4000 from their fan base to record an album and assist tour-costs to Australia.  

So how did they get on?  

Well in short time they reached the total with a few incentives like exclusive copies of the release, t-shirts and even drum lessons.  

The average ‘give’ was $80.   

Intrigued I searched further amongst the musical genre and came across one from Proud Scum of all bands.   

Proud Scum were after $2000 to get the songs they played at the AK79 reunion concert, I was at, immortalised on to CD. 

Pleasingly they too were successful in reaching their goal thanks to 21 pledgers.  

Also amongst the other Pledge Me success stories were Dunedin bands TLA and Black Sky Hustler who are heading around the South Island thanks to a grand from fans.

Seventy per cent of the musical projects on Pledge Me meet with success, far higher than I thought would be the case.   

The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra raised a not inconsiderable $9K for their trip to Scotland, yes Scotland.  

The 176 pledgers for Daniel McBride’s solo project Sheep, Dog & Wolf came up with $8k to send the teen to Germany.   

Girl on Girl Action, Astro Empire, Phantom Empire , Mangle and Gruff etc attracted monies to record albums.  

Christchurch band Ashei left tax-payers untarnished by getting $1,700 from supporters for their video.   

It’s refreshing seeing so many local bands getting support from their fans, families, friend from the pub, work mates etc.  

Given its anecdotal success I’m confident more bands will employ this funding avenue.