The Oppenheimer Report 11/26/18

When I was a kid, I used to think bird watching was completely uncool. In my mind, bird watchers were unusual, asocial people who wore safari clothes and French Army tropical pith helmets, with a pair of giant binoculars hanging around their necks. I felt the same way about birdwatching as I did about baseball, fishing, and golf: I thought it was as boring as watching the grass grow. In my teens I had a high school teacher who was a member of the Sierra Club, and we used to make fun of old Neil, because he fit the image of the prototypical bird watcher. Turns out Neil was a pretty interesting guy after all. I also remember a strange experience I had when I was living in Dublin. I walked into a pub one day in one of the rougher sections of Dublin, and everyone at the bar was quietly watching a nature program about birds. You could have heard a pin drop in that pub as the narrator on television went on about the Ruby-Throated Cornholer ... well some bird anyway. I just never “got” bird watching until Shauna and I began to spend a lot of time out west in Banff.

I’m not exactly sure when I became a convert, but there was a bird that visited us every year at the Douglas Fir where we stayed in Banff, and he/she became our companion. He was a Clark’s Nutcracker, and we called him "Broke Toe", so named because he was missing half a claw. Shauna really bonded with this little guy, and he came back to visit us year after year. He’d be on our balcony every morning when we woke up. Unlike other Clark’s Nutcrackers, who have a terrible, grating song, Broke Toe never made a peep. As we began to observe his behavior, it became apparent that he was intelligent and had a distinct personality. We began to read up on these birds, and discovered they were really quite remarkable animals for a number of reasons. As an example, apparently Clark’s Nutcrackers will store food in many different places, miles apart, and they can remember where every stash is. Broke Toe was not the most attractive bird by any stretch of the imagination. Magpies are much more beautiful, and the Gray Jays have a  prettier song, but Broke Toe was special, and he was my first hint that all birds were intelligent creatures. Because of Broke Toe, we began to pay attention to other birds, and the more we learned – mind you, we are not fanatic birders – the more interested we became.

I remember speaking with Andre Wahl during one of my recording sessions with him, and we got on the subject of crows. Apparently, singer songwriter Brock Zeman, of whom I am a big fan, is very interested in crows, and studies their behavior. Crows are apparently very intelligent birds, and I recall seeing a video once of a crow learning a complicated set of actions in order to receive a morsel of food. All my life I’d presumed all birds are stupid, but this is just one more humbling reminder of how little I know.

Yesterday I was surfing on Facebook, and ended up on the page of a drummer friend of mine who is also an excellent photographer. On his page was a photograph (I don't think it was one of his) of a fascinating and very funny-looking bird called a Chukar Partridge. When I clicked on the picture to get a larger image, there was a link to a Facebook Page entitled simply “Birds” and wow! I heartily recommend that you check out that page if you are on Facebook. Give it a “like” and look at some of the photos and videos. I have never seen so many wonderful, spectacular, exotic, colorful birds. It seems the older I get the more I’m paying attention to the miracle of Mother Earth. If I’ve learned anything in my 63 years, it is to appreciate what I once ignored. No matter how we try, we will never win the war we have waged with Mother Nature. Long after we lemmings, led by the myopic Orange Emperor, have jumped off the cliff, the Ruby-Throated Cornholer will likely be soaring peacefully over the empty landscape, oblivious to the fact that its greatest threat has disappeared. 

- Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Oppenheimer Report 11/19/18

Shauna and I  with Mt. Assiniboine in the background

A few weeks ago I discussed my youthful propensity to judge and say cruel things. Even back as far as the early nineties, when I began to write this weekly newsletter, there was plenty about which to be judgmental. There were scandals in the Catholic Church, a half dozen televangelists who couldn’t keep it in their pants, the O.J. Simpson fiasco/trial, and the usual celebrity and political scandals that seem to find their way into the headlines. Now that we have the Orange Emperor, who has managed to become the most notorious hate magnet since Adolph Hitler, the judgment continues. I am as guilty as the next man of forming my opinions based on bad information. I still judge, and I suspect we all do to a certain extent. I have mellowed a bit in my old age.

I was talking to a friend last week about the Tony Clement sex scandal which recently hit Muskoka. Clement had been caught tweeting photos of his genitalia to a young female, and he was being extorted to keep the scandal a secret. He chose, probably rightly so, to turn the matter over to authorities, thereby making his problem a matter of public record. Clement literally destroyed his very successful political career, and has become the butt of a thousand jokes, all because he has a sex problem. I really don’t care to hear the dirty little secrets about other people’s personal lives, but this is the price any public figure pays these days. Oh, to be back in the good old days, when a powerful politician could have a sex symbol murdered to avoid scandal. The point my friends were making – and they both know (or thought they knew) Tony quite well – is that it was a shame that he had failed so publicly in this very human way. They were shocked and dismayed, but the common sentiment was that the community and social media has made things much worse. Everyone is heaping on the indignation and hatred. Regardless of what you think about Tony’s politics, to all those who are kicking a dead horse, I ask: are there any skeletons in your closet? I cannot imagine what it would be like to be such a prominent public figure so publicly exposed (literally) as having a sex problem. What Clement did was reprehensible, and his actions showed terrible judgment, especially considering his responsibility to his constituents. That said, his career is probably over, and I’m certain this scandal has been devastating to his family. His life is ruined, and while he is decidedly responsible for his own stupid actions, have a little compassion. We are all so quick to judge, myself included, but from my experience, the most self-righteous among us are often the biggest  hypocrites. I think Tony has been humiliated enough.

Shauna and I first met because we are both songwriters, and at the time we exchanged demo tapes of our original songs. She has been my muse for 25 years now, and has often shaped, influenced, and in some cases co-written the songs I’ve created. Last Thursday night I premiered a song Shauna had written in 1986 entitled Not With You. While it’s only a rough demo, I think the recording represents Shauna’s songwriting skills, as well as her beautiful voice. She was very nervous to have me air the song, but the response has been overwhelmingly positive. For many years now, Shauna has put her music on the back burner to support my music and the music of other local artists. We celebrated our 10^th Anniversary by spending a beautiful weekend at the Mt. Assiniboine Lodge (on the border of Alberta and British Columbia), and we wrote a song about the experience. The other day, Shauna and I rehearsed the song with the intention of someday soon recording it together. It’s a good song and very meaningful to us both. Hopefully, we will get the song properly recorded before our 25^th this coming May. I also hope this will be the beginning of many more collaborations wherein Shauna sings with me. She has a MUCH better voice than I do!

  - Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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The Oppenheimer Report 11/12/18

Watching the fires in Malibu and Paradise, California, I am reminded of how fast things can change. Paradise, California, north of San Francisco has been almost completely wiped off the map. Seven years ago, a similar thing happened to the town of Slave Lake, Alberta, north of Edmonton wherein 40% of the town was destroyed. Rump quickly tweeted his rant that these wildfires are the result of poor forest management by the state. In response to this ill-considered tweet, the Pasadena Fire Association tweeted the following: “Mr. President, with all due respect you are wrong. The fires in So. Cal are urban interface fires and have NOTHING to do with forest management. Come to SoCal and learn the facts & help the victims.” Of course, this is business as usual for the Orange Emperor. Perhaps he hopes that each stupid thing he says will divert attention away from the hundred other boneheaded things he has said or done. To the extent that states like Florida and California are heavily developed and ever more susceptible to devastating weather events, I suppose the states bear some responsibility, but these fires likely have more to do with climate change than with anything the state could have done to control the event.    

The midterm elections were good for the donkeys. Beto O’Rourke didn’t win the Texas Senate race, but he sure gave Eddie Munster clone a run for his money. Reportedly, O’Rourke was 220,000 votes (out of 8.3 million) shy of defeating Ted Cruz. These mid-terms were definitely a shot across the bow for the Republican Party. They have now lost control of one of the two Houses of Congress, and I see this as a referendum on Rump’s lack of leadership. My final indignant comment about the Commander-In-Tweet concerns Remembrance Day. Why did he even go to France? His poor representation of the United States and its military was a travesty, not to mention a slap in the face to every American soldier who has ever fought to protect our country. What an embarrassment.

We had a mini blizzard last week, and during the wee hours of the morning all I could hear was a freight train wind pounding our house. The morning after the storm, evidence of its force was clear in the wind-driven snow caking our windows. It was quite a winter storm for early November; is it portents for the winter to come? I fired up the snowblower last week, and most everything is wrapped up for winter. Seems I got the dock up just in time. I watch all these weather disasters around the world and I wonder how we will fare if we get one of those freak lake effect storms up here. It’s just a matter of time. Well, at least I've got the snowblower (hah).

On the music front, last week on my Lyrical Workers show, I released my latest song, “Watch For Wolves”, co-written with my wife Shauna and my most recent producer, Sean Cotton. Not counting the several songs to which Shauna has contributed, this is my second collaboration with another songwriter. The trick is to remain objective about that which improves the song, and I think Sean and Shauna improved the song with their input. Presently, I am three songs into a series of five or six songs about the state of the world today. The project grew out of a song I wrote entitled “Better” and written for (but not used) the Imposters Game CD. The chorus of the song is simply “How can I (We/You, and I, and love) make this better?” All the songs reflect the existential journey I am now on; the journey of an aging boomer trying to find the love in all of this chaos.

  - Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Oppenheimer Report 11/5/18

Tomorrow will be a historic day in the United States. I think there is a struggle taking place for the soul of America, and tomorrow's mid-term results will tell us how strongly Americans support Rump, the Orange Emperor. I watched a very interesting 60 Minutes segment last night discussing the heated senatorial race in Texas, a state traditionally considered to be a “red” or Republican state. Republican incumbent Ted Cruz is facing stiff opposition from his Democratic opponent, Beto O’Rourke, even though O’Rourke is running his campaign on a shoestring budget. The idealistic O’Rourke is not accepting any of  the big money PAC support that his bloated opponent relies upon. O'Rourke may lose; he’s fighting a very powerful incumbent, and it seems he brought a knife to a gunfight. Still, wouldn’t it be great if he won? I’d like to see Goliath take one right between the eyes. Some say this race is a litmus test for the political climate in the rest of the country. In keeping with his reality T.V. behavior, Rump the blowhard is scampering around the country trying to shore up his base (always at the taxpayer’s expense). Spreading his lies and ignorance, and sparing no indignity as he spews his irresponsible, hate-filled venom, Rump is proudly riding atop his turd-filled tsunami of fear. I don’t think there has ever been a more glaring example of political hypocrisy than Donald Rump hugging Ted Cruz at a campaign rally in Texas. I threw up a little in my mouth. Does anybody remember the horrible things they said about each other in the presidential primaries?! If, as I hope and pray, the Republicans lose the House (and I never thought I’d wish for this), and the Democrats take a few key states like Florida, Georgia, and Texas, then there may still be hope for the soul of America. Even if the Democrats win big, the problem isn’t fixed, we just stopped the bleeding temporarily. 

Last Friday night, I drove down to Huntsville to see singer songwriter Jon Brooks perform at the Huntsville Legion, and in tow I had fellow musicians Sean Cotton, Paul Noonan, and my bluegrass mentor Buck Marshall. Sadly Shauna, who has been battling the flu, was unable to attend. I feel terrible for her because she loves Jon's songs and had been looking forward to this concert for months. On the drive in to town I learned that Sean Cotton was good friends Jon Brooks and had been his musical accompanist in the past. After we arrived at the concert, I was walking around, socializing with friends and fellow attendees, then set up my cell phone to record the performances about to take place. The next thing I knew, Sean had made arrangements to borrow Jack Nickalls’ guitar (Jack and his friend Jack Gaughan played an excellent jazz set as the opening act), and he agreed to accompany Jon during his set. When they got up onstage and played, it was evident they had played together before. There was a palpable chemistry between these two old friends. Sean blended in beautifully and added his unique guitar leads to many of the songs I’d heard Jon perform  so many times before. As I have said ad nauseam on my Lyrical Workers show, one should never underestimate the ability of a good musician to improve an already well-written song. The whole night was fantastic, and I was grateful to have shared it with a respectable, like-minded audience.

I don’t know what will happen in tomorrow’s mid-terms; I expect the worst and hope for the best. My wish is to stem the jingoistic, hate-inspired, and myopic void in leadership which has characterized the past two years. We are better than this man. There is a new benchmark for bad leaders, and it’s time to send America’s Mussolini a message: You’re fired.  

- Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED