Page 30 - the NOISE December 2012

cleaned house,” the President said. Encouraged by youth leaders like Brian,
President Kennedy instituted the “Eat Healthy For America” program, which veered the di- etary habits of children away from fast food and toward a more balanced fruit and veg- etable and grains diet. America’s school lunch system became the best in the world.
Kennedy was succeeded in 1976 by Dr. Mar- tin Luther King Jr., the first black president of the United States. James Brown played his in- augural ball, and it was one hell of a bicenten- nial year. The US adopted the metric system shortly thereafter. President King ended the Cold War in his second term and signed trea- ties with nearly every developed nation on Earth to ban nuclear weapons forever.
Presidents Kennedy and King slowly dis- mantled the military-industrial complex. The defense budget was diverted into education, welfare, health care, and the arts. The rich were strongly encouraged to yearly donate large sums to charity to avoid harsh taxes. Leaders of industry were given tax cuts to not out- source overseas and keep American factories open and functioning. Homelessness, unem- ployment, and inner-city crime levels dropped sharply. “There’s plenty of money to go around,” President King stated.
By the year 2000, the United States had al- most entirely weaned itself off of fossil fuels and was dependent mostly on solar and wind power, a model of self-sufficiency. Strict anti- pollution laws were enforced.
In New York City, the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood tall for many years. Nearly every town had a local Planned Parent- hood, which distributed information, birth control and tampons for free. Teenagers were encouraged to learn at least one foreign lan- guage and travel outside the US by the time they graduated high school. The country adopted an “open door” policy toward im- migrants. America elected its first woman president in 1996, its first Hispanic president in 2004, and its first openly gay president in 2012.
Brian Wilson died peacefully in his sleep one day, the first of the Beach Boys to pass on. His life since Smile was like a fairytale. He participated in the creation of dozens of LPs and hundreds of songs. He collaborated with
sydney rose; James hand
practically everyone in the business. He had hit singles in every decade. At the time of his death he had six children, eleven grandkids, and one great-grandchild, many of whom were musicians.
Brian’s popularity was such that family and friends often encouraged him to get into poli- tics, but Brian never seriously considered it. “I don’t know how to run anything, I just write songs,” he was fond of saying.
As per his wishes, Brian’s funeral was a great big three day weekend party. Hundreds of cities across the globe hosted large concerts, and many small towns and villages spontane- ously joined in. Every country’s top performers participated for free. It was a worldwide paid holiday (Brian paid for it). Several of the larger shows in Los Angeles, New York, London, Mos- cow, Tokyo, and elsewhere were attended by so many people that the venues had no way of accommodating them all, and for a brief time there really was dancing in the streets around the world.
There was a moment (no one is sure exactly when) when every band on every stage in ev- ery location (by sheer coincidence) hit the ex- act same chord at the exact same time (some say it was a B-flat) and the vibrations created a harmonic convergence which linked the minds of every sentient being on Earth (hu- man and non-) into one consciousness and allowed all a glimpse (estimates place it be- tween 20 - 40 minutes) of nirvana.
Which is what Brian had hoped would hap-
pen.
— Tony BallZ
rEvIEw’D
By Frank Chipotel except where noted
Sydney Rose
Rise
jSelf Released
Even on the cusp of 2013, I’m still receiv- ing CDs in the mail occasionally. On the one hand, this is fairly irresponsible, considering how easy it is to just shoot me a download link. And even considering the petroleum bits
30 • DECEMBER 2012 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us