What are we supposed to do when a musician we like opens his big mouth and says something so stupid we are left to wonder if his idiotic opinion has just ruined his good music?
Dope-smoking country-rock musician Charlie Daniels shot off his mouth when we took control of Iraq, in the form of his "Open Letter To The Hollywood Bunch" on his Web site:
"Ok, let's just say for a moment you bunch of pampered, overpaid, unrealistic children [celebrity war protestors] had your way and the U.S.A. didn't go into Iraq...Why you bunch of pitiful, hypocritical, idiotic, spoiled mugwumps. Get your head out of the sand and smell the Trade Towers burning."
Interesting logic, Mr. Daniels. How you became an expert on what Saddam Hussein did and didn't do must make for a fascinating tale.
We couldn't have been the only fans that flashed back to Daniels' jingoistic 1980 opus, "In America," in which he sings that "we may have done a little bit of fighting amongst ourselves, but you outside people best leave us alone."
Politics and talent make for a queasy mix at Columbia's Blue Note (7 p.m., 17 North Ninth Street, $26, 573-874-1944). -- Byron Kerman
Stan the Man
Friends celebrate Elkin's life
THUR 8/28
Stanley Elkin spent 35 years as a professor at Washington University, and during that time he published seventeen books. His fiction moved easily from realism to points beyond; his characters could find themselves in a bad marriage, a radio show or a very vivid, Dante-esque hell. He was described as a satirist, moralist and absurdist, but his fiction (like most good fiction) defies classification. Elkin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1972, but it didn't seem to slow down his writing -- if you do the math, he averaged one critically acclaimed book every two years until his death in 1995. Left Bank Books (399 North Euclid Avenue) is hosting "Stanley Elkin, Remembered" at 7 p.m., featuring Elkin biographer David Dougherty, who will read from his forthcoming book, and other speakers, including fellow Washington University legend and Elkin friend William Gass. The event is free. Call Left Bank Books at 314-367-6731 for more details. -- Mark Dischinger
Comedic Bris
SAT 8/30
Do you like it dirty or clean? In the Lou, dirty means our man Redd Foxx and clean means our man Dick Gregory. Sinbad, like Dick Gregory, Bill Cosby and Jerry Seinfeld, keeps it clean. Sinbad also manages to make the clean-dirty debate academic, because he's so funny ya just don't care. The gifted physical and verbal comedian may very well tell frightening tales about circumcision, as local mohel Rabbi Michael Rovinsky was involved in bringing the funnyman to town for this performance, benefiting the Special Learning Center of the Epstein Hebrew Academy and the National Conference of Synagogue Youth. Sinbad takes the stage in colorful vest and matching yarmulke at 8 p.m. at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand Boulevard ($20-$70, 314-534-1700). -- Byron Kerman
