The Sheriff, the 99% Untruth and the McTurk Effect

When last we featured Bill Demeter from It's Our City Incorporated on Monday Report in July, we spoke among other things about Mayor Bob Parker's assertion at the launch of his mayoralty campaign that transparency would be among the key issues of his re-election bid.

Less than a month later Transparency Bob stumbled on this promise when sand was kicked in his face by residents angry about Cr Gail Sheriff's CCC-funded junket to the ironically named Imperial Beach in California, USA.

After initially claiming to be 99 per cent certain Sheriff had paid for the trip herself, it later emerged that the payment for the junket had been approved by both the council's chief executive, Tony Marryatt, and Transparency Bob and that a discretionary fund available to councillors had been tapped.

Citing a failure of memory - always a handy crutch for those who have had their legs kicked out from under them by lies uncovered - Transparency Bob later conceded an "unintentional error"; I'm sure I'm joined by many others who view it as an own-goal on the field of transparency.

This week Michael was joined from 12:00 to 13:00 by It's Our City Inc. chair Bill Demeter and from 13:00 to 14:00 by film reviewer Kate McRae for an analysis of the DVD of Michael Moore's latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story.

New York-born writer and psychiatry lecturer Andrew Solomon closed the show with this week's story from The Moth, with an inspiring and moving tale about a survivor of Pol Pot's death squads who taught other female victims how to handle depression.

Andrew Solomon has written for publications such as the New York Times, The New Yorker, and Artforum, on topics including depression, Soviet artists, the cultural rebirth of Afghanistan, Libyan politics, and Deaf politics.

In 2008, he was awarded the Humanitarian Award of the Society of Biological Psychiatry for his contributions to the field of mental health. He has a staff appointment as a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Cornell Medical School (Weill-Cornell Medical College).

 His most recent book, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, won the 2001 National Book Award; it was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize, and has been published 24 languages.

Music interludes were:

"I Don't Believe You" off The Thermals's 2010 album 'Personal Life'. Claiming an indie/alternative/post-pop-punk rock label, the band formed in 2002 and recorded their début LP, 'More Parts Per Million', on a 4-track cassette machine for an estimated tracking cost of 10. The group describes MPPM as 'a blistering slice of "no-fi"' and recall that the LP was rated everything from "un-listenable" to "very fucking listenable".

"Rockaway" off  Rogue Valley's 2010 album 'The Bookseller's House'. Released last week on Friday 13, Rockaway is Track 11 off this Americana/Folk Rock/Psychedelic band's latest album. Rogue Valley lists as its main influences 'music, art museums, novels, dancers, movies, and driving, driving, driving...'

"I Heart California" is the title track off Admiral Radley's most recent album. Comprising Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray from Earlimart and Jason Lytle and Aaron Burtch of Grandaddy, the title track 'I Heart California' describes Jason Lytle's complex relationship with his home state, delivered with characteristically sensual breathy vocals that suggest more than a passing acquaintance with hedonism.

"Out of Control" off The Foxymorons's 2010 album 'Bible Stories'. This power-pop Texan duo's story began in 1994 in the sun-baked suburb of Mesquite when David Dewese and Jerry James discovered an abandoned drum kit in a Sunday School classroom. As they tell it, the discovery sparked a 'fervent series of elegant experiments in life and literature, noise and nihilism.'

"Fade Up" off Shawn Lee's 2010 album 'Sing a Song'. Multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee usually showcases his love for '60s and '70s soul on his albums but his latest release reveals his more psychedelic and cinematic side in a 12-part production that plays 'like a breezy summertime mixtape'.
We played back-to-back Fade Up and "Moonbender", track 8 off Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra 2006 release ‘String and Things’. Treat yourself and visit his site to hear his soul-style take of OutKast's hit "Hey Ya!"



"Harry & Bess" off Ferraby Lionheart's 2010 album 'The Jack of Hearts'. "Harry & Bess" is a song about Harry Houdini and his wife. The story goes that Bess Houdini passed a key to Harry in a kiss struggling for an hour in widely publicized 1904 escape.


"Shades of Marble" off Anders Trentemøller's 2010 album 'The Great Wide Yonder'. Danish producer and multi-instrumentalist Anders Trentemøller's debut album ‘The Last Resort’ was released in 2006 and helped cement Trentemøller's reputation as a great electronic music talent.

"Always" off Junip's 2010 album 'Fields'. A cosmopolitan three piece from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed sometime in 1999, 'maybe even 1998', Junip features Tobias Winterkorn (keyboards), Elias Araya (drums) and José González (vocals & guitar). "Always" is a breezy song that showcases the sort of 'hazy, organic, melodic and hypnotic musical environment' the trio creates.


"Avalon" off Storyhill's 2010 album 'Shades of the Trees'. Weaving infectious melodies, clever stories and heartbreaking harmonies, Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson's songs feature spare acoustic arrangements and big-theme lyrics.
 Listen to "Paradise Lost", which was recorded live at Coffee With A Conscience.

"Road Regrets" off Dan Mangan's 2010 album 'Nice, Nice, Very Nice'. This Canadian indie folk-rock singer-songwriter has released two full-length albums – 'Postcards and Daydreaming' in 2007 and earlier this year, 'Nice, Nice, Very Nice'.