Armistice

Last Sunday we had Fall Back, when we retreated to an extra hour of darkness — and for many, sleep — on the clock to adjust to the changing season. Fall back, retreat, ceasefire, armistice ... these words flow together in a certain thematic harmony as we reach the last one. Until 1954, we used to celebrate something called Armistice Day on Nov. 11, to mark the cessation of hostilities in the Great War, one of the most ignoble and pointless slaughters in human history. All Quiet on the Western Front, in book or recent movie form, has you covered if you're curious about the scope of its blind atrocity. Then eventually, the Great War became World War I because, oops, we did it again. And by the time the Korean War ceased hostilities in favor of paranoid hyper-militarized border skirmishes and the eventual rise and fall of a peninsular, shaky détente, we changed the name of the observance to Veterans Day. On some conscious level, this probably came from the realization that while we aren't very good at ending bloodshed and keeping ceasefires, we are definitely in the business of making more veterans. And ever since, business has been good, especially if you are in the investment, development and sales divisions of our vast war machine churning out its machines of war. I've never once written a negative thing about veterans as a group and I never will; they deserve remembrance as much as the world deserves an eventual permanent cessation of hostilities. The War Pigs preventing that cessation, on the other hand, can all go to Hell. Don't ask me to help with that change, though. It ain't me, I ain't no senator's son. There, between Creedence and Sabbath, lie my sensibilities. Peace out. Thursday I haven't checked in on Blondie's in a while, so in deference to that sweet little venue in my old neighborhood, Here's a two-fer for the evening. Starting at 5 p.m. and running for two hours, the lively open mic will be happening, then after a pause, at 8 p.m., you can enjoy a showcase of local bands, with Racket, Morning Dew and Short Stop. If present, cover charges tend to vary and often there's a suggested donation cup, so bring a little currency for the players. Friday Not long after their local star-studded and sold-out show at the Minor Theatre, The California…