[Jim Macdonald]

Hi Rusty,

I'm new to the group, too.  I just joined yesterday, although I've been a fan since
I was 15 and saw the pure passion flowing through Peter Garrett's arms at the
beginning of the video for Blue Sky Mine.  I fell in love.  They didn't play the
Oils on the radio, especially in southeast Ohio (where I grew up), but when we got
cable, I was introduced to the "power and the passion", so to speak.

I was struck by what you said about needing an American "Midnight Oil."  The only
guy I think who comes close (though musically really different) is a guy like Neil
Young.  It really struck me because I have something on my heart and mind, an issue
facing something I love in America, and the only band I can think of who might give
a damn is in Australia.

The issue I'm talking about is the slaughter of bison in Yellowstone National Park
by the state of Montana.  For years, Montana has had a policy of killing buffalo
that test positive for exposure to the disease of brucellosis who happen to wander
out of the arbitrary boundaries of Yellowstone.  This past year, over 200 buffalo
were sent to slaughter.  The buffalo, stuck in the remote environs of Yellowstone,
and its sad saga represents to me everything Midnight Oil are about.  There is a
music now silent on the Great Plains.

I've been toying with sending the band a letter about this and sharing with them a
long narrative I wrote about an event we had here in Washington on behalf of the
buffalo, but I'm really shy and skeptical about doing it.  Who needs another cause
to get upset about?

But, Yellowstone is to me as Australia is to them.

I was just amazed in reading your letter (we can talk about unitarianism
sometime...I'm working on my Ph.D. in philosophy and those things interest me to no
end, although I am not a unitarian) how much in tune I felt with what you wrote.  I
had been saying for days (I've been constantly watching the 20,000 Watts DVD and
absorbing its many sounds and images) that American culture needs its own Midnight
Oil.  I just wonder if we're up for it.  Do we like a band that makes us feel that
uncomfortable in our own skin, one that makes us wonder "how we can sleep"?  

Anyhow, if you're interested, my own personal website is at
http://www.yellowstone-online.com, and the long narrative I'm thinking of sending
the band (or some staff member...just anyone who might care) is at
http://www.yellowstone-online.com/buffalo .

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.  I felt for a moment that I had found Luritja
Way.

Jim Macdonald

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