Longer School Years

According to this story, President Obama is calling for students to spend more time in school.

From the story –

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.

"Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

[…]

Many schools are going beyond the traditional summer school model, in which schools give remedial help to kids who flunked or fell behind.

Summer is a crucial time for kids, especially poorer kids, because poverty is linked to problems that interfere with learning, such as hunger and less involvement by their parents.

That makes poor children almost totally dependent on their learning experience at school, said Karl Alexander, a sociology professor at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University, home of the National Center for Summer Learning.

Disadvantaged kids, on the whole, make no progress in the summer, Alexander said. Some studies suggest they actually fall back. Wealthier kids have parents who read to them, have strong language skills and go to great lengths to give them learning opportunities such as computers, summer camp, vacations, music lessons, or playing on sports teams.

"If your parents are high school dropouts with low literacy levels and reading for pleasure is not hard-wired, it's hard to be a good role model for your children, even if you really want to be," Alexander said.

Our kids’ elementary school has an after school program that is pretty good, but I’m not sure that lengthening the school day is the best idea. I’m okay with shortening summer vacation, especially in Oklahoma seeing as we have the shortest school year in the nation.

I’m a fervent supporter of public schools, but things in our schools desperately need to be reformed. A longer school year might not be a bad step. Bill Bradley also had some really good ideas on education reform in his book The New American Story that I think are worth trying out.

20 Meanest Love Songs

Spinner has put together a list of the 20 Meanest Love Songs. I have to call into question their inclusion of the R.E.M. classic “The One I Love” though, seeing as the band has said for years that it is not a love song.

Currently Listening

1. “Sad State of Affairs” by Descendents (from Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1)
2. “Box” by ALL (from Allroy’s Revenge)
3. “Away She Went” by ALL (from Everything Sucks Demos)
4. “Global Probing” by Descendents (from Bonus Fat)
5. “Never Go Back” by Dag Nasty (from Can I Say)
6. “Roger” by Dag Nasty (from Four on the Floor)
7. “Alone & Easy Target” by Foo Fighters (from Foo Fighters)
8. “Breakout” by Foo Fighters (from There Is Nothing Left To Lose)
9. “Restless Heart Syndrome” by Green Day (from 21st Century Breakdown)
10. “Minority” by Green Day (from Warning)

To Curse or Not to Curse…That is the Question

At least that is the question being asked over at The World in a Satin Bag in the post Curse Them All: Should You Use Them?.

Personally, I think that the use of curse words in fiction must fit the characters and story and even then should be use sparingly.

The Return of American Deism?

Steven Waldman from beliefnet has a fascinating, and encouraging IMHO, post entitled Deism – It’s Back! dealing with what seems to be a rise in deism in the American population.

From the story –

A new study reveals that a rapidly growing number of Americans hold the belief system that used to be described as Deism.

Deism was a philosophy, especially popular in the 18th century, holding that God had created the universe and its laws but then receded from the action. It was treated as heretical -- akin to atheism -- because Deists rejected Biblical authority. Thomas Jefferson, for instance, wrote that the authors of the canonical Gospels were "ignorant, unlettered men" who laid "a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstitions, fanaticisms, and fabrications." He famously crafted his own Bible sans miracles.

And this brings us to a new study about the rise of "Nones," Americans who profess no religious affiliation. Trinity College analysts now conclude that None's make up 15% of the population and that, given their rate of rapid growth, they might surpass the nation's largest denominations.

The rise of the Nones is usually decried by religious leaders as a sign of secularization or atheism's ascent but get this: 51% say they believe in God.

Now some of those folks might just be religious people in between churches. So the Trinity folks asked them to describe what kind of God they believed in. 24% say they believe in "a higher power but no personal God."

That would mean about 3.6% of Americans could be considered Deists, making them more common than Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, or Mormons.

So without realizing it, a descent number of Americans seem to be slowly moving towards Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin in their religious line of thought. Since my own view of God and religion are not that unlike Jefferson’s (if I may be so bold as to say so), I see this as a very good thing.

Money Quote –

I suspect that some modern American Deists are actually quite like Jefferson and Franklin. They don't believe in Scripture, or cotton to organized religion. But in the privacy of their home, they think that the distant, aloof God occasionally checks in to listen to their prayers.

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the find.

For those who haven’t seen them, you can read some posts detailing my religious beliefs here and here.

Woman Beaten for Bad Karaoke

According to this story, a Connecticut woman received a beating after what onlookers thought was a bad karaoke performance.

From the story –

The Connecticut Post reported that Leidy Alcantra was verbally taunted by a group of women during her rendition of a Colombian pop song. When she exited the stage, one of the women punched her in the mouth and then others joined in beating her,
Alcantra said.

Karaoke is good fun, as long as it is not taken too seriously. Sadly people often take it way too seriously, as seems to be the case here.

A Band By Any Other Name

Over the years I’ve done a lot of posts about the band ALL. Recently my good friend and fellow Allular fanatic Steve and I were talking about the band and he made a comment that the Descendents’ were legendary while ALL was not. I completely disagreed because they are the same band.

Over the years there has been a lot of confusion about the whole ALL/Descendents situation (even with some diehard fans). There are those who believe that the Descendents broke up and then reformed as ALL with a new lead singer. That’s not how it happened. This gnusletter was sent to fans detailing the “end” of the Descendents and the “beginning” of ALL in 1987. As one can see this was something that was planned out well in advance.

To prove the point, the following is from an interview with the zine Flipside from 1989 (which can be read in its entirety here; emphasis mine) --

Al: How did the transition from being the Descendents to being All go..

Bill: It didn't. It's just the same thing.

Karl: I think it took a little while for the kids to pick up that it was the same band - we weren't some shyster organization out to capitalize on a name. We were just a band doing another thing.

Bill: We like toured for three years with a name that nobody knew how to spell. At least now they can't misspell our name.

Kirk: You didn't like the name Descendents?

Bill: We just wanted to change the name. 10 years under the same name you know...

Karl: The danger of becoming a nostalgia act maybe, you know.

Bill: It's generated a lot of excitement both externally and internally because we felt that this was our chance to just let things just stand on the music. You know, the proof is in the pudding. The insiders like what you do no matter what. You could shit on the record and they'd be like "Oh, this is great, you guys are the greatest". But the new people will check it out as a new thing and take the music at face value, which is how I wanted it. I never wanted us to turn into a nostalgia act or "Oh this used to be a Punk band" or whatever. This way we put our asses out on the line and we've proved that we are current band with current music and current ideas. We just play music- it's fast, it's slow, whatever. I wrote an 11 second song! Playing fast is something that you do because you feel that way. If we tried to second guess or anticipate what our audience wanted, we'd be Bon Jovi. I don't want to be that! I want to go out and fart on stage and burp or I want to play a 15 minute song that is slower than a snail, or whatever. It is we want to do, is what we do. When you see us live, we are live and raw and we are the fastest and tightest band. We're not heavy metal and we're not pop... I don't know what we are.

Karl: We're damaged white people.

Bill: I think we have managed to create our own sound and we're fairly happy with it being ours and not anyone else's... I mean, they wouldn't let us play the Masque and they probably won't let us play the Scream now. We're not cool- we never have been. Deal with it! We suck. We always have. We always will.

In the liner notes of the Descendents’ second live album Hallraker, Bill Stevenson stated the following –

We recorded the "All" LP, the record that finally revealed the concept to All to the public. After the 60 day spring "All" tour and the 50 day summer "Finall" tour, Dave Smalley took over on vocals, and the band became All.

In conclusion, I’d like let the band and their music do the talking. The following are videos from each incarnation of the band (for the most part…at least with each singer). Listen to all of these songs, and tell me that this isn’t the same band.

“Hope” (live; as Descendents with Mil Aukerman on vocals)


“Don Quixote” (live footage with the album track; as ALL with Dave Smalley on vocals)


“Dot” (official video; as ALL with Scott Reynolds on vocals)


“Shreen” (official video; as ALL with Chad Price on vocals)


And just for fun…
“Coolidge” (live; as ALL with Scott Reynolds on vocals)*


“Fool” (live; as Descendents with Milo Aukerman on vocals)**



*This was released on the Descendents album ALL.
**This was released on the ALL album Allory’s Revenge.

Video of the Day: Live

"Money" and "Long Tall Sally" by The Backbeat Band

Video of the Day

"A Girl Like You" by The Smithereens

Video of the Day: Homemade

"Mr. Sheperd's Bandage" by The Pavers

The House That Lego Built…

Was torn down on Tuesday.

Kids and Church

Last night my kids went to church with their friends and my daughter said that she had a great time. I’m glad that she had fun, but I have to admit that I’m a bit apprehensive about the whole thing (and believe me, I know how bad that sounds). I’ve never been to the church in question, nor do I know anything about it (denomination, location, size, philosophy, etc.), but I do know the family that they went with and I do trust the parents of said family (they are good people). I have no problem with my kids learning about religion and have often thought that maybe I should find a Buddhist or Hindu temple to attend with them (heck I’ve even thought about finding a descent Episcopal Church to go to).

My attitude to this point has been to lead by example with my kids, especially with issues of morality, courtesy, honesty, and religion. But I’m starting to wonder if that is enough. I want my kids to make up their own minds about religion and not to just believe what I or anyone else tells them. In order to do that though, they need to be exposed to various different philosophies, worldviews, lines of thought, and religions so at some point we are going to need to take some field trips. But then I wonder at what age to start this process. When is a kid really old enough to start thinking about religion? I know that my days in church as a young kid were a blur that mostly consisted with my drawing in the little pamphlet thing that was handed out to everyone as they enter (I know that thing has an actual name but for the life of me I cannot remember what it is).

So when is a good time to start talking to your kids about religion, God, and divinity? I honestly don’t know.

This is Sure to Make Some Folks Very Mad

If those on the Religious Right didn’t already hate Phillip Pullman (author of the His Dark Materials trilogy) enough, just check out the title of his next book – The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.

Atheists and Morality

There is a very thought provoking post over on Fear an Iarthair entitled Borrowed Morality dealing with the morality of atheism. While I disagree with Man of the West on this, his post does provide for some things to stew over. And as always it is written in a way that doesn’t make me want to scream at the computer.

How the Presidents have Treated Those Who Serve Them

The McCarville Report Online has a great post that highlights parts of the book In The President's Secret Service: Behind The Scenes With Agents In The Line Of Fire And The Presidents They Protect. Based on the little snippets about each of the past ten Presidents, this certainly looks to be an entertaining and telling book. I have to admit that I was disappointed to read that President Carter didn’t treat his people very well.

Currently Listening

1. “Wrong Again” by ALL (from Allroy for Prez)
2. “Paper Tiger” by ALL (from Allroy Sez)
3. “Carnage” by ALL (from Allroy’s Revenge)
4. “Rosco” by ALL (from Breaking Things)
5. “Black Sky” by ALL (from Pummel)
6. “Impressions” by Descendents (from ALL)
7. “Wendy” by Descendents (from Enjoy!)
8. “CGF” by Descendents (from I Don’t Want to Grow Up)
9. “Myage” by Descendents (from Milo Goes to College)
10. “Special To Me” by TonyALL (from New Girl, Old Story)

Ranking the Albums: ALL / Descendents

Since I’m in a huge ALL / Descendents mood lately I decided to do a new Ranking the Albums for this band, but I just realized that I’ve never done one for this band. I’ve done a lot of posts about ALL / Descendents over the years, but I think this one sums up the history of the band pretty well (I’m going to do another, more detailed post about this band being one band in the near future).

In this ranking I am including the entire catalog of records they have released as Descendents, ALL, and TonyALL. Also this is a list of personal preference and not necessarily a list of how I would rank the albums best to worst*.

1. Breaking Things (1993, released as ALL on Cruz Records)
2. Allroy Sez (1988, released as ALL on Cruz Records)
3. ‘Merican (2004, released as Descendents on Fat Wreck Chords)
4. Percolater (1992, released as ALL on Cruz Records)
5. Cool To Be You (2004, released as Descendents on Fat Wreck Chords)
6. I Don’t Want to Grow Up (1985, released as Descendents on SST Records)
7. Problematic (2000, released as ALL on Epitaph Records)
8. Mass Nerder (1998, released as ALL on Epitaph Records)
9. Allroy’s Revenge (1989, released as ALL on Cruz Records)
10. ALL (1987, released as Descendents on SST Records)
11. Everything Sucks (1996, released as Descendents on Epitaph Records)
12. Pummel (1995, released as ALL on Interscope Records)
13. Enjoy! (1986, released as Descendents on SST Records)
14. New Girl, Old Story (1991, released as TonyALL on Cruz Records)
15. Allroy Saves (1990, released as ALL on Cruz Records)

*Note – I know that that statement might seem confusing, so let me clarify a bit. I tend to separate my personal preference with what I think is the “best.” For example I personally prefer The Rolling Stones, but I think that The Beatles were the greatest band in rock ‘n’ roll history. In the case of ALL / Descendents, I think that this band has five masterpieces – Allroy Sez, Allroy’s Revenge, Problematic, I Don’t Want to Grow Up, and Cool To Be You – but as you can see by the list above, that is not how I have ranked these albums. Now don’t get me wrong…all of these albums are good, just some are better (much better in some cases) than others.

Currently Listening

Today we’re doing an Allular shuffle.

1. “Good as My Word” by ALL (from Mass Nerder)
2. “Can’t Say” by ALL (from Dot [EP])
3. “I Won’t Let Me” by Descendents (from Everything Sucks)
4. “Cool to Be You” by Descendents (from Cool To Be You)
5. “Don Quixote” by ALL (from Allroy Sez)
6. “Casual Girl” by TonyALL (from New Girl, Old Story)
7. “Cyclops” by ALL (from Allroy Saves)
8. “Horizontal” by ALL (from Breaking Things)
9. “Self Righteous” by ALL (from Pummel)
10. “I Quit” by Descendents (from ‘Merican)

ALL Songs I’d Like to Hear Milo Sing

I got the idea for this post during a conversation I had the other day with my good friend Steve at The Otter Limits. Without getting too caught up in the minutia of the situation here are the basics – ALL and the Descendents are the same band, they just perform under different names depending on who is singing. Milo Aukerman is the lead singer of the Descendents and these are the songs that were released by ALL that I would like to hear him sing if I got to see the Descendents play live. In all honesty I’d be stoked to hear Milo take on any of the ALL material, but if I had to pick, here are my selections from each album.

Allroy Sez
“Pretty Little Girl”
“Hooidge”
“Allthymn”
“Just Perfect”
“Don Quixote”

Allroy for Prez
“Skin Deep”
“Wishing Well”
“Daveage”

Allroy’s Revenge
“Fool”
“She’s My Ex”
“Mary”
“Carnage”

Allroy Saves
“Educated Idiot”
“Just Like Them” (Milo does a version of this song on the greatest hits CD ALL.)
“Prison”
“Simple Things”

New Girl, Old Story (released as TonyALL)
“Telltale Signs”
“Guitar Case”

Percolater
“Nothin’”
“Dot”
“Wonder”
“Minute”
“Empty”
“Hotplate”

Breaking Things
“Original Me” (Milo does a version of this on Live Plus One.)
“Right”
“Shreen”
“Bail”
“Excuses”
“Stick”

Pummel
“Million Bucks” (There is a liver version of Milo doing this song on YouTube.)
“Miranda”
“Long Distance”
“Button It”
“Black Sky”

Mass Nerder
“World’s on Heroin”
“I’ll Get There”
“Perfection”
“Honey Peeps”
“Refrain”
“Silly Me”
“Vida Blue”
“Silence” (There is a version of this on YouTube that is a duet with Milo and ALL’s singer Chad Price.)

Problematic
“Carry You”
“Better Than That”
“Alive”
“Teresa”
“The Skin”
“Make Believe”

Huckabee Wins Value Voter Summit Straw Poll

According to this story, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee won the Value Voter Summit straw poll for potential 2012 GOP Presidential candidates this weekend. Polls like this are generally pretty meaningless, especially this far out, but it is interesting to see that Huckabee beat out the likes of Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich, just to name a few. Huckabee has always done extremely well with the Religious Right, but the big question is, can he court moderate Republicans, moderate Democrats, and independents. I will admit that there are things about Huckabee that I do not like, mostly his near theocratic outlook, but the times that I’ve heard him speak I found him to be a likeable guy.

Whoever the GOP settles on will have to be able to market him/herself with unmatched talent and will also have to be able to woo independents. And unless they go with someone who is just completely off in far-right field I will follow my voting credo when hitting the booth in 2012.

Quote of the Day

The first problem with this pink panic lies in its assumption that capitalism and socialism are irreconcilable enemies, that markets are either completely free or completely government-controlled. The truth, however, is far more complex: after all, if socialism and capitalism were such diametric opposites, then one could argue that the first time the government paid an employee, gave a contract to private industry, or loaned money to a failing company, it effectively made the leap into socialism. If this was the case, then America has been socialist for most of its history.

--Bruce Watson from One Year Later: Are We Socialists Yet?

This entire piece is quite good and worth reading. I think that Watson has a pretty good take on the current situation.

In Defense of Dissent or My Thoughts on Representative Joe Wilson

Earlier this week on Talk of the Nation, there was a segment entitled Where’s the Line Between Dissent and Disrespect? that tackled the subject of Representative Joe Wilson’s outburst and the general sad state of affairs in our civil discourse. During the segment someone called in and referred to Rep. Wilson’s actions as “un-American.” At the time I was listening to the show with my wife while eating lunch and I turned to her and said something along of the line of “that’s ridiculous.” There was absolutely nothing un-American about Joe Wilson’s actions…inappropriate, impolite, tactless, and generally in bad taste but they were not un-American.

The fact of the matter is that Wilson let his emotions get the better of him and he did something that was inappropriate for the time and place. That doesn’t make him un-American or anything as crazy as some of the things that people have said about him. He simply had a momentary lose of self-control and belted out what he was thinking. That is not a crime (unless you scream fire in a packed theater but that’s something entirely different). Wilson has apologized to the President and honestly that should be the end of it. This rebuke passed by the House was just another waste of their time and our money.

This does however highlight the fragile state of civility in our nation. People are angry, angrier than I can ever remember in my lifetime, and the have no problems taking that anger out on others. Things are getting bad out there and I think that it is safe to say that we are living in the Iron Age / Kali Yuga. The big question though is, what can we do to get our civility and society back on track?

Who Knows the Constitution Better, Scalia or Madison?

There is an interesting post over on Mainstream Baptist called James Madison vs. Antonin Scalia that deals with Scalia’s recent comments on the Establishment Clause.

One thing that people often forget when talking about the Establishment Clause is the fact that Madison was a huge proponent of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia’s Statue of Religious Freedom. The biggest problem with the Church/State debate is that bother sides often go too far and neither seems to listen to each other or reason.

If you are interested in church and state issues, I highly recommend the book So Help Me God: The Founding Fathers and the First Battle Over Church and State.

Who Wants to Live Forever?

Unreasonable Faith wants to know.

Video of the Day IV

"Never Say That" by That Dog

Video of the Day III

"Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Reynmones (covering a Ramones song and it's not what you'd expect)

Video of the Day II

"Gloria" by U2

Video of the Day

"I Will Follow" by U2

Video of the Day: Homemade

"Fallen Angel" by MXPX (covering a Poison song)

Video of the Day: Homemade

"Silence" by ALL/Descendents (This is actually a duet with Chad Price of ALL and Milo Aukerman of the Descendents. One of the things that I've really wanted to hear as a HUGE fan of this band is a Chad/Milo duet because their vocals blend so well together. I hope that this track gets released someday as part of a b-sides compilation. I'm actually kind of dying for a new release from this band.)

Video of the Day: Live

"She's My Ex," "Sex in the Way," and "Carnage" by ALL

Karl Alvarez Interview

Oh Dang...

This is just too funny. This one is great too. The caption on this one is hilarious.

I could go on...just click the link and prepare to laugh!!!

Great Band Alert: Astropop

Hailing from Chicago, IL, Astropop is a great pop rock, pop punk band reminiscent of bands like Smoking Popes, The Muffs, and Sicko. The other great thing about this four-piece is their double vocals action handled by bassist Cindy Whelpley and guitarist Mike Franck. The songs are fun and catchy and encompass everything that is great about pop rock.

For more information on the band or to listen to their excellent music, go to their official website and their MySpace page.

Video of the Day

"When I Get Old" by Descendents

Evolution, God, Absolutists, and Armstrong

The Daily Dish has a great, albeit short, post entitled Where Does Evolution Leave God?, dealing with Albert Mohler’s (President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) response to Karen Armstrong’s response to the Wall Street Journal’s question “Where does evolution leave God?”.

Money Quote –

It's telling that both Mohler and Dawkins are both dedicated to the maintenance of a certain brand of doubt-free, doctrinally absolutist, fundamentalist versions of faith. There are other kinds. And fighting for that center is an important task in a world being torn apart by politicized religion.

I think that Andrew Sullivan has hit the nail on the head here. Dawkins (who also answered the same question WSJ question, see link above) is a fundamentalist atheist and harbors no doubt that he is correct. Mohler is a fundamentalist Christian who also harbors no doubt that he is correct. Armstrong is someone who is in the middle of these extremes. To me, the positions or the absolutists lack any sense of humility that they could be wrong.

UPDATE 9/18: Last night Mr. Sullivan posted a reader’s response to the post referenced above. I thought it was worth adding the link to this post.

Pathetic

According to this story, 75% of Oklahoma high school students surveyed were unable to name the United States’ first president. The students were given 10 question from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Bank…the pass rate was 2.8%. How messed up is that?

One of the things that I truly believe in is a public education system, but seeing stories like this one are just a grand reminder as to how we have and are failing our children by not providing them with the best education possible. Granted, not all of the blame can be laid on the system itself (there is the huge problem of parents who just don’t parent and kids who just don’t care) but it is obvious that things need to be reformed for the sake of our children and our society.

R.I.P. Mary Travers

Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary passed away yesterday. Peter, Paul and Mary had a huge impact on my life. In fact it was their wonderful concerts on PBS (and The Blues Brothers movie) that were the first musical experiences of my life and I love their gentle and passionate songs to this day.

Rest well Mary; may the heavens be lifted by your amazing voice.

Gross Story of the Day

Headline: Bizarre Tongue-Eating Parasite Discovered Off the Jersey Coast

The picture on this story is also pretty messed up.

Currently Listening

1. “Surrender” by Cheap Trick (from Heaven Tonight)
2. “He’s a Whore” by Cheap Trick (from Cheap Trick)
3. “Clean Sheets” by Descendents (from ALL)
4. “I Won’t Let Me” by Descendents (from Everything Sucks)
5. “Diane” by Material Issue (from 20th Century Masters-The Millennium Collection: The Best of Material Issue)
6. “Goin’ Through Your Purse” by Material Issue (from 20th Century Masters-The Millennium Collection: The Best of Material Issue)
7. “Hey Jealousy” by The Gin Blossoms (from Outside Looking In: The Best of the Gin Blossoms)
8. “Allison Road” by The Gin Blossoms (from Outside Looking In: The Best of the Gin Blossoms)
9. “A Littler Bit of You in Everything” by The Rentals (from The Last Little Life EP)
10. “Life Without a Brain” by The Rentals (from The Last Little Life EP)

R.I.P. Patrick Swayze & Jim Carroll

Yesterday came the news of two sad losses: Patrick Swayze lost his battle with cancer and Jim Carroll died of a heart attack. My thoughts and prayers go out to both of their families and friends. Rest well gentlemen.

Currently Listening

It’s another day of computer selected tuneage.

1. “Lakes” by Street Dogs (from Savin’ Hill)
2. “Know It’s Over” by The Smiths (from The Queen is Dead)
3. “You Blister My Paint” by Screeching Weasel (from Weasel Mania)
4. “Diamond Earrings” by Big Drill Car (from Album/Tape/CD Type Thing)
5. “Save the Children [Original Detroit Mix]” by Marvin Gaye (from What’s Going On [2001 Deluxe Edition])
6. “Rocks in Memphis” by U.S. Bombs (from War Birth)
7. “Breakout” by Foo Fighters (from There is Nothing Left to Lose)
8. “Labor Day” by Hudson Falcons (from La Famiglia)
9. “Viet Nam” by Minutemen (from Double Nickels on the Dime)
10. “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac (from Rumors)

It Seems That I Have Been Banned...Again

It appears that I have been banned from submitting comments to a blog that I honestly respect and thoroughly enjoy reading. The blog in question is Classically Liberal. I noticed this after checking the comments of one of his recent posts and saw in bold letters – “Banned by webmaster. Your comments will not be added”.

This really surprised me for a couple of reasons. First I think that I have only posted one comment on his blog before and I seem to remember that I was a agreeing with him at the time. Second I link to his blog on a regular basis and nearly always speak very highly of his posts. So the fact that I have been banned baffles me.

This isn’t the first time that I have been banned from posting comments on blogs before. I was banned from RedState.com twice, but that honestly didn’t surprise me. Blogs like RedState.com and the Daily Kos are authoritarian in nature but Classically Liberal is a libertarian blog ad it boggles my mind that a libertarian would ban anyone from posting comments. That just goes against everything that is libertarianism. I would have emailed the person who writes Classically Liberal, but there is absolutely no contact information anywhere on his blog, so that won’t be possible to do.

What blows my mind is that there are people out there on the internet that just have no respect or common courtesy towards other human beings and yet I am the one that keeps getting banner from voicing my opinion. How does that work?

UPDATE 9/15: It appears that this problem was caused by my ISP’s use of floating IP addresses and has nothing to do with the Classically Liberal blog itself. I apologize for the confusion and appreciate CLS for quickly responding and offering to troubleshoot the issue.

TV Review: The Vampire Diaries

Title: The Vampire Diaries (Official, IMDB, Wikipedia)
Network: CW (Official, Wikipedia)

Last week the television adaptation of the book series The Vampire Diaries debuted on the CW. I wasn’t home at the time but I asked my wife to tape it for me (yes I said tape; we kick it old school with the VCR) and I have watched the debut episode twice this weekend. So far the show is off to a great start. The acting is good, the direction is good, and it is beautifully shot so as long as the plot and writing hold together, we should be up for a great series.

I’ve never read the books that this series is based on and my experience to the vampire genre is somewhat limited, but The Vampire Diaries looks to be a great series that I will be taping each week for as long as it is on the air. Granted it’s not Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel, but what is?

E-Books Reduce Carbon Footprints?

According to this story, people who read a lot can help save the environment and reduce their carbon footprint by using an e-reader instead of buying paperbacks.

Call me old fashioned, but when I read a book, I’d actually like to read a book and not a computer screen. Besides we recycle more than enough paper in our house to make up for the books that we buy. Plus I really don’t buy into the whole carbon footprint thing, but that is a matter for another post entirely.

Currently Listening

Today’s another day of computer selected tuneage.

1. “Boys of Summer” by The Ataris (from So Long Astoria)
2. “Angry Nerd Rock” by The Ataris (from Blue Skies, Broken Hearts…Next 12 Exits)
3. “As Ugly as I Seem” by The White Stripes (from Get Behind Me Satan)
4. “Cactus” by Pixies (from Surfer Rosa)
5. “Big Time” by Peter Gabriel (from Hit Disc 1)
6. “Warrior (Dave Dorrell Remix)” by Public Image Limited (from The Greatest Hits, So Far)
7. “Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac (from Greatest Hits)
8. “Let’s Do It” by Joan Jett & Paul Westerberg (from huH)
9. “Let Me Sleep” by Pearl Jam (from Lost Dogs: Rarities and B Sides Disc 2)
10. “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” by Marvin Gaye (from What’s Going On [2001 Deluxe Edition])

Coming to Pieces?

WorldNetDaily recently posted an excellent piece by Pat Buchanan entitled Is America coming apart?. In the piece Buchanan starkly lays out the sad reality that is political discourse in this country which I think he summed up beautifully when he wrote –

We seem not only to disagree with each other more than ever, but to have come almost to detest one another. Politically, culturally, racially, we seem ever ready to go for each others' throats.

Buchanan goes on to ask the following questions –

The question invites itself. In what sense are we one nation and one people anymore? For what is a nation if not a people of a common ancestry, faith, culture and language, who worship the same God, revere the same heroes, cherish the same history, celebrate the same holidays and share the same music, poetry, art and literature?

While I disagree with some of Buchanan’s assumptions in his questions, he does raise an excellent point. Are we still one nation?

Political this country has always had lively and hostile debates and discourse (just ask Thomas Jefferson) but things seem to have gotten much worse just in my lifetime. As Glenn Greenwald recently pointed out, the shenanigans of those who oppose our current President are nothing new. One only has to look at the despicable way in which opponents of the past two Presidents’ behaved to understand this. Those on the Right went after Bill Clinton for eight years while those on the Left went after George W. Bush just as viciously.

But things now seem to be coming to a head. The country is divided like never in our history (at least as far as I can tell) and the hostilities are at record levels. I believe that this is not what our founders had in mind for us. We currently have a government that no one trusts (and for good reason). We have institutions that have failed us. Decades of unchecked greed has come to roost in the financial ruin of our nation. Millions of people are out of work or can barely get by and they all want someone to blame. And the easiest thing is to blame those with which you disagree.

More than anything our nation needs a time of healing and despite what he promised on the campaign trail, President Obama has not been able to help us in that manner. Those who have feared that we will tear each other apart from the inside are proving to be right. This divide is our nation’s greatest threat and I hope we can see past it to make a brighter tomorrow for our children.

Video of the Day: Homemade

"Kiss the Bottle" by Foo Fighters (covering a Jawbreaker tune)

Video of the Day

"Shocker In Gloomtown" by The Breeders

Is Obama Helping the GOP?

The blog Classically Liberal has a great post titled How Obaman and the Radical Left are creating a Republican resurgence. In the post CLS concludes that Obama is making the error in thinking that he was elected because of his views and not because of the failures of the previous administration. The post is extremely well thought out, thorough, and worth checking out.

Money Quote –

When polls investigate the independent voter certain things stand out. They do tend to like low taxes and don’t want big government. They sound pretty conservative. But they also tend to support marriage equality and don’t want to enforce Biblical law, unlike the theopublicans. In other words, the independent voters tend to drift in a libertarian direction, and not toward either the authoritarian Left or the authoritarian Right.

[…]

I will reiterate my view that the Republicans, if they want to be a party of government for the long term, will still have to scuttle their links to the Christian lunatic fringe. Of course, the Democrats could do the same thing if they rejected the old tax, spend, regulate policies of their socialist ideologues. Until one of the two major parties wises up, and abandons the ideological albatross around their neck, the independent voters will swing the elections. But that is not necessarily a bad thing since these are people who tend to want sound economics, aren’t interested in Christian moralism, and aren’t too keen to police the world.

Is Being a Radical or Reactionary Illegal?

In the aftermath of the Van Jones affair, I have to ask the question: Is it illegal to be a communist in this country? Is it illegal to be an anarchist or any type of radical leftist or reactionary right-winger? Is it against the law to think that things in our system should be drastically changed?

Now before anyone goes off half-cocked, let me point out a few things.

1. The appointment of Van Jones by the Obama administration was a bad idea.
2. Having radical or reactionary opinions and beliefs is one thing, but acting out violently on them is something totally different. It is wrong to bomb buildings in the name of the environment and it is wrong to kill abortion doctors in the name of saving unborn babies.

I’m not going to get into the problems of extremists in this post. I have made my views on that topic very clear over the years. What I would like to know though, is if people think that it is illegal or wrong to hold such extremist views. Again, this is not about whether or not acting on these views violently is right or wrong, because as I stated above that is wrong. But what if you are someone who truly believes that communism would be a better system? Or what if you are someone who truly believes that a Christian or Muslim theocracy would be a better system? Are those beliefs in and of themselves wrong? And if you answer yes to that question, then what does that say about freedom and our views of freedom and who should be free?

Giant Eagle Mystery Solved

According to this story, scientists have solved a “mystery over the nature of a giant, ancient raptor known as the Haast's eagle, which became extinct about 500 years ago.” The bird weighed over 40 pounds, lived in the mountains of New Zealand, and was a predator (that even dined on the occasional human).

Money Quote –

Scofield said the findings are similar to what he found in Maori folk tales. "The science supports Maori mythology of the legendary pouakai or hokioi, a huge bird that could swoop down on people in the mountains and was capable of killing a small child," he said.

Man I love science. This stuff is just too cool!

Currently Listening

The computer is picking the songs today.

1. “The Charging Sky” by Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins (from Rabbit Fur Coat)
2. “Welcome to the Working Week” by Elvis Costello (from My Aim is True)
3. “Not Fade Away” by The Rolling Stones (from Forty Licks Disc 1)
4. “The Slab” by Public Image Limited (from Commercial Zone)
5. “I Want to Live” by Talking Heads (from Popular Favorites 1976-1992: Sand in the Vaseline Disc 1)
6. “Time After Time (Annelise)” by R.E.M. (Reckoning)
7. “Can’t Go Back” by Descendents (from I Don’t Want to Grow Up)
8. “Jersey City Streets” by Hudson Falcons (from La Famiglia)
9. “Waiting” by Green Day (from Warning)
10. “Original Sin” by INXS (from The Greatest Hits)

Video of the Day

"The Frug" by Rilo Kiley

Top 10 Live Albums

Pop Tarts Suck Toasted has put together a great post Top 10: Live Albums Ever. I’ve been toying with doing one of these lists myself, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Maybe sometime soon I will.

ALLUMENTARY

Being huge ALL/Descendents fan, I had to post this video.

video of the Day: Live

"Leave Home" by Teenage Frames

Space…the Final Frontier

This is simply breathtaking.

The beauty and majesty of the cosmos never ceases to amaze me. Things like this also remind us how small we are in the grand scheme of things. We are but a blink in this eternal cosmic reality.

Images like this are awe-inspiring and humbling all at the same time.

Thank God for the beauty of the universe and for the eyes and talents that of those who bring her beauty to bear for all to see.

More pictures like this can be seen here.

Thanks to The Daily Dish for the find.

Homeschooler Sent to Public School by Judge

Unreasonable Faith has a post today on what appears to be a sad and complicated case of two divorced parents unable to reconcile their differences in how they think their daughter should receive her education. The post titled Homeschooler Ordered to Attend Public School, show the complexity of a situation that seems to have more with the parents and their inability to get along than it does with their daughter, her education, or her well being.

Take this for instance (a quote from an article referenced in the story) –

… Amanda’s relationship with her father suffered because she did not think he loved her as much as he said he did due to the fact that he refused to “adopt her religious beliefs.”

What 10-year-old kid is going to come up with something like that on her own? That sounds like an idea planted by her mother to me. Granted I could be wrong and the mother could be a saint, but based on the information given this sure sees like shameful behavior on the part of the parents’ in using their daughter in their post-marriage battles.

Currently Listening

Today’s song selections were inspired by a conversation I had yesterday at school.

1. “Typical Girls” by The Slits (from No Thanks! The ‘70s Punk Rebellion Disc 4)
2. “Story of My Life” by Social Distortion (from Social Distortion)
3. “Mother” by Danzig (from Danzig)
4. “Artificial Life” by Operation Ivy (from Energy)
5. “Where Eagles Dare” by Misfits (from Misfits: Collection I)
6. “Bloody Night, Bloody Knife” by The Independents (from Back from the Grave)
7. “I Got Your Number” by Cock Sparrer (from Shock Troops / Runnin’ Riot in ’84)
8. “The Freaks, The Nerds, and The Romantics” by The Bouncing Souls (from Live Disc 2)
9. “Rollercoaster” by The Amazing Royal Crowns (from The Amazing Royal Crowns)
10. “Fall Back Down” by Rancid (from Indestructible)

Talking to the Kids, Part 2

The White House released the contents of the speech that the President will be delivering to schools today (get the full text here).

After reading the speech I think that it is safe to say that all of the fear, hoopla, and comparisons to Hitler and Stalin were uncalled for. This speech is nothing more than the President’s plea to school children to work hard and to stay in schools.

Here is one of the highlights –

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

Color me crazy, but I don’t see any indoctrination into socialism here or anywhere in this speech.

There are plenty of things to criticize the President about, but this isn’t one of them.

Currently Listening

Today the computer is picking the songs.

1. “Yellow Ledbetter” by Pearl Jam (from Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991-2003 Disc 2)
2. “One for the Razzorbacks” by Green Day (from Kerplunk)
3. “She Said” by Wakeland (from Magnetic)
4. “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” by Dead Kennedys (from Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables)
5. “Police Truck” by Agent Orange (from Real Live Sound)
6. “Workin’ for the Man” by The Inciters (from Movin’ On)
7. “Little Red Rooster” by Sam Cooke (from Greatest Hits)
8. “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode (from Never Mind the Mani Stream: Best of MTV’s 120 Minutes, Vol. 2)
9. “Two Beats Off” by Fugazi (from Repeater + 3 Songs)
10. “Playboys, Punk, and Pretty Things” by Swingin’ Utters (from Swingin’ Utters)

Quote of the Day II

Obama took office vowing to change the tenor in Washington, to seek bipartisanship as he worked through his reform agenda. So far he's had no success with that course.

--Steven R. Hurst from Analysis: Furor over speech typifies polarization

Has he even taken that course? It seems to me that the President has done little to be bipartisan, other than a few appointments (Secretary Gates for example). Other than that, he has used the Democratic majority in Congress to better position the amount of power wielded by said party. It’s the same exact thing that President Bush did while he had a Republican majority in Congress. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

The Pope, the Environment, and Atheists

Recently the Pope made the following statement which caused a bit of a stir –

Is it not true that inconsiderate use of creation begins where God is marginalized or also where is existence is denied? If the human creature's relationship with the Creator weakens, matter is reduced to egoistic possession, man becomes the "final authority," and the objective of existence is reduced to a feverish race to possess the most possible.

Daniel Florien from Unreasonable Faith responded in his post Pope Blames Environmental Problems on Atheists, stating –

Most of the people I’ve met who don’t care about the earth have been Christians. I’m sure my experience is biased, but I also haven’t met an atheist that isn’t concerned about our environment — though I’m sure there are some. Most Christians who don’t care about the environment do so on the basis that God has things under control and he’ll eventually torch the earth anyway. Atheists, on the other hand, believe this is the only home we have and we need to take care of it.

I decided to read what the Pope actually said in its entirety and I honestly don’t think that the point was to blame the problems with the environment on atheists. There is a lot more going on in what the Pope had to say, and as often the case with this Pope, it is not very sound bite friendly.

Take the following as an example –

The different phenomena of environmental degradation and natural calamities, which unfortunately are often reported in the news, remind us of the urgency of the respect owed to nature, recovering and appreciating, in every day life, a correct relation with the environment. A new sensitivity to these topics is being developed, which arouses the correct concern of the authorities and of public opinion, which is also expressed in the multiplication of meetings at the international level.

Now tell me…what environmentalist wouldn’t agree with that statement? And why wouldn’t they?

Or how about this?

How important it is, therefore, that the international community and the different governments be able to give the appropriate indications to their own citizens to address in an effective manner the ways of utilizing the environment that turn out to be harmful. The economic and social costs stemming from the use of shared environmental resources, recognized in a transparent way, must be assumed by those who use them, and not by other populations or by future generations. Protection of the environment and the safeguarding of the resources and climate call for all leaders to act jointly, respecting the law and promoting solidarity, above all in the weaker regions of the earth (Cf. "Caritas in Veritate," 50).

Together we can build an integral human development beneficial to present and future peoples, a development inspired by the values of charity in truth. For this to happen it is indispensable that the present model of global development be transformed through a greater and shared responsibility for creation: This is demanded not only by environmental emergencies, but also by the scandal of hunger and poverty.

That seems pretty inline with most environmental philosophies to me, but since it is coming from the Pope, it must be bad right? Wrong. I agree with pretty much everything that the Pope has said so far. In fact, if you take the original section that Florien quoted and exchanged God for Mother Nature and I can’t imagine any environmentalist or atheist disagreeing with it. Have we not as a society become too egotistical and concerned with possessions?

This is not to say that I agree 100% with everything the Pope has said here. Take the following –

Creation, matter structured in an intelligent manner by God, is entrusted to man's responsibility, who is able to interpret and refashion it actively, without regarding himself as the absolute owner. Man is called to exercise responsible government to protect it, to obtain benefits and cultivate it, finding the necessary resources for a dignified existence for all.

My problem with this is that it seems to imply man’s superiority to nature instead of describing man as a part of nature. This is a pretty typical point of view in the Judea-Christian worldview which can be supported through various parts of scripture (see my post Divinity & Nature). While I being in God and that God created the universe, I do not believe that he/she/it put humanity on the earth to rule over nature. We are as much a part of nature as the birds, fish, and other animals. I do completely agree thought that man “is called to exercise responsible government to protect it, to obtain benefits and cultivate it, finding the necessary resources for a dignified existence for all.” I must again ask, who can’t agree with that?

I think that this is another case of more being read into the Pope’s words than was actually there. Granted I agree with Florien that I too have yet to meet an atheist, or any type of non-Christian for that matter, that isn’t deeply concerned about the environment. That having been said, I think that the Pope was going for a more generalized attack on the lack of spirituality in modern culture and our obsession with possession than an out-and-out attack on atheists. Granted I could be wrong since I can’t read the man’s mind and all, but that was how I interpreted his statements after reading them in context.

Quote of the Day

Notice the loaded language they use — “Dictator,” “Czars,” “henchman” — they aren’t really talking about issues, but using an issue superficially understood to make their constant point about how evil Obama is. The more radical liberals used the same kind of tactics when referring to Bush, which was equally ineffective at promoting intelligent discourse.

--Daniel Florien from the post Oh Noes, Not the Obama Internet Kill Switch!

Anansi Tales

The following is my first writing assignment for Folklore class. In the assignment we were to summarize two Anansi tales and then explain how, based on those stories, the character fits the definition of a trickster.

__________________________________________________

Anansi Tales

Tale # 1: Why Anansi has Eight Thin Legs

Anansi loved to eat his neighbors’ food. One day he came across Rabbit who was making greens. Rabbit offered to share with Anansi but that they weren’t done yet. Anansi wanted the greens but feared waiting with Rabbit because Rabbit was likely to put him to work. Anansi suggested that he spin a web and tie one end to Rabbit’s pot and the other to his leg and that when the greens were ready, Rabbit could just tug on the web and Anansi would come running. Rabbit agreed and Anansi was off to see the rest of the village. Anansi then found the monkeys cooking beans. Father Monkey invited Anansi to join them and Anansi suggested spinning a web to tie on his leg and their pot. Father Monkey agreed and Anansi was on his way. Anansi then came upon Hog cooking sweet potatoes and again he suggested spinning a web so that Hog could let him know when the food was ready. Eventually Anansi had a web tied to each of his eight legs and as he waited by the river he prided himself over his wonderful idea and was curious as to whose food would be ready first. Then he felt a tug on one of his legs but before he could return to the person tugging the web he felt a tug on another leg and then another and another until the webs on each of his eight legs was being pulled in different directions. With each tug on his legs, they got thinner and thinner. Anansi rolled himself into the river to wash away the webs and when he painfully climbed on to the shore, he noticed how much thinner his legs had become and thought to himself that maybe his idea hadn’t been that great to begin with.

Tale # 2: Getting Common Sense

One day Anansi came up with a brilliant idea to get plenty of money and power. He would go around the world and collect all of the common sense, horde it for himself, and then when people needed help or advice he would charge them for the common sense that he had collected. So Anansi set off with one huge calabash to hold the all of the common sense that he collected. And after traveling the world and collecting what surely was all of the common sense, he decided to tie the calabash in the top of a tree so that no one could steal it. He tied the calabash to his stomach and began to climb the tree, but soon discovered that it was very hard to do with the huge calabash on his underside. Just then he heard laughter. Anansi turned around to see a boy laughing at him. The boy called up “If you wanted to carry that up the tree it would be easier if it was strapped to your back.” Anansi became outraged at the boy’s common sense and broke apart the calabash scattering the common sense on the winds and throughout the world.

Question: How does Anansi fit the definition of a trickster?

These two stories showcase many of traits of a trickster in Anansi. In “Why Anansi has Eight Thin Legs” Anansi is shown to be a hunger-driven manipulator, a lazy work avoider, and a clown of the body. In the story, Anansi is driven by hunger when he greedily sniffs out the food that those in the village are cooking. His desire to avoid work is what prompted his idea to tie a web to his leg so that he could be notified when the food was ready (he feared Rabbit putting him to work while they waited for the food to finish cooking). Then at the end of the story, his tomfoolery put him into the situation of having all of his legs pulled in different directions, thus making him a clown of the body (Anansi would have fit right in with Chevy Chase doing President Ford falling skits in the early days of Saturday Night Live).

In the story “Getting Common Sense” Anansi assumes the trickster types/roles of mischief-maker, culture bringer, and—again—clown of the body. Anansi’s idea to take all of the common sense for himself and to use it to gain riches and power is mischievousness to its very core (it is also quite greedy). When his plan backfires and Anasi breaks apart the calabash sending all of the common sense out on the winds, he takes on the role of culture bringer by giving a little bit of common sense to everyone in the world. Finally his shenanigans once again bring about of moment of slapstick comic relief when he ties his huge calabash to his belly and then tries to climb the tree. Granted, thanks to his previous adventure Anansi does have nice long legs, but even so the cumbersome nature of the climb is guaranteed to induce laughter.

Within these two stories one can see how Anansi fits the definition of a trickster through his cunning, if not ill-witted, behavior and through the roles that he assumes.


Sources

“Why Anansi has Eight Thin Legs”
http://www.africa.mrdonn.org/anansi.html

“Getting Common Sense”Yolen, Jane, Favorite Folktale from Around the World, 1986

How Many Books are in the World?

168,178,719.

Thanks to The Daily Dish for the find.

The Smell of Space

I didn’t realize that a vacuum could smell. Apparently I was wrong.

Van Jones Steps Down

After weeks of controversy, President Obama’s Green Jobs Adviser/Czar Van Jones has stepped down.

I know very little about Jones, but what I have heard is fairly disturbing. While I completely support his rights in holding and speaking out on his beliefs, but I think that he was a poor choice for an administration that campaigned on bringing America together.

Video of the Day III

"Rebound" by Sebadoh

Another Wow

Can you imagine letting your 10-year-old kid go to school with a t-shirt proclaiming “ISLAM IS OF THE DEVIL”? Well Wayne Sapp did and his daughter Faith got sent home from school because of it.

Color me crazy, but junk like this just doesn’t belong in school. Kids aren’t allowed to wear shirts about drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes or doing drugs, or anything else that could be considered disruptive (I knew a kid in junior high who was told to turn his Suicidal Tendencies t-shirt inside out). I have no problem with kids wearing shirts that say things like “His pain is your gain” or “no Jesus, no peace” but this is completely different.

Thanks to Unreasonable Faith for the find.

Talking to the Kids

The President has caused quite a stir with his upcoming address to the students of America. I have to admit that I think it is kind of creepy, especially with the way that some of the materials for teachers was worded (which apparently has since been corrected), but my final opinion will be based completely on what the President actually says.

This is another great example of the double standards in politics. In 1991 when then President Bush made this same type of address, the Democrats were all up in arms about it. They were complaining that the President was using the event as some sort of campaign tool (because we all know that little kids can vote). Now it is the Republicans that are wigging out claiming that the President is trying to indoctrinate kids ala Stalin.

Everything about this situation should hinge on what Obama actually says to the kids of America. If he simply tells kids to stay in school and work hard, then all of the hoopla was a complete waste of time and energy. If he uses the time and his communication skills to do anything else, then he very may well be signing the deal that will end his Presidency in 2012.

The Rockabillies

Here is a great gallery of the greaser/rockabilly subculture by photographer Jennifer Greenberg.

Thanks to The Daily Dish for the find.

Wow…

Some people are just crazy. Like the pastor who is praying for God to kill the president. What the crap is that about?!? It’s one thing to disagree with the president’s policies or to just not like him as a person but to wish death upon him is just beyond f-ed up, especially coming from the pulpit. Is this the kind of thing that Jesus would promote?

Quote of the Day

Root wants the (formerly) Libertarian Party to officially become part of a conservative coalition “to take back America from Obama and his socialist agenda.” Really, only a moron thinks the problem is a socialist agenda. It isn’t. Sure Obama wants socialism. But the problem is a statist agenda, a desire to have Big Government. And the conservatives, who had power for much of the last 30 years, have NEVER pushed through smaller government.

-- CLS from the post Fake libertarians propose alliance with conservatives.

Concert of the Day

This is the entire set of final show at CBGB's with the Gorilla Biscuits recorded on 9/3/06. The Gorilla Biscuits were one of the great New York City straight edge hardcore punk bands from the 1980's. I always felt that the carried the true banner of what it meant to be straight edge that was first raised by Minor Threat and 7 Seconds. In the mid-90's three-fourths of the Gorilla Biscuits formed a new band, CIV, that had a minor hit with the song "Can't Wait One Minute More." In many ways CIV was just an extension of the Gorilla Biscuits. For more information on the Gorilla Biscuits check them out on MySpace, Wikipedia, and PunkNews.org.

Video of the Day II

"Choices Made" by CIV

Video of the Day

"Stutter" by Elastica

Video of the Day: Live

"Teenage FBI" by Guided By Voices

Video of the Day III

"I Was Wrong" by Social Distortion

Video of the Day II

"Escalator" by Sicko

Video of the Day

"Now We Can See" by The Thermals

How Blogging has Helped My Writing

Shortly after I began this blog, I started taking some creative writing classes through the Creative Studies department at the University of Central Oklahoma. I ended up taking three incredibly fun and education classes and during that time completed the manuscript for my first attempt at writing a novel. Since then blogging has become something that I do on nearly a daily basis (lately school has made my blogging a bit more sporadic though).

After taking those three classes, I went back to Oklahoma City Community College to take Comparative Religions. In that class we had three writing assignments and I was amazed at how easy they were for me to complete (one of them I wrote in a manner of 20 minutes). The next semester I took Early Western Civilization and Mythology, both of which had writing assignments as part of the course and both of which I completed with very little effort (not including the research phase…that can still be time consuming). This semester I am taking Folklore and I completed our first writing assignment, again with very little effort (I’ll be posting it later on).

While writing has always been something that I’ve seemed to be pretty good at (my high school sophomore English teacher thought so at least), I would often struggle through the process of writing, especially the getting started part. Now I can sit down and knock out a few pages worth of stuff without breaking a mental sweat. I think the two big factors to this change are that I now read like crazy (I had read a total of six book by the time I was 24; since then I’ve lost count…thank you Star Wars novels) and that I write this blog.

Writing a blog on a nearly daily basis is an excellent tool for practicing the craft of writing. In fact, one of the assignments in my first creative writing class at UCO was to keep a journal. The idea was that writing was the best way to improve writing and I can honestly say that my professor was completely right.

Ever Wonder What Your Favorite Author’s Bookshelves Look Like?

Have a look at Neil Gaiman’s.

Top 10 Musical Moments on TV

Pop Tarts Suck Toasted has a great post entitled Top Ten: Musical Moments on Television. I have to admit that the only one that I know on the list is # 8 (Buffalo Tom on My So-Called Life, which would have been my # 1) but you can never go wrong with one of PTST’s list posts.

Currently Listening

1. “Don’t Follow” by Alice in Chains (from Jar of Flies)
2. “Death or Glory” by The Clash (from London Calling)
3. “Picture of You” by The Cure (from Disintegration)
4. “Little Brother” by Dead To Me (from Little Brother)
5. “Haven’t Got a Clue” by Dramarama (from The Best of Dramarama: 18 Big Ones)
6. “Bring on the Dancing Horses” by Echo & the Bunnymen (from Songs to Learn and Sing)
7. “An Otherwise Sunny Day” by Filthy Thieving Bastards (from A Melody of Retreads and Broken Quills)
8. “We are the Normal” by The Goo Goo Dolls (from Superstar Car Wash)
9. “Fool for Love” by The Heartdrops (from This is The Heartdrops)
10. “Love Me, I’m a Liberal” by Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon (from Prairie Home Invasion)

My New Favorite Blog

The World in a Satin Bag

This blog discusses science fiction and fantasy literature and film and is a FANTASTIC read. Fans of the aforementioned genres need to add this blog to their daily reading.


On a side note…I had to take a few blogs that I do really enjoy off of my subscriptions on Google Reader. I still do enjoy The Daily Dish, TPM, and Blogger Interrupted but their never ending amount of posts were just too much to try and keep up with.