Happy Memorial Day

My sincerest thanks and appreciation goes out to all of those men and women who have fought and died for our country.

Is the United States Destined to Go the Way of the Roman Republic?

Joe Costello has an excellent and somewhat disturbing piece entitled Are We Going The Way Of The Roman Republic? that is a must read. Here’s a taste…

The fall of the Roman Republic was well known to America’s founders and its lessons well contemplated, for unlike Imperial Rome, the Republic fell at the height of its economic and military power. By the end, Rome’s politics were eminently corrupt and the weight of the empire that was conquered collapsed the unique system of self-government that had been created.

With most recent examples of the health care bill, the financial industry bill, the continued electoral buying and selling of our elected officials, and the growing ineptitude and corruption of our government agencies (the most recently reported in the MMS) who are responsible for regulation of the oil industry, it is obvious for all who care to look, we are on the same path of the Roman republic. And just as Rome, our political class’ petty ambition is content with little.

For a while now I have thought that we might suffer the same fate as the Romans. I pray that we don’t.

Thanks to Living On Tulsa Time for the find.

Defining Libertarianism

The blog Classically Liberal has a fascinating post entitled The limits of libertarianism in which CLS provides his definition/explanation of what is libertarianism.

I start with a relative loose definition for libertarian and then fine-tune it, hopefully reaching a place that is neither fundamentalist nor meaningless. First, a libertarian starts out with a presumption for liberty. In every situation a libertarian first assumes that the use of state coercion has to be justified on a case-by-case basis. Liberty is the default setting.

That alone removes the likes of Paul Krugman, Barack Obama and George W. Bush from the category. But, clearly having this, as a primary definition, is not sufficient. Some people would have very low thresholds for the proof necessary to justify coercive measures. But it is a good place to start.

From there I move to the three main categories of politics: economic, social and international. Economic areas of life are fairly well understood: it is all the buying, selling, exchanging that goes on in the realm of material goods, property, labor, etc. The international realm includes matters of foreign policy, international trade, and the international movement of people—though this latter category also falls into the social sphere. The social sphere is areas of individual life: matters like freedom of speech, censorship, sex laws, drug laws, prohibitionism, etc.

In the social sphere, there is almost always overlap with economic freedom. For instance, the conservative who wants to ban erotica is wanting to ban the production, distribution, sale and ownership of a product. Those are all economic activities. A social conservative, who wants to do this with things like porn or drugs, is clearly not in favor of a free market, at least in these areas. Similarly the conservative campaign to make it a crime to hire individuals who are in the U.S. without bureaucratic permission slips is a violation of labor contracts between willing buyers and willing sellers.

This is one reason that conservatives seem to endlessly betray their claims to support a free market. The free, depoliticized marketplace leads to results contrary to the centrally planned, social sphere that conservatives envision. Since depoliticized markets betray the conservative’s social goals, the conservative betrays free markets. They can’t achieve their social goals in a world with truly free, depoliticized markets. For conservatives, free markets are more rhetorical than real.

In actual existence, these three broad categories overlap constantly. Consider foreign policy: matters of war and peace. War is always accompanied by state attacks on civil liberties and economic freedom. There has never been an exception to that rule. As we saw, something like drug prohibition not only impacts civil liberties but is also a flagrant attack on free markets and property rights. The three main spheres of politics—economics, social, and international—overlap and are interrelated. Tinkering with one of them has consequences for all of them.

The libertarian, with a presumption for liberty, then would logically have to favor depoliticized markets, social freedom and a pro-peace, non-interventionist foreign policy coupled with freedom of movement for capital, labor and goods. The interrelated nature of these freedoms makes this a package deal, in this blogger’s opinion.

The two polar opposites then in politics are the authoritarian and the libertarian.

The authoritarian would have a presumption of state control. That would lead them to advocate a violation of social freedom, political control of the marketplace, and an aggressive, coercive foreign policy. Adolph Hitler comes to mind as a prime example of this sort of thinker. Similarly, so do Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mugabe, and Mussolini.

The conservative tends to support just one sphere of liberty: economic freedom, although they are forced to do so inconsistently by their other policies. Most conservatives are foreign interventionists and tend to oppose social freedom. Their support for free markets is tepid at best and usually no deeper than a campaign promise.

The progressive, often erroneously called a liberal, tends to oppose economic freedom, but claims to favor civil liberties, social freedom, and is usually pro-peace in foreign policy.

However, foreign policy is always the messy issue. There are conservatives who support non-interventionism in foreign policy—often they are called the “Old Right” or paleo-conservatives. Similarly, there is a history of people on the Left advocating empire-building and aggressive foreign policies. Many of the Progressives in America, during the “Progressive Era” were rampant imperialists; similarly socialists in England were often the most vocal advocates of British imperialism.

Realizing these exceptions doesn’t disqualify the general rule of thumb that I use. We can thus conclude that the four general political positions are as follows:

Libertarian: non-interventionist foreign policy, supportive of social freedom, advocates depoliticized markets.

Authoritarian: aggressive foreign policy, opponent of social freedom, advocate of heavily politicized markets.

Conservative: aggressive foreign policy, opponent of social freedom, advocate of less regulated markets.

Progressive: less aggressive foreign policy, supports social freedoms, advocate of
politicized markets.

If you attempted to outline this as a bar graph you could put the Libertarian on the far left. Moving to the Right you would find the Progressive next, then the Conservative and finally the polar opposite of the libertarian: the Authoritarian.

[…]

So, for me, a libertarian is one who has a presumption of liberty in the three main spheres of politics. He or she would support economic freedom, support social and civil liberty, and advocate a pro-peace, pro-trade foreign policy. He would apply these principles across the board to all groups of people. Making exceptions that consistently fall in one sphere of liberty does disqualify one as a libertarian. And making exceptions that fall on one group of peaceful people also disqualifies one as a
libertarian.

Here is a passage though that I thought was pretty flipping brilliant (emphasis mine) –

This is why I don’t tend to use single issues as a litmus test for classifying someone politically. But I do use the convergence of evidence in each category. Recognizing exceptions doesn’t change general trends. The conservative will tend to be on the wrong side of social freedom issues, especially when in matters that impact minorities. I can pick any random Republican and tell you how he will vote on matters like marriage equality or immigration, and generally be right. It’s not that I’m psychic; it is the nature of conservatives to be the way they are. Similarly, I know how the Democrats will generally vote on such matters as well. From a libertarian perspective I know that Robert Mugabe will be disgustingly bad on virtually any issue you mention.

This sort of foreknowledge, based on understanding the principles of the individual, gives one a general understanding of the person. I know that the chances are that Paul Krugman will be horrendous on most economic policy. He’s into economic S&M: he loves bondage when it comes to markets. I know the Laurel and Hardy of politics—Michael Moore and Ann Coulter—will be shrill, hysterical, dishonest whatever they are talking about, and usually wrong.

I think he nailed those two on the head. And while I'm not a full-blown libertarian, I tend to find myself agreeing with the likes of CLS far more often then I do with nearly any Democrat, Republican, conservative, or progressive.

Del Toro Quits The Hobbit

Bad news for fans of Middle Earth, Guillermo del Toro has quit as the director of The Hobbit.

I now wonder if this project will ever see the light of day.

RIP Dennis Hopper

Actor Dennis Hopper died on Saturday. Rest well Dennis.

Currently Listening

I’m letting the computer pick the songs today.

1. “Viva Las Vegas” by Dead Kennedys (from Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables)
2. “Somebody to Love” by Queen (from Greatest Hits [We Will Rock You Edition])
3. “Head On” by Big Drill Car (from Album/Tape/CD Type Thing)
4. “Here We Go” by The Bouncing Souls (from Live Disc 1)
5. “Unity” by Operation Ivy (from Energy)
6. “What We Hate” by Screeching Weasel (from Weasel Mania)
7. “Corona” by The Minutemen (from Double Nickels on the Dime)
8. “Seaside Rendezvous” by Queen (from A Night at the Opera [Bonus Tracks])
9. “Prayer for My Demo” by Urban Dance Squad (from Mental Floss for the Globe)
10. “Scary Sad” by ALL (from Allroy’s Revenge)

Red City Radio on the Cover of This Week’s Gazette

Make sure pick up this week’s Oklahoma Gazette to check out the cover story featuring Red City Radio. According to the story the band will be heading back to Stephen Egerton’s Armstrong Studios in Tulsa to record their full length debut album for Paper & Plastic Records.

Needless to say I am eagerly awaiting the release of this CD. Red City Radio have quickly become one of my all time favorite Oklahoma bands and I can’t recommend their latest EP To the Sons & Daughters of Woody Guthrie enough.

Thanks to OklahomaRock.com for the find. PunkNews.org also made a reference to this story.

RIP Gary Coleman

Different Strokes star Gary Coleman passed away yesterday. I grew up watching Coleman on Different Strokes and loved his “Whatch you talkin’ ‘bout Willis?” line. Rest well Gary.

Currently Listening

1. “Son of a Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield (from Dusty in Memphis [Deluxe Edition])
2. “Gods are Fearing Men” by Filthy Thieving Bastards (from My Pappy Was a Pistol)
3. “Be My Head” by The Flaming Lips (from Transmissions from the Satellite Heart)
4. “Sympathy” by The Get Up Kids (from Guilt Show)
5. “Crush” by Jimmy Eat World (from Clarity)
6. “Waves That Never Break” by The Like (from Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?)
7. “Dagger” by Mark Lind & the Unloved (from The Truth Can Be Brutal)
8. “Stand Up” by Riot Squad (from Riot Squad)
9. “Misconstrued” by Wakeland (from To See the Sun)
10. “Unseen Power of the Picket Fence” by Pavement (from No Alternative)

Rudeness, Blind (and Mindless) Partisanship, and the Anti-Empathetic Boss

Last night after work I had one of the most frustrating and infuriating conversations of my entire life. Things started off nicely and innocently enough when a couple of the people around me started discussing politics and then my boss, who came over while on his way out to tell me to take off my hat (why that actually matters at 11 o’clock at night is beyond me but he is a stickler for the moronic), joined in the conversation.

One of my fellow coworkers made the statement that the only reason the economy tanked is because the Democrats took over Congress in 2007 and made the economy fail in order to win the White House from John McCain. Aside from being amazingly factually inaccurate, this was one of the most blindly and mindlessly partisan statements that I’d ever heard. I proceeded to attempt to make the point that the economy had been teetering on the edge of a knife since the last years of the Clinton administration (I’ve known that a financial collapse was coming since 1999; you simply can’t go as high as we did for as long as we did without the system correcting itself…it’s a cycle for Pete’s sake). I say attempted because every time I opened my mouth to speak, I was interrupted by my coworker and/or my boss.

It has been quite a while since I’ve had a face-to-face conversation with someone that was this hostile and outright rude. After a while I just couldn’t take anymore and attempted to get a word in edge wise, in-between the Fox News regurgitation that I was being assailed with, and my coworker had that audacity to accuse me of interrupting him. I pointed out that he interrupted me first yet this simple fact couldn’t derail his train.

Two things that frustrate me to no end is mindless partisanship and rudeness and I got a full Big Gulp of both last night.

I am an easy going person, who gets alone well with all types of people, but once you show me that you are a blind partisan that tends to just repeat what you hear on talk radio, then I start to lose respect for you. And before anyone jumps my shit on this, I am equally aggravated by the left wing blinders as I am by their right wing counterparts. Blind devotion, acceptance, and acquiescence to ANY political philosophy is ignorance on a grand scale.

Want to know what bothers me though more than blind mindlessness? Blatant rudeness. Have you ever listened to how talk show hosts like Mark Levin and/or Sean Hannity talk to someone who disagrees with them? How the cut them off, interrupt them, talk down to them, and treat them with general disgust and disrespect? Well that is how I was treated last night. And yes I know that there are left wingers out there that are just as rude, but since I don’t have cable and no access to MSNBC I don’t know who they are. I do however listen to lots of talk radio and thus was able to make this comparison.

Needless to say this “conversation” devolved fairly quickly and eventually I just lost it. Now for a bit of background, I don’t have the best working relationship with my boss. He is one of the most confrontational people I have ever met. He is also the complete antithesis of an empathetic person. He would blow this off by saying that people just don’t understand his sense of humor, but its said sense of humor that sent one employee into a panic attack and gave another a mild heart attack after he fake fired them (Note – by “fake fired” I mean that he went through the standard motions of firing these people which in this company is to have them clock into coaching and go to a room off of the call center floor). Each coaching session that I have had with this man has included jokes about my wife and my one hand (normally I’m cool with hand jokes, hell I make them myself, but it is really getting old with this guy). And while I’ll freely admit that the guy is very efficient at getting through all of the ridiculous amounts of paperwork that supervisors have to go through everyday, each time someone comes to him with a question or for help, his demeanor, attitude, and tone of voice scream “why are you bothering me with this?”

So back to last night… The conversation had passed the point of being pointless because it wasn’t a conversation at all. The two conservatives were doing nothing more than bullying and insulting me (not that I didn’t reciprocate mind you; at one point I told my coworker that everything he just told me I heard on talk radio which interestingly my boss then said that everything that I have said comes from CNN…I’m not sure where that came from but he also said that I only see and believe what I want to see and believe, which I told him was bullshit but I digress). And in a moment of complete loss of composure, cool, and control, I looked at both of them said “fuck both of you” and walked off.

When I got to my car I screamed a bit to left off some of the steam. It didn’t help. Then when I got home I told my wife about what happened and I got so frustrated and angry that I nearly cried. It took a while for me to calm down enough to sleep but I slept like crap and now as I relive the conversation from last night I’m getting angry all over again. And today I get to back to that hellhole and probably see both of these people again (the coworker usually sits in the same row that I try to sit in). So now I’m trying to decide if I should be the better person and apologize for blowing up, which admittedly I shouldn’t have done, or should I ignore these people as much as possible. I’m actually leaning towards the latter. I really hate dealing with my boss and have no desire to have any future conversations with that coworker, especially since I could see both of them rubbing my apology back in my face and I honestly don’t know how I’d react to that.

After 10 years of working in call centers I have admittedly become hyper-sensitive to things like tone of voice and rudeness. I just can’t take rudeness. In fact I feel like this line of work has become detrimental to my physical and psychological health. Also after years of following politics, listening to talk radio, and blogging, my patients with the blindly partisan has become nonexistent (they are mindless drones that lack any intellectual honesty IMHO). So to be bombarded with both in one night was more that I could handle.

Man do I want to call in sick today…

Do 3-D Movies Make You Seasick?

Bill Nye the Science Guy is here to help.

Generation X and the Economic Meltdown

Jenx67 has a great post entitled 2 cold hard truths and 10 questions for Generation X that is a must read.

The Issues that Divide Us

Gallup Poll: Four Moral Issues Sharply Divide Americans

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the find.

Meet Your Potential New Spider-Man

In case you didn’t know, Sony has decided to drop the idea of doing Spider-Man 4 with a new cast and instead going with a franchise reboot for the next film. This of course brings up the question, who will play Peter Parker? Here are the top five contenders for the part.

Currently Listening

1. “Pink Houses” by Avail (from Dixie)
2. “Fall Apart” by Avail (from Over the James)
3. “Calloused Heart # 2” by Drag the River (from Primer)
4. “Me & Joe Drove Out to California” by Drag the River (from Primer)
5. “Smallpox Champion” by Fugazi (from In on the Kill Taker)
6. “Merchandise” by Fugazi (from Repeater + 3 Songs)
7. “Lesbian Girl” by Hagfish (from Buick Men)
8. “Fruit” by Hagfish (from Hagfish)
9. “Tired of the World” by John Moreland & the Black Gold Band (from Endless Oklahoma Sky)
10. Gotta Be on My Way” by John Moreland & the Black Gold Band (from Endless Oklahoma Sky)

Another Book for My Library

The Devil in Green (The Dark Age, Book 1) by Mark Chadbourn (Amazon, Wikipedia)

“Humanity has emerged, blinking, from the Age of Misrule into a world substantially changed: cities lie devasted, communications are limited, anarchy rages across the land. Society has been thrown into a new Dark Age where superstition holds sway.

The Tuatha De Danaan roam the land once more, their terrible powers dwarfing anything mortals have to offer. And in their wake come all the creatures of myth and legend, no longer confined to the shadows.

Fighting to find their place in this new world, the last remnants of the Christian Church call for a group of heroes: a new Knights Templar to guard the priesthood as they set out on their quest for souls. But as everything begin to fall apart, the Knights begin to realise their only hope is to call on the pagan gods of Celtic myth for help..."

Thanks to Genre Reader for the find.

It’s Never That Serious

Here’s another story to boggle the mind.

Headline: Man Allegedly Burns Down House Because Dinner Wasn't Ready

From the story –

After returning to his Sissonville, W.Va., home after drinking with his friends Sunday night, Guy Edward Jones reportedly became furious with his wife because his dinner wasn't on the table.

"He started throwing furniture and end tables and tore up all the glass and all the cabinets," his wife, Beverly Jones, told WSAZ. "Then he told me I had to get out because he was going to burn the place down, and if I didn't get out he would burn me with the house."

Beverly fled, and when she turned around she saw her husband leaving the residence as the basement erupted in flames, according to CBS News.

I’m honestly not sure what to say about this. This guy is either a drunk scumbag or someone who snapped. Either way it is a world of not good.

Currently Listening

1. “Wrong” by Archers of Loaf (from Icky Mettle)
2. “Angel of the Morning” by Barnyard Slut (from Space Age Motel)
3. “Trusty Chords” by Hot Water Music (from Caution)
4. “Endless Oklahoma Sky” by John Moreland & the Black Gold Band (from Endless Oklahoma Sky)
5. “Sitting Still” by R.E.M. (from Murmur)
6. “Sugar Water” by Sixer (from Busted Knuckles & Heartbreak [EP])
7. “Hyper Enough” by Superchunk (from Here’s Where the Strings Come In)
8. “Dig a Little Deeper” by The Watson Twins (from Fire Songs)
9. “D. Boon” by Uncle Tupelo (from Still Feel Gone)
10. “Rosco” by ALL (from Breaking Things)

Mental Health Break

Thanks to The World in the Satin Bag for the find.

It’s National Small Business Week

So go and buy something local.

Thanks to The Distributist Review for the find.

Was She Really Worth $500K?

Stories like this amaze me, and not in a good way.

From the story –

Kate Gosselin didn't manage to dance her way past week five on 'Dancing With the Stars,' but she did manage to dance all the way to the bank, earning over half a million dollars for her stint on the hit show. Yep, with some simple math, that means Kate banked more than most people make annually for each episode that she fox-trotted across the dance floor.

"Kate earned over $100,000 per week on 'Dancing,'" an insider tells me. "She's a single mom who has to pay the bills and feed those eight little mouths all by herself. Say what you want about her, but Kate will do anything to make sure her children have a bright future. Even making a fool out of herself on national TV."

Why do people care about this stuff? Seriously. And why is this lady famous? For the longest time I had NO idea who Kate and Jon were until I asked someone at work why these two people were all over the magazines at the check out line at Wal-Mart. And even after hearing the story, I still have to wonder why anyone cares.

Who Breaks Up with Their Girlfriend Over the Phone?

Joe Jonas apparently.

Quote of the Day

Now normally my first reaction would be to call into question a site that's not exactly known for scooping movie news for having an "inside source" to scoop news from, but I'm not going to do that here. Why? Because I don't care.

-- Peter Hall from the post Does It Really Matter Who Replaces Megan Fox in 'Transformers 3'?

Teen Werewolves?

Apparently it’s the new emo.

Wow

Headline: Man Swims Under Mount Everest's Summit

Currently Listening

1. “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” by R.E.M. (from Reckoning)
2. “Achin’ To Be” by The Replacements (from Don’t You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of The Replacements)
3. “Why Do You Have to Put a Date on Everything” by Superchunk (from Foolish)
4. “Graveyard Shift” by Uncle Tupelo (from 89/93: An Anthology)
5. “Bar Woman Blues” by The Watson Twins (from Fire Songs)
6. “Not Fine” by Armchair Martian (from The Blasting Room)
7. “Unseen Power of the Picket Fence” by Pavement (from No Alternative)
8. “Mary” by The Pavers (from Wrecking Ball)
9. “When Did I Become My Dad” by Mojo Nixon & the Toadliquors (from The Real Sock Ray Blue)
10. “Good Guys (Don’t Wear White)” by Minor Threat (from Complete Discography)

Compassion, Skepticism, Freedom, and Democracy

William Easterly has an excellent piece on AidWatch entitled How the audience educates the lecturer: skepticism and freedom.

Money Quote –

I feel kind of like I am on a long personal intellectual journey trying to figure out how to reconcile my compassion for the world’s poor with my painfully honest realization that there is no reliable evidence on exactly what to do to end poverty. Each new public lecture is trying out a solution to the conundrum on a smart audience, and then they educate me some more to take the next step (which will be tried in the next lecture).

I am trying to convince people that rigorous skepticism is a creative force because most of the damage is done by overconfident people who thought they knew the answer when they didn’t. And such skepticism doesn’t leave us empty-handed: it forces us back on what are our core values: democracy, human rights, individual
liberties, that we follow for moral rather than pragmatic reasons. Autocratic “pragmatic” claims to deliver development if you will just give up your rights don’t survive skeptical scrutiny.

One thing I learned from the LSE lecture is not to even bother trying to make any “pragmatic” case for democracy, because that evidence is just as weak as everything else, and that we can only choose democracy based on our values (which is also how historically it was chosen; there are no cases of societies choosing democracy based on econometric results).

The only way to truly end poverty is through expanded opportunity and freedom, but even then there is no way to ever completely eradicate it. The simple fact is there will always be people who fail and there will be people who just give up trying. We haven’t gotten far enough in our evolution to truly end poverty, but that doesn’t mean that we should give up trying.

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the find.

57 Ancient Tombs Discovered in Egypt

According to this story, “Archeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside.”

From the story –

The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 B.C. during the period of Egypt's first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong (to) the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium B.C.

The discovery throws new light on Egypt's ancient religions, the council said.

Egypt's archaeology chief, Zahi Hawass, said the mummies dating to the 18th dynasty are covered in linen decorated with religious texts from the Book of the Dead and scenes featuring ancient Egyptian deities.

Abdel Rahman El-Aydi, head of the archaeological mission that made the discovery, said some of the tombs are decorated with religious texts that ancient Egyptians believed would help the deceased to cross through the underworld.

El-Aydi said one of the oldest tombs is almost completely intact, with all of its funerary equipment and a wooden sarcophagus containing a mummy wrapped in linen.

In 31 tombs dating to around 2030-1840 B.C, archeologists discovered scenes of different ancient Egyptian deities, such as the falcon-headed Horus, Hathor, Khnum and Amun, decorating some of the tombs.

What an amazing find! The ancient Egyptians were one of Earth’s earliest civilizations and finds such as this help us in peeling back the pages of history to discover more about the ancient world. I can only begin to imagine what secrets those deserts hold.

Why Don’t People Understand This?

Seeing as I work in the baron wasteland known as the world of customer service, the headline Six ways to wrangle great customer service jumped out at me.

Most of the article is common sense stuff but here’s the one that seems like a no-brainer to me, yet it seems like so many out there just don’t get it –

Rule 1: Be nice. Your mother had it right. You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Angering the employee on the front line rarely helps.

It never ceases to amaze me how people think that being rude to the frontline worker is somehow going to help them and consequently hurt the company. For those who may not understand – being rude helps NO ONE and harms only the customer and the frontline worker. You are not making any headway or sticking it to the man by being a d-bag to the rep on the phone or behind the counter.

Voting By Ignorance

Headline: Senator Ben Nelson Claims ATM Ignorance (As He Votes on ATM Legislation)

Gotta love it.

Quote of the Day

Social conservatives, like (Rand) Paul, are not advocates of individual rights, but proponents of social order and state control in the name of God, family, tradition, morality and religion. They are sometimes opponents of state intervention and sometimes advocates of it. Their lack of consistency means it is easy to show them up as hypocrites, advocating one set of laws for one group of people and another set for other, less favored, groups.

As a libertarian I would say this lack of consistency plagues both Progressives and Conservatives. Which is why libertarians are neither, but hold the radical middle ground where rights are applied consistently.

-- CLS from the post Rand Paul and Ayn Rand: not peas from the same pod

Currently Listening

1. “Old Ways” by The Watson Twins (from Fire Songs)
2. “Not Fine” by Armchair Martian (from The Blasting Room)
3. “Pills & Smoke” by Johnny Two Bags (from Untitled 21: A Juvenile Tribute to Swingin’ Utters)
4. “Black Eye” by Uncle Tupelo (from 89/93: An Anthology)
5. “Oblivion” by The Staggers (from The Sights, The Sounds, The Fear and the Pain)
6. “Winners and Losers” by Social Distortion (from Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll)
7. “Fire’s On” by Stephen Egerton & Jon Snodgrass (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
8. “The Truth Teller’s Soul” by Scott Reynolds & the Steaming Beast (from Adventure Boy)
9. “What You Get Paid For” by John Moreland & the Black Gold Band (from Endless Oklahoma Sky)
10. “Brookfield” by Drag the River (from Primer)

Some Cool New Sci-Fi Shows

Sci Fi Wire has a piece about 9 new sci-fi TV series coming this summer/fall. I like the looks of The Gates and Persons Unknown.

Thanks to Pop Candy for the find.

Video of the Day

"Xenophobe: A Car" by Armchair Martian

What Do the Pac-Man Ghost Talk About?

TV.

Think Cutting the Budget is Easy?

Try doing it yourself.

Thanks to Mainstream Baptist for the find.

The Problem with America

My good friend Steve at The Otter Limits posted a thoughtful piece entitled What America Does Not Need. Here are some highlights –

I do not think (and being a Republican myself it pains me just a little to say this) that this country needs the Republican Party to completely take over Congress to try to "save" our country from the dreaded Democrats. The fact is, there are a lot (not all of them mind you) of Republicans that are just as shady and corrupt and quite frankly full of shit as the Democrats that are already in office.

[...]

I guess to sum it all up, I do not think that this country needs, to make this as clear as possibly, professional politicians in office. This country does not need elected officials whose sole goal in life is to get elected and then get re-elected. Those politicians whose sole purpose in life is to become line-long career politicians. Quite simply, this country does not need career politicians.

[...]

Our U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives do not need to spend most of their adult lives as such.

Our country needs more citizen legislators. We need legislators who have real jobs, do their civic duty by serving in Congress for a short time, and then going back to their REAL jobs!

Steve makes some great points here and I agree with him that we need term limits and do not need one party to control both the Executive and Legislative Branches (because if the past 10 years has shown us anything, its that one party controlling everything is EXTRODINARILY BAD). Things in our country are broken and need fixing, but is it the system that really needs fixing, or is it the people?

In my opinion our system of government, as laid out in the Constitution, is probably the best that has ever been used in the world. No it’s not perfect but nothing is. The problem with our government is the people running it, not the system itself.

The same can be said about our economy. Our economic system in and of itself is a good one but it has been abused by those in power and those with wealth to the detriment of the common man and woman. So again I submit that the problem with our economy is not the system but with those running it.

The problem is the greed, hubris, selfishness, and laziness that is coursing through the veins of the American people. And no matter how much we make economic, governmental, or systematic reforms to correct our problems, until we address these issues within ourselves, we will continuously wind up in the same exact mess that we find ourselves in right now.

There is no way to force people to wake up yet that is what we desperately need…we need people to wake up. We need people to wake up and realize the mess that we have created and put ourselves in. We need to wake up and reject greed and embrace selflessness. We need to put the needs of others before our own needs and wants. We need to actually do our best to walk in the image of the prophet that so many claim to follow yet whose path they can’t even see.

The only way I know to make the change that we truly need is through our children. We must raise our kids to reject the mistakes of our past and be the great people that we have the potential of being. Sadly this is going to be a long process and I can only hope that I am able to pass these lessons, ethics, and morals on to my children who can then pass it on to their children.

Currently Listening

Today we’re doing the songs that Scott Reynolds and Chad Price performed at the Stephen Egerton CD release show.

1. “Sunny Disposition” by Stephen Egerton & Scott Reynolds (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
2. “She’s Got Everything” by Stephen Egerton & Milo Aukerman (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
3. “Scary Sad” by ALL (from Allroy’s Revenge)
4. “Fool” by ALL (from Allroy’s Revenge)
5. “Mary” by ALL (from Allroy’s Revenge)
6. “Flip” by Stephen Egerton & John Speck (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
7. “South for the Winter” by Stephen Egerton & Tim McIlrath (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
8. “Funny Face” by Stephen Egerton & Chad Price (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
9. “Miranda” by ALL (from Pummel)
10. “Refrain” by ALL (from Mass Nerder)
11. “Original Me” by ALL (from Breaking Things)

A Tough Week for the J-Man

For some reason I can’t help but laugh at Justin Bieber and Leslie Simon isn’t helping matters either.

Money Quote –

Then a couple days later, Bieber was caught on video hitting his head on the glass of a revolving door, which was painful -- yet kinda hilarious -- to watch.

As if things couldn't get worse, now a bunch of HTML coders are offering a Firefox plug-in that blocks your browser from any Justin Bieber mentions. Yikes! In our world, there can never be too much Bieber but for those who are easily distracted by the mere sight of his name, check out the bookmarklet, Firefox Add-on and JavaScript files here.

Oh, and don't tell 'em we sent you.

See what I mean?

The Mess in Texas Part Deux: The Board of Education Passes Big Changes to History Textbooks

After months of controversy, the Texas State Board of Education has “adopted a social studies and history curriculum Friday that amends or waters down the teaching of the civil rights movement, slavery, America's relationship with the U.N. and hundreds of other items.”

From the story –

In final edits leading up to the vote, conservatives rejected language to modernize the classification of historic periods to B.C.E. and C.E. from the traditional B.C. and A.D. They also required that public school students in Texas evaluate efforts by global organizations such as the United Nations to undermine U.S. sovereignty.

McLeroy offered the amendment requiring students to evaluate efforts by global organizations including the U.N. to undermine U.S. sovereignty, saying they threatened individual liberty and freedom.

During the monthslong process of creating the guidelines, conservatives successfully strengthened the requirements on teaching the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers and attempted to water down rationale for the separation of church and state.

The standards will refer to the U.S. government as a "constitutional republic," rather than "democratic," and students will be required to study the decline in the value of the U.S. dollar, including the abandonment of the gold standard.

Conservatives say the Texas history curriculum has been unfairly skewed to the left after years of Democrats controlling the board.

Educators have blasted the proposed curriculum for politicizing education. Teachers also have said the document is too long and will force students to memorize lists of names rather than thinking critically.

Call me crazy but it seems to me that this Republican led school board just used the children of the state of Texas as a pawn in a game of rewriting history for political purposes.

Let’s take a look at a few of these changes.
a) “…the requirements on teaching the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers and attempted to water down rationale for the separation of church and state” –
I have no problems with teaching the Judeo-Christian influence on this country’s founding, but to do it to the detriment or exclusion of the ideas of the separation of church and state or without examining the Enlightenment is just ridiculous.

b) B.C.E./C.E. vs. B.C./A.D. –
This one seems petty to me but it isn’t that big of a deal.

c) “…evaluate efforts by global organizations such as the United Nations to undermine U.S. sovereignty” and “…evaluate efforts by global organizations including the U.N. to undermine U.S. sovereignty, saying they threatened individual liberty and freedom” –
I’m not really sure if this is appropriate for K-12 textbooks. This is however a great topic for college.

d) “constitutional republic” vs. “democratic” –
This doesn’t bother me at all because it is actually accurate.

Some of these changes aren’t that bad or big of a deal but others are just downright distortions of the facts of history. These conservatives have claimed that the history books were skewed, so what do they do in response? Skew them in favor of their own beliefs. So just how is that going to give kids an accurate representation of our nation’s history?

History and social studies books should show all sides (or as many as possible) of history and our nation and that is not at all what the Texas Board of Education is doing here. I’m sure some of them truly believe that is what they are doing but in reality it is far from the truth.

Thanks to Arizona’s New Illegal Immigration Law...

Dora the Explorer has been arrested.

Currently Listening

1. “S.R.O.” by Avail (from Over the James)
2. “Fighting Poor” by Brassknuckle Boys (from American Bastard)
3. “She Used to Smile” by Drag the River (from Primer)
4. “Thought You Were Different” by John Moreland & the Black Gold Band (from Endless Oklahoma Sky)
5. “We are the Sons of Woody Guthrie” by Red City Radio (from To the Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie)
6. “Unsatisfied” by The Replacements (from Tim [Deluxe Edition])
7. “Jesus, Satan, Gene Beeman, His Car, & Pizza Hut” by Scott Reynolds & the Steaming Beast)
8. “Print on Paper” by Stephen Egerton & Chris Demakes (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
9. “Farmington” by Sixer (from Busted Knuckles & Heartbreak)
10. “I Saw the Light” by The Staggers (from One Heartbeat Away from Hell)

Mental Health Break

Thanks to Barrie Hardymon at Blog of the Nation for the find.

I'm Sorry But...

This made me laugh.

Wow that kid is not that bright.

Pee-Wee Herman’s Taking on Broadway

For real.

Video of the Day

"Joe California" by Drag the River

Smallville to End Next Season

The CW has announced that next season will be the last for Smallville. The series which has chronicled the pre-Superman life of Clark Kent will end after ten seasons, but the big question is, will Tom Welling don the famous red, blue, and yellow tights?

I haven’t followed Smallville for a few years now but I watched the first four seasons on DVD and really enjoyed it. I still think that Welling has been the best onscreen version of Clark Kent that we have ever seen. It will be sad to see the show end, but if it goes out right, then we may get to see more on the Smallville crew on the big screen.

On the question of the suit, I’d like the suit to make an appearance but not until the end of the season. The creators of Smallville had stated that they never wanted to show Clark in the suit and I think that was a good plan. But to do the series and the character justice, it needs to end with Clark becoming Superman.

Supreme Court Fail, Again

The Supreme Court has made a few bad decisions lately (remember that doozy back in January?), but now they have essentially ruled that double jeopardy is okay for sex offenders.

From the story –

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal officials can indefinitely hold inmates considered "sexually dangerous" after their prison terms are complete.

By a 7-2 vote, the high court reversed a lower court decision that said Congress overstepped its authority in allowing indefinite detentions of considered "sexually dangerous."

"The statute is a 'necessary and proper' means of exercising the federal authority that permits Congress to create federal criminal laws, to punish their violation, to imprison violators, to provide appropriately for those imprisoned and to maintain the security of those who are not imprisoned by who may be affected by the federal imprisonment of others," said Justice Stephen Breyer, writing the majority opinion.

The key term here is “after their prison terms are complete.”

Now, let’s take a look at Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings of the US Constitution –

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Call me crazy but it seems to me that the Supreme Court just ok’ed double jeopardy.

Now before anyone out there thinks that I am defending sex offenders, believe me I’m not. If it was up to me rapists and child molesters should be able to get the death penalty. If the concern is that these criminals shouldn’t return to society, well that is fine…just change the laws that determine the punishment for their crimes. It is entirely unacceptable for the government to be able to “indefinitely hold inmates” after they have served their time.

Steve did a post on this topic last night entitled More "Time" for Sexual Deviants.

It’s Never That Serious…

We’ve all gotten an order or two wrong at a fast food restaurant. It happens but in the long run it’s not a big deal. Unfortunately for some employees at Wendy’s in Daytona Beach, FL there was a couple of customers who didn’t get the memo.

From the story –

Police say the fast-food fiasco began around 10 a.m. after Melanese Reid, 20, and Katrina Bryant, 23, complained that they weren't given packets of mayonnaise and mustard in their drive-through order.

The pair reportedly hurled obscenities at Wendy's worker Jason Hill, who said the duo were acting "childish," according to the Sun Sentinel.

"It was just a bunch of foul language, f-you, f-this, that kind of situation," employee Rob Vanchough told WFTV. "We're all like, 'Back off, get out of here!' Then they reached in, started slapping people."

That's when Reid reportedly got out of the car, entered the restaurant and chased Hill with a Taser.

"She walked in with a Taser, and she was like pressing it, zzz, zzz, zzz! And then she walked in Wendy's, came in the back and tried to tase Jason. It was crazy," said employee Malcolm Nelson.

[...]

Officers eventually nabbed the suspects about a mile from the eatery, but not before a woman identifying herself as Bryant called the restaurant complaining about poor service and claiming her accomplice was forced to use a Taser in self-defense, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Reid was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, while Bryant was hit with charges of principal to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Really? Really. Are we really to the point in society where people flip out and try to Taser someone over mayo and mustard packets? What in the hell is wrong with this world?

Currently Listening

1. “Never Talking to You Again” by Husker Du (from Zen Arcade)
2. “Gotta Be Free” by Mojo Nixon (from Whereabouts Unknown)
3. “When Yer Twenty Two” by The Flaming Lips (from Transmissions from the Satellite Heart)
4. “Something Against You” by The Pixies (from Surfer Rosa [Reissue])
5. “Red Roses” by Filthy Thieving Bastards (from Our Fathers Sent Us [EP])
6. “What You Believe” by Big Drill Car (from A Never Ending Endeavor)
7. “22” by Lily Allen (from It’s Not Me, It’s You)
8. “Dig a Little Deeper” by The Watson Twins (from Fire Songs)
9. “Teenage Runaway” by The Donnas (from The Donnas)
10. “Horse to Water” by R.E.M. (from Accelerate)

Mental Health Break

Yes, We Need Our Myths, Folktales, and Heroes

Elisabeth Rappe has a great piece on Cinematcal today entitled The Geek Beat: The Story Behind the Story. The piece is primarily about the new Robin Hood film, but she touches on something that I think is at the core of what it means to be human and that is our need for the fantastic.

From the story –

I'm not sure where this trend started. Part of me thinks it goes back to the 1990s, he X-Files, and The Matrix -- films and phenomenons that taught us to doubt the official stories and free our minds. I had this idea that the seeds of skepticism were planted in the 1990s, but didn't sprout until 2000. It was a symbolic and deliberate choice we took part in; a signal that we considered ourselves proud citizens of the future. It was a new millennium! We didn't need this old, musty folklore and legend. We rejected our silly Wild Wild West myths and revised it to match reality. Well, we could do the same with everything else. We didn't need magic and mysticism. It was time to reinvent old stories into something we could better identify with!

Well, that sounds good on digital paper (and I'm convinced it's probably at the root of it, somewhere), but that doesn't actually hold true when you look at film releases year by year. Our decade was dominated by two of the biggest fantasy franchises of all time -- Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings -- which suggests people had a real craving for high fantasy. No, neither one is pure mythology or folklore such as Robin Hood, but they draw heavily on them. So did The Chronicles of Narnia, which sparked less of a frenzy among moviegoers, but certainly speaks to that same hunger.

Instead, the trend seems to begin in 2004 with Troy. You remember Troy. It was kind of like the 300 of its day because of its similarly beautiful physiques. But it didn't spark catchphrases ('Hectoorrrrrrr!" just isn't as cool as "Tonight we dine in hell!") or come with merchandising. It was a flop. One of the biggest reasons it didn't light a fan fire was because everyone realized the Trojan War wasn't very interesting if you took the gods, goddesses, prophecies and magic out. It's really like every other war in history -- ugly, sad, and perhaps even futile.

Despite the obvious flaws in the trend, it persisted. King Arthur, Beowulf, Beowulf and Grendel, Tristan and Isolde, and now Robin Hood. One might even be tempted to throw in non-mythology films such as Becoming Jane or Hannibal Rising (the only times those two will ever be compared, ever) because they ultimately sought to ground their subjects in the real world with explanations for everything. Jane Austen couldn't have simply wrote Pride and Prejudice. She had to have actually lived it because there's no such thing as fiction or fantasy. (Hmmm. Maybe that's an offshoot we could call the Shakespeare in Love effect.)

My original argument was going to be that we're seeing the trend dissipate because we realized our collective unconscious cherishes the fiction. Stories like The Iliad, The Odyssey, and King Arthur have lingered as long as they have because we loved that they didn't take place in our world. We couldn't throw away all a long time ago, in a place far far away, because it was a necessary component to keep our imaginations flowing. My proof was going to be that we were seeking bigger and bigger heroes (Thor, Iron Man, Captain America) and returning to old favorites like Greek gods and King Arthur. But that doesn't hold true at all, particularly since the big superhero trend started in 2000. Granted, you could argue that most of them were based in some kind of sci-fi science (X-Men, Fantastic Four, even Batman Begins or Iron Man) but it's a slender argument. I truly don't believe Wolverine takes less of a suspension of disbelief than Excalibur. And if he does, how do you explain people embracing Gandalf and Harry Potter? You can't.

So, I've failed to do anything but note the brief rise and fall of a trend. (If it's truly over. The rush to make origin stories and prequels to films that don't need them suggests it's taking a new form.) But I think talking about it might be useful, at least as therapy. What does it say about our storytellers that so few realized the story is the story? Why did they delight in bringing us to the theater to tell us there was no Santa Claus? And what did we do as an audience to suggest that was what we wanted?

No matter how far we come, humanity will always look to the heavens and ask the impossible questions. And no matter how advanced our technology gets, we will always need fantastic tales to help us along the way. That’s just part of who and what we are and always will be.

The Smothers Brothers are Calling It a Day

According to this story, the Smothers Brothers comedy duo are retiring after 50 years of performing together.

From the story –

"We just quietly let it fade away, no special statements about it," Tommy told AOL News. "No sendoff when we started, no big sendoff when we leave. He's 71, I'm 73. We just don't have the time or the energy or the passion -- really it's the passion -- to learn new material and put out new stuff. We didn't want to continue repeating ourselves. We're just tired, tired of it."

I learned to yo-yo thanks to Yo-Yo Man (a Smothers Brothers skit). It’s sad to see these guys retire, but everything comes to an end someday.

The House Cleaning Continues

Headline: Sestak Beats Specter in Pa. Senate Primary, Paul Wins in Kentucky

From the story –

It was a bipartisan night of rejection for the Washington establishment. Kentucky Republicans struck the first blow by choosing political newcomer Rand Paul as their Senate nominee. Paul, an ophthalmologist and Tea Party favorite, defeated Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who had been championed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

In a Pennsylvania contest that both parties promoted as a precursor to the midterm elections this fall, Republicans suffered a blow to their plans for taking over Congress. Democrat Mark Critz, a top aide to the late Rep. John Murtha, defeated Republican businessman Tim Burns in a special election to finish Murtha's term representing the working-class Johnstown-area district.

In Arkansas, moderate Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln was trying to hold off a netroots-fueled primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. Neither cleared 50 percent of the vote Tuesday night, sending the pair into a June 8 runoff election. The winner will face GOP Rep. John Boozman, a rancher and ophthalmologist whose late brother, Fay Boozman, lost to Lincoln in 1998.

Specter was the third incumbent to lose his job this season, following Utah Sen. Bob Bennett's failure to get the GOP nomination in his state and Democratic Rep. Robert Mollohan's primary loss in West Virginia.

Here’s to hoping that the anti-incumbent mood continues in November and we get some long overdue house cleaning in Washington, DC.

Currently Listening

1. “Birds and Bees” by Ben Lee & Mandy Moore (from Ripe)
2. “Me & Joe Drove Out to California” by Drag the River (from Primer)
3. “Mrs. Actually” by The Like (from Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?)
4. “The State Line” by John Moreland & the Black Gold Band (from Endless Oklahoma Sky)
5. “The Boy Who Stole Your Heart” by Scott Reynolds & the Steaming Beast (from Adventure Boy)
6. “Print on Paper” by Stephen Egerton & Chris Demakes (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
7. “I Thought I Saw Your Face Today” by She & Him (from Volume One)
8. “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here” by Buffalo Tom (from School House Rock! Rocks)
9. “Dagger” by Mark Lind & the Unloved (from The Truth Can Be Brutal)
10. “Vini Vindi Vici (demo 86)” by Descendents (from Bonus Cup Bootlegs)

Mental Health Break

I'm totally stealing this idea from Andrew Sullivan. The point is to find something fun to watch that makes you laugh and break the day-to-day stress.



And if that wasn't funny enough for you, check out the post 6 Celebrities Who Should Have Their Own Barbie Doll by the always hilarious and awesome Leslie Simon.

7 Degrees Live

Last Friday (May 14th to be exact) I did something that I haven’t done in four or five years and went to a concert (or shows as we call them in the punk rock world). What made this show so special that it was one of only two performances that would occur in support of the new Stephen Egerton album The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton, on one Friday at the Conservatory and one on Saturday in Tulsa. The show included Euclid Crash, Slorder (Stephen’s instrumental band), Drag the River, Scott Reynolds & the Steaming Beast, and Stephen & friends.

The show opened with Euclid Crash taking the stage for six songs (originally it was going to be seven but one of the guitar players had some issues with a broken string). During EC’s set I was impressed with the band (this is the first time that I had gotten to see them play) and especially impressed with their drummer. It wasn’t until after their set when I was introduced to EC’s lead singer Tory Gonzales (thanks to her cousin and my good friend Ross) that she pointed out that their drummer was none other than Jesse Smith (Roustabouts, The Condition, The Flood). I hadn’t seen Jesse in years so it was great getting to chat with him in person.

Up next was Stephen’s band Slorder. If you are at all familiar with the instrumental work of ALL/Descendents, then you’ve got a pretty good idea on what Slorder sounds like.

Next Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price took the stage for a duo version of Drag the River. I’d only heard a few DTR songs prior to this show, but I am now a huge fan! What a set these two put together. They got on the stage with their guitars and simply asked the crowd what they should play. Both Jon and Chad have powerful and haunting vocals and the mixture of the two over the alt country music was amazing.

Scott Reynolds & the Steaming Beast took the stage next. Now for fans of Scott, Steaming Beast is a bit of a departure from his work with ALL, Goodbye Harry, and The Pavers. He is still playing pop songs but they have a lounge feel to them. In the set they played a couple of Goodbye Harry and Pavers’ tunes but the highlight for me was their version of ALL’s “Dot.”

Finally the moment we were all waiting for, Stephen Egerton took the stage. First up on vocals was Jon Snodgrass who performed “Fire’s On” (his song on the record) and “Abundance of Fluff” (John Moreland’s song from the record). Next was Chris Demakes who performed three songs, then members of Le Fang joined Stephen to do fours songs, including one of theirs. Sadly I’ve forgotten who sang next. Then Scott Reynolds joined Stephen for the songs “Sunny Disposition” and “She’s Got Everything” (which is sung by Milo Aukerman on the album). Now it is in-between these two songs that something truly special took place. My good friend Steve, who joined me for the show, has been talking with Stephen back and forth online for a while and had made an off handed comment that it would be awesome to get married at the show (okay there is a lot more to this but I let Steve explain it all when he is ready but suffice it to say that he had met a wonderful woman upon returning to OK and they had decided to get married). AT the show, Stephen came up to Steve and said, “hey a friend of mine oh is a minister is here tonight and would love to do the ceremony.” Needless to say that set off a chain reaction of many phone calls by Steve and the eventual arrival of Mandy, his girlfriend, at the show. Steve had asked Stephen is they were going to perform “She’s Got Everything” earlier in the night and thus Stephen decided that they would do the marriage on stage right before the song. The marriage went off beautifully (and the cameras were going like crazy) and Stephen dedicated the song to Steve and Mandy. After that ALL/Descendents drummer and general punk rock legend Bill Stevenson joined the band. Scott took a break and some poor guy who apparently doesn’t sing and didn’t know the words to “When They Roam” was brought on stage to what could only be called suffer though the song. Scott then rejoined the band to belt out the ALL classics “Scary Sad,” “Fool,” and “Mary.” Finally Chad Price hit the stage to tackle three songs from the Seven Degrees album, his song “Funny Face,” Tim McIlrath’s “South for the Winter,” and one other that I cannot remember. Then the show ended with the band doing three more ALL classics, “Miranda,” “Refrain,” and “Original Me.”

After the show I talked with Chad, Stephen, and Scott again (I spoke with Scott and Stephen before the show as well) and was blow away at how amazingly cool these guys were. They had no attitude and spoke to everyone like they were friends. To me that was amazing. The other thing that I found amazing about the show was that as I looked around at the people in attendance I realized that these were my people. There was nothing but true, honest to goodness fans of Stephen’s work; there were no hipsters, trendy kids, jocks, or a-holes. Instead there was an atmosphere of friendship and a connection that felt very real. In a way I felt like I was home. And we all knew that we were there for something special that some people traveled hundreds of miles to see and that doesn’t happen very often in Oklahoma (neither does an on stage marriage for that matter).

Stephen and company I cannot thank you enough for a tremendous night that will live in my memories forever.

Currently Reading

Title: Ruined (Amazon, book trailer on YouTube)
Author: Paula Morris (New Zealand Book Council, Linkedln)

I’m still trudging through the other book that I’ve been reading, but I’m not getting that far and finding it very hard to keep at it.

This is a book that my son got me at his school’s book fair this year (on a side note, I love the book fair and have been known to drop over $100 easily while there without much effort at all). Ruined is the story of a girl from New York who has to spend a few months in New Orleans while her father is in China on business. While in New Orleans, Rebecca feels completely out of place and friendless until she meets Lisette, who just so happens to be a ghost.

So far Ruined is a fun read. I’ve never really read many, if any, ghost story novels but so far I think that this is a good one.

RIP Ronnie James Dio

Heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio passed away early Sunday morning, after losing his battle with stomach cancer. Rest well Ronnie, I think heaven just got a little bit louder.

Currently Listening

1. “Print on Paper” by Stephen Egerton & Chris Demakes (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
2. “Adventure Boy” by Scott Reynolds & the Steaming Beast (from Adventure Boy)
3. “Gotta Be On My Way” by John Moreland & the Black Gold Band (from Endless Oklahoma Sky)
4. “Girl Talk” by Euclid Crash (from Nice People NMF Preview)
5. “She Used to Smile” by Drag the River (from Primer)
6. “American Television” by Ben Lee (from Ripe)
7. “Bridge to Nowhere” by The Like (from Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?)
8. “Coke & Jack” by Mark Lind & the Unloved (from The Truth Can Be Brutal)
9. “No Surrender” by Roustabouts (from Midwest Rules, Vol. 2: You’re Weak-We’re Strong)
10. “Take It Back” by She & Him (from Volume One)

Currently Watching

Title: Avatar (Official, IMDB, Wikipedia)

When I first started seeing previews for Avatar, I couldn’t help but think how much it looked like the film Battle for Terra (Official, IMDB, Wikipedia). Then Avatar blew up and the controversies erupted and I tuned out. I hadn’t planned on ever seeing it until my mom spoke glowingly of the film and so I decided that at some point I would give it a look-see.

My first impression of the film was that the CGI looked great but it still looked like CGI. I also thought some of the elements in the plot jumped to fast, but beyond that I thought it was a good movie. Yes it is a very pro-environmental film, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. The film also did a very good job at contrasting the points of views of the “civilized” people who brought nothing but destruction and the “savages” who lived in harmony with nature. The message was obvious yet not heavy handed. Unfortunately there were some out there that felt the movie was “demonic” and “satanic.” Needless to say, this type of opinion is disgustingly ignorant on a multitude of levels.

Overall I think that Avatar is a pretty good movie with a good message but it wasn’t all that.

Top 3 Comic Book Superheroes & Villains

I was talking to Steve about doing a list of our favorite superheroes by companies. You can see his list here.

Top 3 DC Comics Superheroes
1. Captain Marvel
2. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
3. Hawk & Dove

Honorable Mentions
Captain Atom
Firestorm
The New Gods

Top 3 DC Comics Villains
1. Darkseid
2. Black Adam
3. Anti-Monitor

Top 3 Marvel Superheroes
1. The Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Spider-Man
3. Iron Man

Top 3 Marvel Villains
1. Thanos
2. Dr. Doom
3. Venom

Currently Listening

1. “I Want You to Know” by Dinosaur Jr. (from Farm)
2. “American Television” by Ben Lee (from Ripe)
3. “Wild World” by Me First & the Gimme Gimmes (from Blow in the Wind)
4. “Too Late” by The Like (from Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?)
5. “Until They’re Clear” by The Evens (from The Evens)
6. “Different Paths” by Mark Lind & the Unloved (from The Truth Can Be Brutal)
7. “Destroyed by You” by MXPX (from Life in General)
8. “Never Again” by Stephen Egerton & Bill McShane (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
9. “Change is Hard” by She & Him (from Volume One)
10. “One Pill” by Teen Idols (from More Bounce to the Ounce Disc 1)

Can Standing Up and Expressing Discontent Really Make Change in an Organization?

Last night after work I was talking with a coworker about the sad state of affairs at out job. She made a statement that if we all just stood up and stopped taking the crap, then things would change. My initial reaction was “no it wouldn’t.” She argued that it would because the company couldn’t fire everyone at the same time. Sadly I disagree but I want to agree with her.

See at my job, I am a bit vocal (shocking I know). I have been known to speak out in training classes, in meetings with the site director, and I have become fairly notorious for my online questions to the site director (there is a form that we can fill out at work that goes to the local head honcho who then answers said questions online for everyone, at work at least, to see; and I say notorious because I have angered large portions of the “support staff” while at the same time get words of encouragement from the frontline representatives). This is not new behavior for me though, in fact at my last job a friend said that I was like a union boss in the way that I was constantly advocating for the average employee. So it is safe to say that I believe in standing up against things that I think are wrong, but in the back of my head I know that it really doesn’t matter.

The thing with big corporations is that they have us by the balls. They have the money and the power and they no it. Also the masses are often afraid to stand up against these companies out of fear of losing their jobs. This is a very real and legitimate fear because at any given moment, a large number of the jobs in the OKC metro could disappear overnight. Think of all of the call centers that we have here. All of them could be shut down and the jobs shipped off to India and the companies would actually make more money in doing so (seeing as they pay the people in countries like India much less then they pay American workers). We are all expendable and that is a fact. And what is truly reprehensible is that this is a fact that these corporations like to hang over our heads. So while I stand up and embrace my role of the voice of reasoned discontent, I know that none of it matters.

In this day and age, no one is standing up for the common worker and because of that, we get shafted. And the organizations that were designed specifically to stand up for us have become far more concerned with their own power than with actually improving the environment for workers. So while I would love to believe that if at my job, we somehow convinced all, or a large number of, the employees to stand up and say enough is enough that it would somehow make things change for the better, I know that in reality we would all be fired or the entire operation would be uprooted and shipped off to God knows where. It’s a vicious, immoral, and unethical cycle that I just don’t a way to break.

66 Bowl Looking for Investors

OklahomaRock.com is reporting that local bowling and rockabilly venue legend 66 Bowl is looking for investors.

From the story –

The historic 66 Bowl, 3810 NW 39th, in Oklahoma City will soon be up for sale, its owners have confirmed to Route 66 News.

Jeff Beck, an organizer of The Okie Twist-off music and car festival, and Edmond realtor Theresa Zaizar are looking for help from investors to buy and preserve the property.

[...]

The 24-lane bowling center, restaurant and bar opened in 1959.

On Saturday nights, 66 Bowl has hosted live music from national acts like Wanda Jackson, Hasil Adkins, Bob Log III, Dex Romweber Duo and The Flametrick Subs and locals like Billy Joe Winghead, The Poison Okies and The Reverb Brothers. The bowling center has also hosted events like The Okie Twistoff and Rock’n'Roll Garage Sale and Show.

I sure hope that they are successful in preserving this great local landmark.

Currently Listening

1. “Hot in the City” by Billy Idol (from Greatest Hits)
2. “White Guilt” by The Bronx (from The Bronx)
3. “Coming Down” by The Cult (from Pure Cult: The Singles 1984-1995)
4. “Halloween on the Barbary Coast” by The Flaming Lips (from Hit to Death in the Future Head)
5. “Somethin’ Bad” by The Goo Goo Dolls (from A Boy Named Goo)
6. “Thanks for Nothing” by The Heartdrops (from East Side Drive)
7. “Him” by Lily Allen (from It’s Not Me, It’s You)
8. “Play It Loud” by MXPX with Halo Friendlies (from Before Everything & After)
9. “Debaser” by The Pixies (from Doolittle)
10. “Over There” by The Strike (Conscience Left to Struggle with Pockets Full of Rust)

Red City Radio EP Getting Vinyl Release

PunkNews.org is reporting that Red City Radio’s EP To the Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie will be released on vinyl by Loose Charm Records.

From the story –

The release will be a one-sided 12", limited to 500 copies (100 on transparent yellow vinyl and 400 on white vinyl) and with hand-screened artwork on the b-side of the wax. Each record will also come with a download card packing two bonus tracks that were previously only available in Europe.

Sadly I don’t have a real record player anymore but I really want those bonus tracks, so I may just break down and buy the vinyl.

Out Today

The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton

Weathering the Storm

Well we made it through the storm last night. We were without power for a few hours, lost part of our fence, lost some shingles, and a pretty big branch off a tree in the front yard (see picture) but other than that we are okie dokie (actually we are quite lucky, if said tree branch had fallen a bit to the right, it would have gone right through our front window).

I hope that everyone else out there is okay.

It's never a dull moment in tornado season in Oklahoma.

Religions: Different or the Same or You Say Tomato…

Stephen Prothero has a fascinating article in the Boston Globe entitled Separate truths that deals with the differences in the world’s religions and their similar starting point.

From the story –

Of course, those who claim that the world’s religions are different paths up the same mountain do not deny the undeniable fact that they differ in some particulars. Obviously, Christians do not go on pilgrimage to Mecca, and Muslims do not practice baptism. Religious paths do diverge in dogma, rites, and institutions. To claim that all religions are basically the same, therefore, is not to deny the differences between a Buddhist who believes in no god, a Jew who believes in one God, and a Hindu who believes in many gods. It is to deny that those differences matter, however. From this perspective, whether God has a body (yes, say Mormons; no, say Muslims) or whether human beings have souls (yes, say Hindus; no, say Buddhists) is of no account because, as Hindu teacher Swami Sivananda writes, “The fundamentals or essentials of all religions are the same. There is difference only in the nonessentials.”

This is a lovely sentiment but it is untrue, disrespectful, and dangerous.

The gods of Hinduism are not the same as the orishas of Yoruba religion or the immortals of Daoism. To pretend that they are is to refuse to take seriously the beliefs and practices of ordinary religious folk who for centuries have had no problem distinguishing the Nicene Creed of Christianity from the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism from the Shahadah of Islam. It is also to lose sight of the unique beauty of each of the world’s religions.

But this lumping of the world’s religions into one megareligion is not just false and condescending, it is also a threat. How can we make sense of the ongoing conflict in Kashmir if we pretend that Hinduism and Islam are one and the same? Or of the impasse in the Middle East, if we pretend that there are no fundamental disagreements between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?

This naive theological groupthink — call it Godthink — is motivated in part by a laudable rejection of the exclusivist missionary view that only you and your kind will make it to heaven or nirvana or paradise. For most of world history, human beings have seen religious rivals as inferior to themselves — practitioners of empty rituals, perpetrators of bogus miracles, and purveyors of fanciful myths. This way of seeing has given us religious violence from the Crusades and the Holocaust to Rwanda and Nigeria. In response to such violence, the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment popularized the ideal of religious tolerance, and we are doubtless better for it.

I understand what these people are doing. They are not describing the world but reimagining it. They are hoping that their hope will call up in us feelings of brotherhood and sisterhood. In the face of religious bigotry and bloodshed, past and present, we cannot help but be drawn to such hope, and such vision. Yet we must not mistake either for clear-eyed analysis.

When it comes to safeguarding the world from the evils of religion, including violence by proxy from the hand of God, the claim that all religions are one is no more effective than the claim that all religions are poison. As the New Atheists (another species of religious lumpers) observe, we live in a world where religion seems as likely to detonate a bomb as to defuse one. So while we need idealism, we need realism even more. We need to understand religious people as they are — not just at their best but also their worst. We need to look at not only their awe-inspiring architecture and gentle mystics but also their bigots and suicide bombers.

What the world’s religions share is not so much a finish line as a starting point. And where they begin is with this simple observation: Something is wrong with the world. In the Hopi language, the word “Koyaanisqatsi” tells us that life is out of balance. Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” tells us that there is something rotten not only in the state of Denmark but also in the state of human existence. Hindus say we are living in the “kali yuga,” the most degenerate age in cosmic history. Buddhists say that human existence is pockmarked by suffering. Jewish, Christian, and Islamic stories tell us that this life is not Eden; Zion, heaven, and paradise lie out ahead.

So religious folk agree that something has gone awry. They part company, however, when it comes to stating just what has gone wrong, and they diverge even more sharply when they move from diagnosing the human problem to prescribing how to solve it. Moreover, each offers its own distinctive diagnosis of the human problem and its own prescription for a cure. Each offers its own techniques for reaching its religious goal, and its own exemplars for emulation.

I could, and almost did, include more but I generally don’t like it when folks just copy entire articles and repost them.

I think that Prothero makes some excellent points here but ultimately he is wrong. That is not to say that those who say that all religions are the same are completely right either. The ultimate truth lies in-between the ideas of Prothero and Karen Armstrong and it is important, extremely important, that we study both the differences and the similarities.

Personally I do believe that most religions provide different paths to salvation and that no one religion is the right path. Each individual must find the path that is right for him/her and follow it. I also believe that at their heart, all major religions share the same core values (don’t murder, don’t screw people over, and live your life in service to others) and to me the differences between Saints and Bodhisattvas are minutia points. That having been said, I do believe that it is exceptionally important to understand the differences in these religions so that we can better relate to and communicate with the people of the world.

Religion is a metaphor. There are some many different religions because the people and places of the world are all different. That doesn’t mean that the thing that they are interpreting is different, just how they see it.

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for the find.

Quote of the Day II

For me, the core argument for some force behind the universe, revealed metaphorically in Scripture, is affirmed by science as we currently have it. Our universe came from nothing and is still expanding. What conceivable force made this possible? The second question is the nature of that force. The core revelation of Jesus - and the Buddha, for that matter, in some respects - is that the force is good, not evil. There is hope. Death is not what it seems. Love prevails. In this tragic, fallen, cruel world, this is not an easy doctrine. It cannot be inferred from the evidence. Which is why it is the gift of faith, from some source so deep, so great and so benign it defies any human description. Even metaphor fails.

-- Andrew Sullivan from the post God, Justice, And Atheists

Quote of the Day

A person who will back executive power comes after two of the most radical pro-executive Justices (Alito and Roberts) in recent history. The onward march of the dictatorial presidency - in a time of constant threats from abroad - continues.

-- Andrew Sullivan from the post The Executive's Handmaiden

And people still wonder why I say that the Obama administration is no different than the Bush administration. As The Who once sang “We were liberated from the foe that’s all.”

A One World Government Wouldn’t Be So Bad If…

Often you hear people on the radio talking about the loss of US sovereignty and the threat of a one world government. Well what if said one world government was based on the US Constitution? I know that our country has serious problems, but our Constitution is probably the best form over government ever to be developed and for some reason I can only think that it would be a good thing if the one world government was based on it.

Currently Listening

1. “Where We’re Going We Don’t Need Roads” by Red City Radio (from To the Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie)
2. “Dead Friends Don’t Pay Debts” by Red City Radio (from To the Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie)
3. “Sunny Disposition” by Stephen Egerton & Scott Reynolds (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
4. “South for the Winter” by Stephen Egerton & Tim McIlrath (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
5. “Got Me” by She & Him (from Volume One)
6. “I Was Made for You” by She & Him (from Volume One)
7. “On and On” by Sinkhole (from Retrospectacles)
8. “Wreck on the Highway” by Sinkhole (from Groping for Trout)
9. “The American Scream” by Alkaline Trio (from This Addiction)
10. “Lead Poisoning” by Alkaline Trio (from This Addiction)

Video of the Day

"Heartbeat Song" by The Futureheads

Joe the Plumber…Kind of Creepy

I just finished reading this interview with Joe the Plumber and I’ve honestly got to say, based on this interview, he kind of creeps me out a bit.

Currently Listening

1. “Falling Out” by Stephen Egerton & Frank Daily (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
2. “Our Last Song” by Stephen Egerton & Dan Andriano (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
3. “Privileged Few” by Roustabouts (from The Only One)
4. “Dead Generation” by Roustabouts (from The Only One)
5. “If All Else Fails Play Dead” by Red City Radio (from To the Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie)
6. “No One Believes in Moons and Goochers” by Red City Radio (from To the Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie)
7. “The American Scream” by Alkaline Trio (from This Addiction)
8. “Eating Me Alive” by Alkaline Trio (from This Addiction)
9. “On the Way Out” by The Copyrights (from Learn the Hard Way)
10. “Leave You Where We Find You” by The Copyrights (from Make Sound)

Video of the Day

"Carry You" by ALL

RIP Mark Shannon

Local talk show host Mark Shannon passed away this morning. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. Rest well Mark.

Currently Listening

1. “Print on Paper” by Stephen Egerton & Vinnie Fiorello (from The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton)
2. “Never is Now” by Sinkhole (from Groping for Trout)
3. “Guitar Case” by TonyALL (from New Girl, Old Story)
4. “On My Own” by Teenage Bottlerocket (from Warning Device)
5. “Five Lessons Learned” by Teen Idols (from Untitled 21: A Juvenile Tribute to Swingin’ Utters)
6. “We are the Future People of Tomorrow” by The Mr. T Experience (from More Bounce to the Ounce Disc 1)
7. “Not Fine” by Armchair Martian (from The Blasting Room)
8. “Pick ‘Em Up Truck” by The Smugglers (from Selling the Sizzle!)
9. “Mysterious” by The Pavers (from Local 1500)
10. “Falling Forward” by The Methadones (from This Won’t Hurt)

10 Questions with Stephen Egerton

Stephen Egerton is a legend in the punk rock community as the guitarist of ALL/Descendents and has one of the best record producers in the industry. Since 2003, Egerton and family have called Tulsa, OK home, where he owns and operates Armstrong Studios. On May 11th, Ergerton’s first solo record, the fantastic The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton (see my review here), will be released by Paper & Plastic Records (and it is a must have for ALL/Descendents fans).

I met Stephen in 1995 when ALL played Bricktown Live (which no longer exists) on the Pummel tour. I was incredibly impressed with how kind, friendly, and humble he (and Bill Stevenson for that matter) was and how amazing ALL was on stage. That is a night that will live in my memories forever as one of the best concerts I have ever seen.

This interview was conducted via email in May 2010. For more information on Stephen Egerton and his music check him out on his Official web site, MySpace, Facebook, and Wikipedia.

Dave: What brought you to Oklahoma?

Stephen Egerton: I moved here in 2003. My wife Nat's family is from here, and we came here to be closer to her family and so our kids could be near their grandparents.

Dave: Since opening Armstrong Studios in Tulsa, what have been your favorite bands/records that you have produced? Do you find that you mostly get punk bands interested in recording at your studio, or do you get all types of bands/artists?

Stephen: I've done a lot of really cool records since I've been here. Some local standouts are John Moreland and the Black Gold Band, Callupsie, Red City Radio, and First Lady Assassins, and from out of town MxPx, Tumbledown, Drag The River. I also mix and master a lot of records. Recently I've mixed Rehasher, The Dopamines, Tumbledown. Later this month I'm mixing SMN from Japan. Most of the bands I work with are punk bands, but there are some exceptions, and I'm hoping to branch out. I listen to a lot of different music, though I'm most often associated with punk music. I like pretty much everything.

Dave: Your first solo record, The Seven Degrees of Stephen Egerton, comes out this month. How did this record come about? How did you decide who to ask to contribute to the record?

Stephen: With The Seven Degrees record, I started with demos of a big pile of songs I'd written over the last few years, and did good recordings of them. My wife suggested I have different friends sing on them since singing is definitely not my strong suit unless you're really into Kermit The Frog's vocals. I would just listen to the different songs, and imagine different friends voices and how the would sound over the vocal melodies I'd written, and once I figured out who would fit, I asked them to contribute. I'm lucky in that I have a LOT of very talented friends!

Dave: Are you planning on touring in support of the record?

Stephen: I'm not planning to tour. The mechanics of touring would be too much, since I played everything, and it would cost a fortune to get even a small amount of the singers in one place. We are doing two record release party shows on May 14th and 15th in OKC and Tulsa, and several of the singers are going to come out, including Scott Reynolds, Chad Price, Jon Snodgrass, Jesse Cole and Chris DeMakes. I'm really excited to do the songs live! From there, we'll see how it goes.

Dave: It’s probably a bit early to ask this, but do you have any plans for doing a second solo album? If so, who would you like to have join you on vocals? And if I may be so bold to offer a few suggestions I’d love to see Dave Smalley (Down By Law, Dag Nasty, ALL), George Reagan III (Hagfish), and Karl Alvarez (ALL/Descendents; for those who don’t know, while Karl is the bassist for ALL/Descendents he also has some incredible pipes, just see the song “Guitar Case” from the TonyALL record New Girl, Old Story).

Stephen: I definitely plan to do more with the Seven Degrees thing. I've still got some songs recorded, and a ton more in a demo state. I've got a very busy year ahead of me! I can't say who I'll be working with on some of the next bunch, but I'm working on some great possibilities. I'm also doing some instrumental music.

Dave: What is the situation with ALL and the Descendents? It has been ten years since the last ALL record and six years since the last Descendents record and I’m sure that fans are itching for some new material (I know that I am). Any updates on the DVD? Is there any chance of a collection of b-sides, compilation, and unreleased tracks?

Stephen: We haven't figured out where to go with ALL or Descendents from here. Touring isn't likely, but I'm sure we'll keep doing the odd show as we have been over the last couple of years, and I like to think there's more music in our future.

Dave: What do you think of the music scene in Oklahoma?

Stephen: Oklahoma has a great music scene! There are many excellent bands, and there's a great musical history here! There's a lot of venues, some excellent festivals. Pretty much anything you could want!

Dave: What are your thoughts on the current state of the music industry in general and the punk rock scene specifically?

Stephen: This is a transitional time for the industry. We're still figuring out where it's all going. The rampant downloading is really hurting things, but people are doing their best to find ways around it. It's much trickier for someone like me who isn't really in a position to tour, as touring has become the bread and butter of the industry. People like me who focus on recording music are having a harder time, but there are always new possibilities, and I'm the kind of person who tries to look forward. One interesting development is that the bigger bands are trying to make more personal relationships with their audience; something I equate with the way us punk bands worked all along. In some ways the industry has had to learn how to do things the way we did them all along.

Dave: This is a High Fidelity inspired question. What are your top 5 artists/bands, albums, movies, television shows, books/authors?

Stephen: For music it's The Beatles, Black Flag, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Voivod and Elvis Costello.
Albums would be too hard for me. I like so many, and I'd never be able to narrow it down.
Seven, any Pixar movie, Star Wars, and The Royal Tenenbaums and American Beauty.
I don't watch much TV, but I like old Star Trek, House and 24 (guilty pleasure).
I read the punk rock books over and over. Rotten, Please Kill Me, From the Velvets to the Voidoids etc. Also Charlane Harris (another guilty pleasure) and Harry Potter books.

Dave: What’s next? Any final thoughts?

Stephen: This year is going to be something else! I've been having a great year with my family, music, and plans for the future. Life rules!