This Years Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

This years nominees to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame include Bon Jovi, Tom Waits, Neil Diamond, Donovan, Alice Cooper, The Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, the J. Geils Band, Dr. John, Donna Summer, and Chic among others. The actual inductees will be announced in December.

Here’s what I want to know. When are bands like The Replacements, Black Flag, the Descendents, Minor Threat, and Dead Kennedys going to get nominated to the Hall?

Currently Listening

I’m letting the computer pick the tunes again today.

1. “Higher Ground” by Red Hot Chili Peppers (from Never Mind the Mainstream: The Best of MTV’s 120 Minutes, Vol. 1)
2. “Ex-Spectator” by Fugazi (from The Argument)
3. “Name” by The Goo Goo Dolls (from A Boy Named Goo)
4. “We are the Sons of Woody Guthrie” by Red City Radio (from To the Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie)
5. “No. 13 Baby” by Pixies (from Doolittle)
6. “Stand Your Ground” by Rancid (from Indestructible)
7. “Bad Phone Call” by Buffalo Tom (from Three Easy Pieces)
8. “Doing Time” by Bad Religion (from How Could Hell Be Any Worse? [Bonus Tracks])
9. “Teenagers from Mars” by Misfits (from Misfits: Collection I)
10. “Friday Nights” by Dead End Cruisers (from Cheap Shots and Low Blows, Vol. 1: The TKO Singles 1997-1998)

How to Raise a Moral and Compassionate Child

Do what our ancestors did: love, hug, kiss, cuddle, and be attentive to your child (especially when he/she is a baby).

From the story –

Darcia Narvaez is a professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in moral and character development in children. She looked closely at how we're raising our children these days and found that we've stopped doing a lot of the things our ancestors in foraging hunter-gatherer societies did, and it's changing our kids for the worse.

According to Narvaez, our distant ancestors raised their babies with lots of positive touch (constant carrying, cuddling, and holding); breastfeeding for two to five years; and warm and prompt responses to cries and fussing, which “keeps the infant’s brain calm in the years it is forming its personality and response to the world,” she says. They also raised their children among other adult caregivers and let their kids play more with other children. All of this, she says, resulted in children who had better mental health, greater empathy, and higher intelligence than kids do now. "The way we raise our children today in this country," she argues in a write-up of her research, "is increasingly depriving them of the practices that lead to well-being and a moral sense."

For one thing, infants are spending more time in carriers, car seats, and strollers than they used to, she says, and by the time babies are a year old, only about 15 percent of mothers are still breastfeeding. Children are less likely to live with members of their extended family, and, of course, children play outdoors less than they did only a few decades ago. And many parents worry that they will "spoil" their baby if they're too responsive, she notes. But as Narvaez explains in a video interview:

We're finding that 3-year-olds who have mothers who are responsive are more cooperative, they're more self-regulated, and they have greater empathy. We're finding that kids, or 3-year-olds, with mothers who touch them a lot, who report picking them up, who report holding them, are more likely to be empathic; they have greater empathy than children who don't have mothers who touch them positively. These children who are touched a lot also have greater conscience development, they're more self-regulated, and they have more self-control.

This truly doesn’t surprise me. One of the things that my wife and I have done since day one is smother our kids with love and affection and it seems to have worked considering the number of compliments we get about our kids and their behavior. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we are perfect parents or that we have perfect kids because that is not the case. What I am saying is that we have done the things that this study says that people now tend not to do and we have seen extremely positive results from those practices. Then again I just can’t imagine not being a complete cuddle bug with my kids.

Americans Tend to be Religiously Ignorant

Sometimes all it takes is a headline to catch your eye and this one did it for me – Many Americans Know Little About Religion -- Even Their Own -- Poll Finds. The post by Jeffrey Weiss discusses the results of a recent poll by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life. Needless to say, the poll highlighted how little many of us know about religion.

From the story –

...I guess it's surprising that only half of those surveyed know the Muslim sacred text is the Koran. (Heck, even the idiots who want to burn it know what it's called.)

[...]

And I'll admit that I goggled a bit to find that more people could identify Zeus as the king of the Greek gods (65 percent) than could name Joe Biden as vice president of the United States (59 percent). Are there that many "Percy Jackson" fans out there?

[...]

What is the first book of the Bible? (63 percent of Americans knew it's Genesis.)

Name the Gospels. (45 percent of everyone surveyed could reel off all four.)

Where, according to the Bible, was Jesus born? (71 percent -- but only 65 percent of Catholics -- knew it's Bethlehem. Is it really possible that there's a place where 30 percent of America isn't forced to listen to piped-in Christmas carols? "O Little Town of . . .")

Was Mother Teresa Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or Mormon? (82 percent of everyone surveyed -- but only 66 percent of black Protestants -- knew she was Catholic.)

What is the name of the person whose writings and actions inspired the Reformation? Luther, Aquinas or Wesley? (Only 46 percent chose Martin Luther.)

Was Joseph Smith Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu? (About half knew the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was Mormon.)

Is Ramadan the Islamic holy month, the Hindu festival of lights or a Jewish day of atonement? (About half knew this was the Muslim holy month.)

Which religion aims at nirvana, the state of being free from suffering? Buddhism, Hinduism or Islam? (Only 36 percent knew this is a Buddhist concept.)

Which group traditionally teaches that salvation is through faith alone? Protestants,
Catholics, both or neither? (Only 16 percent tagged this as a Protestant teaching. But Jews and the religiously unaffiliated were more likely than Catholics and almost as likely as Protestants to get this one right.)

That last question is representative of an interesting trend: Jews, Mormons and the religiously unaffiliated got more answers right than other religious groups, all other factors being equal. In fact, atheists/agnostics answered more questions correctly than any other group.

The most important factor in whether people knew stuff was, not shockingly, their level of education. College grads and people who had taken courses in religion did
much better.

You can take a short version of the poll yourself here. I got 13 out of 15 questions right (one of them was a stupid mistake on my part and the other I just didn’t know). One of the questions that I missed was the one about reading the Bible as literature in class and that was because I misread the paragraph above (even though I knew the correct answer…needless to say I feel dumb).

This is an interesting poll and honestly the results don’t surprise me. It’s sad that people don’t know more about religion. And I’m not expecting people to know the detailed ins and outs of the major faiths, but to have a more than cursory understanding would be nice.

Currently Listening

I’m letting the computer pick the tunes again today.

1. “Perfect Circle” by R.E.M. (from And I Feel Fine…: The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 [Bonus CD] Disc 1)
2. “What’s Going On” by Husker Du (from Zen Arcade)
3. “Misconstrued” by Wakeland (from Wakeland)
4. “Open All Night” by Hudson Falcons (from For Those Whose Hearts and Souls Are True)
5. “Paper Thin” by Hot Water Music (from A Flight and a Crash)
6. “You’re So Last Summer” by Taking Back Sunday (from Tell All Your Friends)
7. “Shadows and Lies” by Swingin’ Utters (from Dead Flowers, Bottles, Bluegrass, and Bones)
8. “Rest in Peace” by James Marsters (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More with Feeling [Musical Episode Soundtrack])
9. “She’s Not the One” by Teenage Bottlerocket (from Warning Device)
10. “Lookin’ Out Forever” by Paul Westerberg (from Suicaine Gratification)

Movie Review: Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole

Title: Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (Official, IMDB, Wikipedia)

I hadn’t actually planned on seeing this film but then I saw The Moviefone Blog post Family Film Guide: 'Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole'. The post peeked my interest enough that when the opportunity arose to take my son to the film yesterday I jumped at it and I’m glad that I did. Most reviews that I have seen about this film have described it as “Lord of the Rings with owls” and while that is a fair comparison, this film is more of a classic hero’s journey tale than a aping (or would that be owling) of Tolkien’s classic—that’s one of the things that I liked about the Moviefone post, at the end it suggested three other hero’s journey films.

This film is based on the Guardians of G’Hoole series by Kathryn Lasky, which I have not read but am now planning on checking out. The plot of the film is, as mentioned before, that of the traditional hero’s journey. A young owl is captured, taken from his home, and forced to confront a great evil. Yes this type of story has been done, probably thousands of times, but I still love it nonetheless. I am a sucker for a good hero’s journey tale and Legends of the Guardians is certainly one that qualifies. Also, the 3D in this film was better than many that have been released in recent memory.

If you are a fan of epic fantasy adventures, then I suggest you give Legends of the Guardians a shot. While it’s not the best epic fantasy ever produced, it is far from the worst (I’d put it in the top half of epic fantasy films; in other words it is much, MUCH better than Eragon but not as good as the LOTRs or the Narnia films).

Currently Listening

I recently discovered that if you click Play on Windows Media Player without selecting anything for it to play, it picks a bunch of random songs from your computer and adds them to the playlist. That’s how I came up with today’s tunes.

1. “One Reportsers Opinion” by Minutemen (from Double Nickels on the Dime)
2. “Fa-Fa-FA-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” by Otis Redding (from The Definitive Soul Collection Disc 2)
3. “Other Side” by Pearl Jam (from Lost Dogs: Rarities and B Sides Disc 2)
4. “Polly” by Nirvana (from MTV Unplugged in New York)
5. “Everyday Sunshine” by Fishbone (from The Reality of My Surroundings)
6. “Break Me” by The Ducky Boys (from Three Chords and the Truth)
7. “I’m in Love with My Car” by Queen (from Greatest Hits [We Will Rock You Edition])
8. “Rusty Cage” by Soundgarden (from A-Sides)
9. “Sugar Water” by Sixer (from Busted Knuckles and Heartbreak [EP])
10. “Naked” by 7 Seconds (from Out the Shizzy)

10 Things That Contribute to Generation X Cynicism (Then and Now)

That pretty much sums it up. Click on the image to enlarge.

Thanks to JenX for the find.

Video of the Day

"Until I Say So" by Drag the River

Oh How I Can't Wait for This!

Why Can't Our President's Ever Be Like This?

Video of the Day

"Big Wave" by Jenny & Johnny

Are DVDs a Dying Breed?

Best Buy thinks so.

Quote of the Day

"I've been saddened to see that someone who ran on the idea that you can't expect to get different results with the same people and the same system has kept in place so much of the same system."

-- John Stewart on The O'Reily Factor

Would Anyone Listen? & Currently Listening

We spend a lot of time in the car channel surfing on the radio looking for something descent to listen to (mostly because the CD player is messed up). Yesterday I got this idea; what if there was a radio station that literally played all kinds of popular music. A station essentially designed for a family to be able to listen to that would play songs that everyone liked. In other words, what if there was a station that mixed the playlists of 105. The Spy, Radio Disney, 98.9 Kiss FM, KJ103, the KATT, KRXO, the True Oldies Channel 99.7, 97.3 Jack FM (RIP), and the New Version of FM 103.7 (among others)? This station could go from a song by Iggy Pop into one by Boston into one by The Jonas Brothers. The point would be to have a station that a family with diverse tastes could all listen to and eventually hear something that they like. Would it work? Would anyone listen? Could a station cater to tweens while at the same time catering to Gen Xers? Could a station successfully mix mainstream hits songs with underground classics and newer deep alternative tracks? I think that it could. Granted it would never be the most listened to station because you wouldn’t be able to nail it down to being one thing, but it would be perfect for families to listen to in the car and could keep the channel surfing down to a minimum. Plus in this new iPod age, it is not at all unheard of for people having all different kinds of music going in their ears.

So in that vein for today’s edition of Currently Listening, I’m am going to pick songs from all over the place to see how they’d all sound together.

What do you think? Is this something that you and your family would listen to? Is it something that you think other families would agree on?

1. “Fallen Angel” by Poison (from Poison’s Greatest Hits 1986-1996)
2. “I Do Not Hook Up” by Kelly Clarkson (from All I Ever Wanted)
3. “Bring on the Dancing Horses” by Echo & the Bunnymen (from Songs to Learn and Sing)
4. “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding (from The Definitive Soul Collection Disc 2)
5. “Somebody to Love” by Queen (from Greatest Hits [We Will Rock You Edition])
6. “Sick of Myself” by Matthew Sweet (from Time Capsule: The Best of Matthew Sweet)
7. “The Fear” by Lily Allen (from It’s Not Me, It’s You)
8. “Tomorrow’s Industry” by Dropkick Murphys (from The Meanest of Times)
9. “Surrender” by Cheap Trick (from Heaven Tonight [Bonus Tracks])
10. “Here We Go Again” by Demi Lovato (from Here We Go Again)
11. “Over It” by Dinosaur Jr. (from Farm)
12. “Solace of You” by Living Colour (from Everything Is Possible: The Very Best of Living Colour)
13. “Regret” by New Order (from The Best of New Order)
14. “Who I Am” by Nick Jonas & the Administration (from Who I Am)
15. “It’s Not Unusual” by Tom Jones (from Gold Disc 1)

Dead To Me – New Lineup and New Song

PunkNews.org is reporting that Dead To Me has gone through yet another lineup change with Sam Johnson stepping in on vocals replacing Nathan Grice, who replaced Jack Dalrymple. The band has also posted a new song online. The track is called “Wait For It” and can be heard here (thanks again to PunkNews.org for the find). The new song is pretty darned good and gives me hope for their next record. I was fairly disappointed with African Elephants so I’m hoping that this new record will live up to the band’s former glory. But to be fair I am a huge fan of Jack Dalrymple's work so I went into the record already disappointed that he was no longer in the band.

Video of the Day

"Tomorrow's Industry" by Dropkick Murphys

My Favorite Genres in Music

After doing the My Current Rotating Top 20 I thought it would be interesting to do a breakdown of the genres of the bands that I listed, do the math, and determine what is, statistically at least, my favorite genre of music.

Here is the breakdown –

• 20 bands fell into the pop punk genre
• 9 bands fell into the street punk/oi genre
• 5 bands fell into the alternative/college rock genre
• 6 bands fell into the punk genre
• 5 bands fell into the indie rock genre
• 4 bands fell into the alt country genre
• 2 bands fell into the melodic hardcore genre
• 2 bands fell into the Celtic punk genre
• 2 bands fell into the rock genre
• 1 band fell into the post hardcore/emo genre
• 1 band fell into the power pop genre
• 1 band fell into the pop genre
• 1 band fell into the hardcore genre
• 1 band fell into the psychobilly/rockabilly/cow punk genre

Obviously this doesn’t add up to the same number of bands that I listed but that is because quite a few of those bands straddle multiple genres. And if you are curious as to how I labeled each band, here is the list –

Descendents -- pop punk
ALL -- pop punk
TonyALL -- pop punk
Down By Law -- pop punk, melodic hardcore
Goodbye Harry -- pop punk
Drag the River -- alt country
The Pavers -- pop punk
Scott Reynolds & the Steaming Beast -- pop, alt country
Stephen Egerton -- pop punk
U2 -- alternative/college rock
R.E.M. -- alternative/college rock
Dropkick Murphys -- street punk/oi, Celtic punk, punk
Street Dogs -- street punk/oi, Celtic punk, punk
7 Seconds -- hardcore, punk
Dag Nasty -- melodic hardcore
Swingin’ Utters -- street punk/oi, punk
Filthy Thieving Bastards -- alt country
Me First & the Gimme Gimmes -- pop punk
Re-Volts -- pop punk, street punk/oi
Druglords of the Avenues -- street punk/oi, punk
The Replacements -- college rock/alternative
Buffalo Tom -- indie rock, college rock/alternative
One Man Army -- pop punk street punk/oi
Dead To Me -- pop punk
Ben Lee -- indie rock
The Thermals -- indie rock, power pop
Jenny Lewis -- alt country, indie rock
Rilo Kiley -- indie rock
Hagfish -- pop punk
Hudson Falcons -- street punk/oi, punk, rock
The GC5 -- street punk/oi, punk, rock, college rock/alternative
The Staggers -- street punk/oi, psychobilly/cow punk
The Methadones -- pop punk
The Riverdales -- pop punk
Screeching Weasel -- pop punk
Roustabouts -- street punk/oi, post hardcore/emo, pop punk,
Sinkhole -- pop punk
Big Drill Car -- pop punk
Teenage Bottlerocket -- pop punk
The Copyrights -- pop punk

My Current Rotating Top 20

Anyone who’s read this blog for any length of time (you poor souls you) has noticed that I like lists. I like writing lists and I like reading lists. They are just plain fun. Also, anyone who’s read this blog for any length of time knows that I love music. I love to listen to it, read about it, and write about it. Hell I think that it is safe to say that I am a fairly obsessive music nerd.

Well it just so happens that these are two great tastes that taste even better together! So with my obsessive nature I am often, sadly in a way, thinking about who I would consider my favorite bands. I’ve done quite a few posts on this topic but the one that was probably the best was My Rotating Top 20. In that post I pretty well laid out what have generally become my favorite bands. Well since that time I’ve started to chance the way I think about bands a bit. For one thing I have come to think of certain bands and their side-projects as what I like to call families. In these cases I tend to think of all of the bands as part of one larger unit (the best example of this is in the case of ALL and all of their related bands). So now when I put together a list of my favorite bands, I literally think of a family of bands as one unit. Not all of my favorite bands fall into this type of situation but quite a few do.

So without any further ado, here is my latest incarnation of my Top 20 Favorite Bands.

1. The ALL Family (Descendents, ALL, TonyALL, Down By Law, Goodbye Harry, Drag the River, The Pavers, Stephen Egerton)
2. U2
3. R.E.M.
4. The Dropkick Murphys Family (Dropkick Murphys, Street Dogs)
5. 7 Seconds
6. Dag Nasty *
7. The Swingin’ Utters Family (Swingin’ Utters, Filthy Thieving Bastards, Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, Re-Volts, Druglords of the Avenues)
8. The Replacements
9. Buffalo Tom
10. The One Man Army Family (One Man Army, Dead To Me) **
11. Ben Lee
12. The Thermals
13. The Jenny Lewis Family (Jenny Lewis, Rilo Kiley)
14. Hagfish
15. The Falcons Family (Hudson Falcons, The GC5, The Staggers) ***
16. The Methadones Family (The Methadones, The Riverdales, Screeching Weasel) ****
17. Roustabouts
18. Sinkhole
19. Big Drill Car
20. The Red Scare Family (Teenage Bottlerocket, The Copyrights) *****

* I nearly included Dag Nasty in the ALL Family because of their close ties but in the end I don’t think of them as part of the ALL Family so I left them separate.
** I nearly included OMA & DTM inb the Swingin’ Utters family but like with Dag Nasty, I really think of them as a separate unit.
*** While these bands aren’t really related, they were some of the first that I ever though of as a family.
**** This isn’t called the Screeching Wease Family because I truly think that The Methadones were a much better band.
***** These bands aren’t related other than they both have been on Red Scare Records. That having been said, I think of them as one unit.

Coburn Just Lost My Vote

I didn’t vote for Tom Coburn when he first ran for the Senate but I’ve been happy overall with his performance as our Senator. Sure he and I disagree on a lot of things but I liked that he really tended to piss off lots of people in Washington. That was until I heard the Here & Now segment Inside C-Street, The House That Hoped To Transform America on Monday. That’s when I learned that Dr. Tom is a member of The Family.

The Family, a.k.a. The Fellowship, is a Christian organization—bordering on a secret society—that has been known to use US officials, politicians, and corporate leaders to help support and prop up powerful dictators throughout the world, including being behind the proposed bill in Uganda that called for the death penalty for homosexuals. I have a copy of Jeff Sharlet’s The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power (Amazon, Wikipedia) on my “To Read” shelf, but based on my mom’s reaction to the book I haven’t read it yet because I simply don’t want to get that angry and worked up.

So if I’m not going to vote for Coburn, who am I going to vote for? According to Steve’s latest poll on The Otter Limits—New Poll: U.S. Senate Contest in Oklahoma—I have a Democrat and two Independents to choose from, but only one of those candidates has a website so information on these candidates seems to be lacking. The one candidate who does have a website, Steve Wallace, lists “National Referendum for Term Limits” under the “My Objectives” section and based solely on that I am leaning towards him, but to be fair to the rest of the pack I’ve done all of 10 minutes worth of research so this opinion may be changing.

I harbor no delusions that Tom Coburn won’t win re-election or that he won’t do a fairly descent job in a second term as our Senator, but the simple fact is that I cannot support him.

Currently Listening

1. “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (from Fit to Be Tied: Greatest Hits by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts [Reissue])
2. “Come On” by Swingin’ Utters (from The Streets of San Francisco)
3. “Theme” by Descendents (from I Don’t Want to Grow Up)
4. “Badger” by Hagfish (from That Was Then, This Is Then)
5. “Mango” by Dag Nasty (from Wig Out at Denko’s [Bonus Tracks])
6. “Charligan” by ALL (from Allroy’s Revenge)
7. “Suggestion” by Fugazi (from 13 Songs)
8. “Boxer” by The Gaslight Anthem (from American Slang)
9. “Kick It Over” by Re-Volts (from Re-Volts)
10. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Theme)” by Nerf Herder (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album)

Life on the Phones: The Affects of Nearly 12 Years Working in Call Centers

I’ve been working in call centers for a long time; it’ll be 12 years in January to be exact. In that time I’ve talked to a lot of people, dealt with a lot of corporate bull-stuff, and seen a side of our society that few outside of the service industry see. One thing that I have realized recently is how much this line of work has affected me. There are things that stand out to me as glowing neon signs that others are oblivious to. There are also things that bother me to no end that wouldn’t give others a second’s pause. Some of these things are good and some…not so much. Of these things there are three that stand out as major affects/reactions to my time on the phones.

1) Niceties and Manners – I have always been a polite person but now some work related habits have become so ingrained that they have become part of my nature. Things like saying “please” and “thank you” and asking someone to hold a moment when I’m on the phone and I need to speak with someone else (this one is turning into a real pet peeve of mine, there is nothing more confusing and rude than to be talking to someone on the phone and then without warning the person on the other end leaves the phone to talk with someone else; I don’t mind waiting on the person on the other end, but some warning would be nice). I am also hammering these ideas home with my kids, making sure that they how to be and insist that they are polite, kind, and courteous. The flipside to this is taking notice to how little people practice common courtesy. It really bothers me, and honestly I’m ultra-sensitive to it, but I do my best to always treat people the way that I want to be treated and lead by example for my children.

2) Listening – One skill that is exceedingly important in any customer service position, and especially important in technical support, is listening. And not just regular listening but active listening. The one thing that I have preached over and over when coaching new agents is the need to be engaged in active listening at all times. Well this skill has apparently come home with me from the office because I have observed multiple times when I have picked up things that others have missed because I was actively listening to and observing what was going on. For example, last week in lab our professor specifically stated that she had to look at our work one last time before she signed off on our assignments (she’d been walking around and helping us throughout lab but her point was that she wasn’t going to remember any of what she saw and thus needed to see it one last time before giving the okay on the assignment). Not five later a young lady brought her paper up to have it signed and when the professor said she needed to see the slide (we were doing work with a microscope) one more time, the student said she had already disposed of it. That is a perfect example of someone who wasn’t only not actively listening but not listening in general.

3) Distrust of large corporations/organizations & belief that they are not efficient – Big companies do some great things but rarely do they run efficiently, listen to their staff and customers, or respect their employees. Being at the bottom of the barrel in three large companies has shown me that often they just don’t work. The leaders are shortsighted, the policies are misguided, and the regulations that should keep them in line are bent to the will of those with the most money. The problem with capitalism isn’t capitalism. It’s the capitalists. Our economy is run like an oligarchy bordering on feudalism that is stained with corruption and the attitude of entitlement (which is often disguised in the mask pointing the blame others inability to read and/or comprehend the fine print). The buck is passed, blame is laid, and those who suffer for it are the ones with the lowest amount of power and control—i.e. the employees and the customers. The essential problem really comes down to size. The larger an organization the less efficient it becomes. The larger an organization the less common sense it displays. The larger an organization the less its chances of successfully addressing any issues or problems becomes. In short, the larger an organization becomes the farther it gets from those it is trying to serve. This is true off all types of organizations but as always with any rule there are exceptions (many non-profits come to mind). Once something gets big its inertia wants it to get bigger and subsequently the cogs that make the parts turn (i.e. middle management, project managers, management in general) care more about their own part of the system then they do about the entire system itself.

So as I ease into my second decade of call center work I recognize how this work has taken its toll on me while at the same time taught me a great deal. Lord knows I can’t keep this up forever but I think that these are lessons that will serve me well in life. For the most part at least… :-P

Quote of the Day

Personally, I think everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike should question their own faith. If you aren't asking questions, I personally think that you are not learning. If you think you have it all down and there is no more room to learn anything else, you have it all wrong. Faith is not static, it is dynamic. Faith is a journey, not a stopping point.

-- Steve Long from the post Currently Reading: A New Kind of Christianity

AMEN!

Currently Listening

1. “Save the Best for Last” by Me First & the Gimme Gimmes (from Take a Break)
2. “What a Wonderful World” by Joey Ramone (from Freaky Friday)
3. “Pretty Vacant” by The Sex Pistols (from Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols)
4. “Rebound” by Teenage Bottlerocket (from Total)
5. “No Surrender” by Roustabouts (from Midwest Rules, Vol. 2: You’re Weak—We’re Strong)
6. “Surrender” by Big Drill Car (from A Never Ending Endeavor)
7. “Picking Teams” by Goodbye Harry (from I Can Smoke)
8. “We are the Sons of Woody Guthrie” by Red City Radio (from We are the Sons & Daughters of Woody Guthrie)
9. “Scales” by Re-Volts (from Re-Volts)
10. “Teenagers from Mars” by Misfits (from Misfits: Collection 1)

Currently Listening

1. “Kitchen” by The Lemonheads (from It’s a Shame About Ray)
2. “Poughkeepsie” by The Lemonheads (from The Lemonheads)
3. “Bring It On” by The Gaslight Anthem (from American Slang)
4. “Meet Me by the River’s Edge” by The Gaslight Anthem (from The ’59 Sound)
5. “Red Light’s Tinge” by One Man Army (from Last Word Spoken)
6. “We Are” by One Man Army (from Rumors and Healines)
7. “Ocean” by Sebadoh (from Harmacy)
8. “Good Things” by Sebadoh (from Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock)
9. “Looking Back” by The Ducky Boys (from Three Chords and the Truth)
10. “City Girl” by The Ducky Boys (from The War Back Home)

Headline of the Day

One-Legged Man Escapes on Foot

Meeting Your Favorite Band isn’t Always a Fun Experience

I’ve been lucky in that I’ve gotten to meet and get to know some of my favorite bands over the years. Come to think of it, the only bad experience I had meeting a band was when I attempted to interview The Vandals but that is a tale for another time. I’ve met bands that I consider my heroes and I’ve met bands that I barely know but generally they have all be cool. That isn’t always the case though.

For example, John Rzeznik from the Goo Goo Dolls had a nasty little run-in with Sting --

As for the pains in the ass, one rocker stands out. "I met Sting once and I didn't know what to say to the guy, so I said, 'I really love your band. You guys were a huge influence on us musically,'" Rzeznik recalls. "And he looked at me and said, 'Don't blame me.' I was like, 'Wow, you're a real d---.'"

Luckily Rzeznik learned from the encounter.

As disappointing as that encounter may have been, Rzeznik learned from it. "I talk to young bands all the time and I get guys' CDs all the time. They want to talk about what to do in the music business. I love taking the time to talk to them and to impart whatever knowledge I have, my experience to them," he says. "You don't want to be that guy."

I’ve never met the Goo Goo Dolls but they have always seemed to be good guys to me based on the interviews that I have seen and read. It’s nice though to see someone who can legitimately be called a rock star being a nice guy.

I’ve Never Watched Glee…

But I might have to check out this episode.

Truth and Wisdom Found in a Comic Book

Technically it’s a graphic novel but this was originally released as a comic book. The following if from Countdown to Final Crisis Volume 1 (Amazon, Wikipedia) pages 126-127. The specifics of the setting aren’t all that important other to know that a group of villains are at a restaurant and one of them is being a complete jerk to the waitress.

Mirror Master: Ever hear that sayin’ that customer’s always right? Me bein’ the customer in this situation equals me bein’ right…ALWAYS.

Piper: That just happens to be the worst philosophy invented by a free market economy.

Unknown Villain # 1: What are you talking about Piper?

Heatwave: He’s drunk.

Piper: Drunk? I’m drinking ginger ale, Heatwave. Anyway, that one phrase gave the entire country a green light to be as rude and demanding as they please. It destroyed the entire concept of common courtesy and manners.

Mirror Master: Hey if she don’t like the job she can piss of an’ find another.

Piper: All I’m saying is people treat service industry workers like they’re idiots who don’t have feelings or dignity just because they brought the wrong drink or a steak is overcooked. Instead of receiving negative consequences for being disrespectful and ignorant dirtbags, they’re rewarded with free things and butt kissing.

There is so much truth and brilliance in this exchange that it is mind blowing. The Mirror Master character perfectly represents all of the completely ignorant and asshole-ish people out there that think it is okay to treat those who serve them like dirt. And Piper’s commentary on the situation is beyond perfect. I truly could not have said this any better myself!!!

Blast from the Past: ALL by Descendents

Artist: Descendents (Official, MySpace, Wikipedia)
Title: ALL (Amazon, Wikipedia)

In 1987 Descendents’ lead singer Milo Aukerman decided to trade in life on the road for life in a lab and the decision was made that the band would record one last album as the Descendents before having Dave Smalley take over on vocals and becoming ALL. To aid in the transition to the band’s new name and to finally reveal the band’s philosophy to the world this final Descendents’ record was titled ALL (little did they know at the time that Milo would return to the band). This record was also the first to include Stephen Egerton on guitar and Karl Alvarez on bass.

Not only does ALL introduce us to the concept of ALL (“the total extent”) but it also shows us the direction this band would take for the next twenty plus years. While the Descendents’ had always written pop gems (“Hope” and “Silly Girl” come to mind) starting with this album the pop took precedence over the punk and surf. The songs that truly stand out on this record are brilliant pop tunes that, if the world had an ounce of musical justice, would have been huge hits. From here and with the new mantle of ALL, the band blazed a path that few have been able to follow; consistently producing record after record with timeless songs.

Now to be fair I am not at all impartial where it comes to this band or the entire ALL family of bands for that matter. I am a diehard and obsessive fan. This band’s music has, in many ways, become the soundtrack of my life. Their music is some of the only stuff that is never removed from my MP3 player but even before I had that amazing little piece of technology, not a month would go by where I wouldn’t listen to this band’s music (and I am referring to both incarnations here). With that all having been said, ALL is not a perfect record. There are some very forgettable songs, but those by no way take away from the classics (like “Pep Talk,” “Clean Sheets,” and “Coolidge”). The other thing that people need to realize is that Everything Sucks is not the follow up to ALL. The Follow up to ALL is Allroy Sez and if fans don’t listen to the ALL records then they will miss not only a ton of great music, but they will not hear how the band transitioned and grew in those nearly 10 years in between releases under the Descendents moniker.

Currently Listening

1. “Into Your Arms” by The Lemonheads (from Come on Fell The Lemonheads)
2. “E.M.I.” by Sex Pistols (from Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols)
3. “Here We Go Again” by Demi Lovato (from Here We Go Again)
4. “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” by Against Me! (from White Crosses)
5. “I Wanna” by The All-American Rejects (from When the World Comes Down)
6. “The Other 364” by Big Drill Car (from A Never Ending Endeavor)
7. “Great Expectations” by The Gaslight Anthem (from The ’59 Sound)
8. “Our Own Way” by Down By Law (from Blue)
9. “Your Revolution Song” by Mark Lind & the Unloved (from The Truth Can Be Brutal)
10. “Gotta Be On My Way” by John Moreland & the Black Gold Band (from Endless Oklahoma Sky)

Blast from the Past: Come on Feel The Lemonheads

Artist: The Lemonheads (Official, MySpace, Wikipedia)
Title: Come on Feel The Lemonheads (Amazon, Wikipedia)

The Lemonheads will probably always been known for their cover of “Mrs. Robinson” which appeared on 1992’s It’s a Shame About Ray. They will also most likely always be thought of as Evan Dando’s band, but that wasn’t always the case. Prior to becoming the Tiger Beat poster-boy for alternative rock, Dando was just one voice in The Lemonheads. The band recorded three albums for Taang! Records and in 1989 co-founder, vocalist, and songwriter Ben Deily left the band and Dando, at this point the only consistent member of the band, signed to Atlantic Records. In 1990 the band released its major label debut Lovely which was followed two years later by …Ray.

On the heals of mainstream attention, in 1993 The Lemonheads released Come on Feel The Lemonheads. This album essentially picked up where it’s predecessor left off, mixing indie rock sensibilities will bubble gum pop (the band was often called “bubble grunge”) and produced a moderate hit with the song “Into Your Arms” (which ironically was another cover; so up to this point this band was known for their covers which included the two aforementioned tunes and their version of “Luka” from Lick). The band recorded one more record for Atlantic before Dando decided to take a hiatus from music. He returned to The Lemonheads in 2005 with ALL/Descendents Bill Stevenson and Karl Alvarez on drums and bass and released a self-titled record for Vagrant Records.

I remember getting Come on Feel The Lemonheads in ’93 when it first came out and enjoying it, but not listening much past the single and the first few songs on the tape. Yesterday though I picked up a copy of the CD at Hastings for $0.97 and have been listening to it pretty much non-stop since. This record is full of really well crafted pop songs that come to life through Dando’s airy voice. There is nothing really original on this record, but that doesn’t matter because the tunes are good. In other words, Dando was walking an already well traveled road when he produced this record, but he did so with his own unique voice and flair. What I also really enjoyed about listening to this album again was the fact that it didn’t feel nostalgic. Yes this is very much an early 90s album but it is not completely dated or limited to that era.

If you got this record when it was first release and haven’t listened to it since or if you are a fan of really good indie pop then I highly suggest you get a copy of Come on Feel The Lemonheads (and hey, it probably won’t cost you much).

The 100 Worst Songs Ever

Aol Radio Blog has put together a list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever. It’s an interesting list and while it does include some of the truly terrible songs that have come out over the years, there are actually some good ones on the list.

Currently Listening

1. “Re-Routed” by Armchair Martin (from Who Wants to Play Bass)
2. “Son on a Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield (from Dusty in Memphis [Deluxe Edition])
3. “Little Bit of Faith” by Hudson Falcons (from La Famiglia)
4. “The Stairs [Live]” by INXS (from Shine Like It Does: The Anthology 1979-1997 Disc 2)
5. “The Big Guns” by Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins (from Rabbit Fur Coat)
6. “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding (from The Definitive Soul Collection Disc 2)
7. “Here Comes a Regular” by The Replacements (from Tim [Expanded Edition])
8. “Mary” by The Pavers (from Wrecking Ball)
9. “It’s Not Unusual” by Tom Jones (from Gold Disc 1)
10. “Better Be Good to Me” by Tina Turner (from Simply the Best)

Star Wars Meets Winnie the Pooh

Too cute!!!

Currently Listening

1. “Spin the Bottle” by The Juliana Hatfield Three (from Become What You Are)
2. “No Hiding Place” by Elvis Costello & the Imposters (from Momofuku)
3. “Don’t Change” by INXS (from Shine Like It Does: The Anthology (1979-1997) Disc 1)
4. “All-N-All” by Drag the River (from Hobo’s Demo’s)
5. “Jack Killed Mom” by Jenny Lewis (from Acid Tongue)
6. “Rule of Three” by The Lemonheads (from The Lemonheads)
7. “Cashing In” by Minor Threat (from Complete Discography)
8. “Jesus, Satan, Gene Beeman, His Car, & Pizza Hut” by Scott Reynolds & the Steaming Beast (from Adventure Boy)
9. “Twenty Flight Rock” by Tiger Army (from The Early Years)
10. “Mascot Mania” by Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon (from Prairie Home Invasion)

Quote of the Day

"If I said the sky is blue, they'd say no. If I said fish live in the sea, they'd say no."

-- President Barack Obama from his Labor Day speech in Milwaukee

I quote this line not because I agree with the President’s policies or rhetoric—half the time I don’t—but on this he makes an excellent point. Anymore there is no truth in American politics. No matter what a Democrat says, the Republicans will disagree and no matter what a Republican says, the Democrats will disagree. It is asinine and this comment highlights the absurdity of the situation. Though if Mr. Obama was anything other than an atypical political hack he would have had the ability to see that those on his side are just as guilty of this type of stupidity as those he was criticizing.

The Story Behind Labor Day

On Saturday I heard a talk show host going on a rant about Labor Day and how it should really be called Socialist Day because that is what’s being celebrated. Needless to say I thought this guy had lost his mind, but I decided to look up the origins of the Labor Day national holiday and here is what I found.

From Wikipedia –

The first Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882 in New York City, by the Central Labor Union of New York, the nation's first integrated major trade union.[1] It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with the labor movement as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.[2] The September date originally chosen by the CLU of NY and observed by many of the nation's trade unions for the past several years was selected rather than the more widespread International Workers' Day because Cleveland was concerned that observance of the latter would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair, for which it had been observed to commemorate.[3] All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

The form for the celebration of Labor Day was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday: A street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations," followed by a festival for the workers and their families. This became the pattern for Labor Day celebrations. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civil significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. The holiday is often regarded as a day of rest and parties. Speeches or political demonstrations are more low-key than May 1 Labor Day celebrations in most countries, although events held by labor organizations often feature political themes and appearances by candidates for office, especially in election years. Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water sports, and public art events. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer recess. Similarly, some teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend for parties before returning to school, although school starting times now vary.

Color me crazy, but I don’t see anything there that signifies Labor Day as being a day to celebrate or glorify socialism. Is it celebrating labor unions and the affects that they have had on our country? Absolutely. But the better question…why would that be a bad thing? Despite what many labor unions have become, they have a heritage that is worth celebrating and have helped bring about many advances in making the workplace a safe and better place for all Americans. Why shouldn’t that be celebrated?

Currently Listening

In honor of Labor Day, we’re doing all songs about the working man/working class.

1. “Working” by Cock Sparrer (from Shock Troops/Runnin’ Riot in ’84)
2. “Factory Day” by Down By Law (from Last of the Sharpshooters)
3. “Bootlegger’s Son” by One Man Army (from Last Word Spoken)
4. “James 5” by Riot Squad (from Riot Squad)
5. “Privileged Few” by Roustabouts (from The Only One)
6. “Fading American Dream” by Street Dogs (from Fading American Dream)
7. “For All Commons” by Those Unknown (from Those Unknown)
8. “Tomorrow’s Industry” by Dropkick Murphys (from The Meanest of Times)
9. “Working Class War” by Hudson Falcons (from Desperation & Revolution)
10. “Have a Drink” by The Staggers (from The Sights, The Sounds, The Fear, and The Pain)

Star Wars Portraits…Victorian Style

Check it.

Blast from the Past: Become What You Are by The Juliana Hatfield Three

Title: Become What You Are (Amazon, Wikipedia)
Artist: The Juliana Hatfield Three (Official, Wikipedia)

The former Blake Babies singer and one-time Lemonhead Juliana Hatfield released what is essentially her second solo album in 1993, under the group name The Juliana Hatfield Three, to extremely positive reviews and lots of airplay on MTV’s 120 Minutes. This was still the early days of the post-Nirvana alternative explosion when a lot of bands that had been around for a while (like Dinosaur Jr. and The Lemonheads) or bands that were formed by members of other bands that had recently broken up (like Belly and The Breeders) were getting a lot of airplay and having minor mainstream hits.

Juliana Hatfield came from the same Boston, MA scene that gave us bands like The Lemonheads, the Pixies, Buffalo Tom, and Dinosaur Jr., thus her sound is pretty much what you’d expect—a healthy mix of pop and punk rock, what eventually became known as indie rock. Much of the album’s lyrical content deals with relationships and female identity issues (see the opening track “Supermodel”). In 1994 the song “Spin the Bottle” was included on the soundtrack for the movie Reality Bites and released as a single with a video that included stars from the film and a Kid in the Hall.

This is an album that I’ve had off and on a lot over the years and for some reason I got it out yesterday and was reminded that this is a really good record. The songs are catchy, the lyrics are intelligent, and the hooks will drag you in. In a lot of ways I think I appreciate this record now, 17 years later, more than I did when it was released.

To hear some of this record check out the videos to the singles “My Sister,” “For the Birds,” and “Spin the Bottle.”

Quote of the Day

This is a bit long for a Quote of the Day, but it is completely worth it.

Sabato does note something that touches on points I've made numerous times: "2010 will generate a substantial pendulum swing from the Democrats to the Republicans. It is not that Republicans are popular—most polls show the party even less liked than the Democrats. Many observers find it amazing that the less-liked party is on the verge of triumphing over the better-liked party."

Sabato thinks this is simply because voters want to reduce the power of those in office. That is true. But the voters don't particularly care for either party. The middle of the road in American politics today is a sort of mushy libertarianism. Voters don't want high taxes, don't want lots of regulation, are tired of the wars and foreign interventionism, don't trust politicians of any party, and aren't particularly interested in imposing "Christian values" on our largely secular society.

This doesn't mean there is a consistent libertarian streak by any means—just witness the ugly anti-immigration hysteria disgustingly pandered to even by some Libertarian Party candidates. This is why I refer to the middle as a mushy libertarianism. It is not consistent and it is not principled but it is there. For the most part the American middle ground wants to leave people alone.

The two extremes in modern politics are busy-body Democrats and busy-body Republicans. The Democrats are dominated by the Nanny Statists and the Republicans dominated by nasty Theocrats. Given those choices I too would like the Democrats more. The Democrats think I'm stupid and need them to care for me. That is pretty disgusting. But what really scares me is that Republicans think I'm sinful and need to be punished. While trying to stamp out stupidity is, well, stupid, trying to force people to be virtuous is downright dangerous.

While I'm not a fan of C.S. Lewis he did describe the danger of Republican-type controls. He said that "tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." A perfect example of this is the hateful Maggie Gallagher and her Mormon-funded antigay campaign. She really does believe she is saving gay people from themselves so she is unrelentingly intrusive. If ever we need a face for the Nanny State, Maggie's fat mug ought to be used.

The voting public is not divided into two camps: Democrats and Republicans. It is divided into three: the latter two plus independents. Of those groups the independents are the largest. And the independents are the mushy libertarians personified. The Democrats tend to not have the moralistic agenda of the intrusive Republicans but the Republicans don't tend to have the central-planning mindset of the Democrats.

On any particular issue the majority of the population tends to lean libertarian. For instance, with taxes, most Republicans and Independents oppose high rates thus the majority leans for less taxation. When it comes to government enforced "Christian" values the Democrats and Independents tend to oppose such big government intrusions while the Republicans, in the clutches of the American Taliban, are hysterical proponents of such moral authoritarianism.

The problem is that the political elites in the parties tend not to give their voters what they want. Witness how the Republicans betrayed free markets and low taxes every time they have controlled the government. Witness also how Obama has not done anything of substance to bring the sort of equal rights in sexual orientation that he promised. Both betray the party base that keeps them in power.

What keeps the party base loyal to the two dominant parties is fear: fear of the other party. The Democratic base fears the Republicans will push their moralistic agenda on everyone—and rightly so. The Republcians were terrified that the Democrats would push for higher taxes, more regulation and more state control—and rightly so. So the voting public swings back and forth, first electing Democrats then getting disgusted with them and electing Republicans. But the Republicans prove to be equally disgusting and voters swing back to the Democrats.

The American public is being tag-teamed by the two major parties. Each jumps into the ring and beats up the public for a bit before being replaced by the other. The Democrats may use a few well-placed left hooks to blacken the eyes of the public and then the Republicans "save" them by using a few right-hooks to break their nose. American partisan politics is now in the position where neither party represents the dominant few on most issues.

Most Americans would bring the troops home, neither party is willing to do that. On civil liberties the anti-freedom Republicans tend to dominate and Democrats are afraid of standing up to them. On economic liberties the anti-freedom Democrats tend to dominate and Republicans, well, Republicans have just learned to love big government and use it to enrich themselves.

So the real story of American politics is that the two giants in the political arena are both in opposition to the vast middle ground of American politics. Neither the Democrats, nor the Republicans are willing to cater to that mushy libertarianism that dominates the views of the public. And sadly, these days the Libertarian Party isn't doing that very well either. But they are an irrelevancy and will remain such.

If either the GOP or the Democrats get the nerve to tell their base to fuck off there is hope for the country. The first party to jettison the extreme statists and embrace this mushy libertarianism is likely to be in power for some time. So far neither has the courage to do that.

-- CLS from the post The Coming Landslide and Mushy Libertarianism (emphasis mine)

Note (9/5/2010 7:00PM): CLS uses a phrase in the quoted post that I must condemn. The phrase in question is “American Taliban” and it does nothing to advance the argument being made. In fact it completely detracts from the argument because for some, that is what they are coming away from this post with and that is a shame. Also it is completely unnecessary and uncalled for.

Currently Listening

1. “More Adventurous” by Rilo Kiley (from More Adventurous)
2. “Bye June” by Smashing Pumpkins (from Lull)
3. “Junkie Man” by Rancid (from …And Out Come the Wolves)
4. “I Want You to Know” by Dinosaur Jr. (from Farm)
5. “Dig a Little Deeper” by The Watson Twins (from Fire Songs)
6. “Maybeing” by Armchair Martin (from Hang on Ted)
7. “Hit Me Like You Did the First Time” by The Flaming Lips (from Hit to Death on the Future Head)
8. “(New Wave) Polly” by Nirvana (from Incesticide)
9. “Girl You Want” by Devo (from Pioneers Who Got Scalped: The Anthology Disc 1)
10. “Fell” by School of Fish (from School of Fish)

The Story of the Flood

The following was an assignment for my Classical & Medieval Humanities class. The class is online so the assignments are posts on a message board. The assignment consisted of a series of questions, of which we were to choose one and answer it. Below is the question I selected and my answer.

_________________________


Question: Choose one of the selections from The Epic of Gilgamesh to discuss in more depth. Show how the story illustrates the Sumerian culture and how later epics and stories must have borrowed from The Epic of Gilgamesh.

The Story of the Flood

The Epic of Gilgamesh is not only one of the oldest, but probably one of the most important works of ancient literature. This story not only predates the epics of Homer but it also predates the Bible and this section specifically parallels the story of Noah and the Ark.

The theme of the entire epic is the search for immortality. In his quest, Gilgamesh finds Utnapishtim who tells him the story of the great flood. According to Utnapishtim, the god Enlil became extremely angry with humanity and convinced the gods that man needed to be purged from the world. Ea warned Utnapishtim in a dream that he must build a boat if he is to survive the coming storm. Utnapishtim did as instructed and built a boat onto which he loaded all of his family, kin, and gold, along with animals—wild and tame—and all of the craftsmen. The storm came and for six days and nights they stayed on the boat while the storm raged around them. On the seventh day the storm subsided and the boat eventually ran aground on the mountain Nisir. For six days the bot help steady. On the seventh day Utnapishtim released a series of birds in hopes of finding land (one being a dove). Finally a raven was sent out who discovered that the waters had retreated, found food, cawed, and left never to return.

This parallels the story of Noah in three extremely significant ways. First like Utnapishtim, Noah was visited by God and given a warning to build a boat.
From the Wikipedia entry Noah’s Ark –

Further exploration and discoveries brought to light several versions of the Mesopotamian flood-myth, with the closest to Genesis 6-9 in a 7th century BC Babylonian copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh: the hero Gilgamesh meets the immortal man Utnapishtim, who tells how the god Ea warned him to build a vessel in which to save his family, his friends, and his wealth and cattle from a great flood by which the gods intended to destroy the world.

The second major parallel is the use of birds by Utnapishtim and Noah to discover if the flood waters had receded. Both Utnapishtim and Noah used doves in their search for land. Interestingly though, it wasn’t a dove that found land for Utnapishtim but a raven. The types of birds aside, the method for releasing the birds and the results for Noah in Genesis 8:8-8:12 are nearly identical to that of Utnapishtim.

The third parallel is the sacrifices in worship made by both Utnapishtim and Noah upon leaving their respective boats. Utnapishtim “made a sacrifice and poured the libation on the mountain top” and mixed that with some burning wood, the smell of which made the gods very happy (Readings in the Western Humanities, 13). Like Utnapishtim, Noah built an alter and “worshiped the Lord with burnt offerings from some of the clean animals.”

The Epic of Gilgamesh was hugely important and probably greatly influenced the ancient Hebrews as they developed their own religion. The story of the great flood is not an isolated one. There are flood myths found throughout the world (see the Wikipedia entry Flood myth) probably because flooding is something that most cultures have experienced in one fashion or another. Why this specific flood story is so important is that it predates the Bible and comes from the same part of the world (according to the Bible, the first Jewish patriarch Abraham was born in the Sumerian city of Ur). Although it can never be known for certain, it is a logical conclusion that The Epic of Gilgamesh had a major influence on the early Hebrews as they developed their own religious traditions.

I Couldn’t Agree More!!!

Headline: Opinion: Your Grade-Schooler Doesn't Need a Cell Phone

Are You a Facebook Narcissist?

Just answer these three questions –

1) Do you obsessively update your status on Facebook?

2) Does your profile picture show you sticking out your lips, your chest and/or your butt?

3) Do you have more images of you by yourself than you with friends/family in your photo albums?

If you answered “yes” to all three of these questions, then you are most likely one of the many “whose narcissistic tendencies are being magnified by social media.”

Money Quote –

Gals, take note: Sometimes a picture says a thousand words -- especially if that picture is of you in front of a mirror with a camera phone.

I think that it is safe to say that goes for guys too.

Miley Cyrus & Janes Addiction Have Something in Common

They both love skateparks.

The Smell of Sex…

Pistols that is, is coming stateside for your perfuming pleasure. I still can’t wrap my head around this one.

In a Band? Want to Open for The Queers?

PunkNews.org and The Queers are running a contest for bands to join the pop punk stalwarts on stage, opening for the band on their current tour. For each stop on their tour, one local band will be selected to open the show. This is a great opportunity for bands to get their music out there because The Queers have a tendency to pack the house. And on a plus side for our OKC local bands, The Queers will be playing The Conservatory on November 19th, so send your stuff in.

The Thermals New Album Streaming at NPR

The Thermals are streaming their new album, Personal Life, on NPR. The hard copy will be available in stores on September 7th.

I am really looking forward to getting this CD!!!

Thanks to PunkNews.org for the find.

Currently Listening

1. “Do You In” by Buffalo Tom (from Smitten)
2. “Close I’ve Come” by Ben Lee (from Awake is the New Sleep)
3. “Supernova” by Liz Phair (from Whip-Smart)
4. “Do What?” by Teenage Bottlerocket (from They Came from the Shadows)
5. “Deer Street” by The Pavers (from Livin’ the Dream)
6. “Can’t Give Up” by Sebadoh (from Harmacy)
7. “Yesterday Girl” by The Smithereens (from Blown to Smithereens: The Best of The Smithereens)
8. “How Am I to Be” by The Watson Twins (from Fire Songs)
9. “Breakin’ Up” by Rilo Kiley (from Under the Blacklight)
10. “I’ll Do Anything” by Paul Westerberg (from Stereo)

Is Glenn Beck More Christian than Barack Obama?

That is the question posed by Belief Beat’s Nicole Neroulias.

From the post –

Beck's evolution from comedic disc jockey to right-wing news commentator to angry prophet has caused concern for some evangelical Christians. While they may agree with his politics, his faith -- he's a Mormon, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- gives them pause. Considering the confusion lately over Obama's beliefs, whether he's suspected of being a secret Muslim or merely too much allied with Beck's much-hated "social justice" churches, it's interesting to note that Beck's own affiliation is not so acceptable in certain Christian circles.

There are some evangelicals that see Beck’s Mormonism as very non-Christian. Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said the following Monday on NPR’s All Things Considered:

I do not think Mormonism is an orthodox Christian faith, with a small O. I think perhaps the most charitable way for an evangelical Christian to look at Mormonism is to look at Mormonism as the fourth Abrahamic faith.

In a way I’m more shocked that he called Mormonism the fourth Abrahamic faith, since that would Islam the third such faith and that is not something a lot of evangelicals believe (in other words by calling Islam an Abrahamic faith, even indirectly, he has admitted that Muslims worship the same God as Christians and this is not a popular opinion with many in conservative Christian circles). Islam aside, it is clear that Dr. Land does not believe that Glenn Beck or any Mormon is a Christian and he is not alone.

Dr. Russell Moore provided a guest column for OneNewsNow.com’s Perspectives entitled God, the gospel, and Glenn Beck. Normally I frown upon copying someone else’s work in it’s entirety, but in this case I just couldn’t find anywhere to make a break without losing a lot of the content and context. Emphasis is mine.

A Mormon television star stands in front of the Lincoln Memorial and calls American Christians to revival. He assembles some evangelical celebrities to give testimonies, and then preaches a God and country revivalism that leaves the evangelicals cheering that they've heard the gospel, right there in the nation's capital.

The news media pronounces him the new leader of America's Christian conservative movement, and a flock of America's Christian conservatives have no problem with that. If you'd told me that ten years ago, I would have assumed it was from the pages of an evangelical apocalyptic novel about the end-times. But it's not. It's from this week's headlines. And it is a scandal.

Fox News commentator Glenn Beck, of course, is that Mormon at the center of all this. Beck isn't the problem. He's an entrepreneur, he's brilliant, and, hats off to him, he knows his market (see video news report). Latter-day Saints have every right to speak, with full religious liberty, in the public square. I'm quite willing to work with Mormons on various issues, as citizens working for the common good. What concerns me here is not what this says about Beck or the "Tea Party" or any other entertainment or political figure. What concerns me is about what this says about the Christian churches in the United States.

It's taken us a long time to get here, in this plummet from Francis Schaeffer to Glenn Beck. In order to be this gullible, American Christians have had to endure years of vacuous talk about undefined "revival" and "turning America back to God" that was less about anything uniquely Christian than about, at best, a generically theistic civil religion and, at worst, some partisan political movement.

Rather than cultivating a Christian vision of justice and the common good (which would have, by necessity, been nuanced enough to put us sometimes at odds with our political allies), we've relied on populist God-and-country sloganeering and outrage-generating talking heads. We've tolerated heresy and buffoonery in our leadership as long as with it there is sufficient political "conservatism" and a sufficient commercial venue to sell our books and products.

Too often, and for too long, American "Christianity" has been a political agenda in search of a gospel useful enough to accommodate it. There is a liberation theology of the Left, and there is also a liberation theology of the Right, and both are at heart mammon worship. The liberation theology of the Left often wants a Barabbas, to fight off the oppressors as though our ultimate problem were the reign of Rome and not the reign of death. The liberation theology of the Right wants a golden calf, to represent religion and to remind us of all the economic security we had in Egypt. Both want a Caesar or a Pharaoh, not a Messiah.

Leaders will always be tempted to bypass the problem behind the problems: captivity to sin, bondage to the accusations of the demonic powers, the sentence of death. That's why so many of our Christian superstars smile at crowds of thousands, reassuring them that they don't like to talk about sin. That's why other Christian celebrities are seen to be courageous for fighting their culture wars, while they carefully leave out the sins most likely to be endemic to the people paying the bills in their movements.

Where there is no gospel, something else will fill the void: therapy, consumerism, racial or class resentment, utopian politics, crazy conspiracy theories of the left, crazy conspiracy theories of the right; anything will do. The prophet Isaiah warned us of such conspiracies replacing the Word of God centuries ago (Is. 8:12–20). As long as the Serpent's voice is heard, "You shall not surely die," the powers are comfortable.

This is, of course, not new. Our Lord Jesus faced this test when Satan took him to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth, and their glory. Satan did not mind surrendering his authority to Jesus. He didn't mind a universe without pornography or Islam or abortion or nuclear weaponry. Satan did not mind Judeo-Christian values. He wasn't worried about "revival" or "getting back to God." What he opposes was the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected for the sins of the world.

We used to sing that old gospel song, "I will cling to an old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown." The scandalous scene at the Lincoln Memorial indicates that many of us want to exchange it in too soon. To Jesus, Satan offered power and glory. To us, all he needs offer is celebrity and attention.

Mormonism and Mammonism are contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They offer another Lord Jesus than the One offered in the Scriptures and Christian tradition, and another way to approach him. An embrace of these tragic new vehicles for the old Gnostic heresy is unloving to our Mormon friends and secularist neighbors, and to the rest of the watching world. Any "revival" that is possible without the Lord Jesus Christ is a "revival" of a different kind of spirit than the Spirit of Christ (1 Jn. 4:1-3).

The answer to this scandal isn't a retreat, as some would have it, to an allegedly apolitical isolation. Such attempts lead us right back here, in spades, to a hyper-political wasteland. If the churches are not forming consciences, consciences will be formed by the status quo, including whatever demagogues can yell the loudest or cry the hardest. The answer isn't a narrowing sectarianism, retreating further and further into our enclaves. The answer includes local churches that preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and disciple their congregations to know the difference between the kingdom of God and the latest political whim.

It's sad to see so many Christians confusing Mormon politics or American nationalism with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, don't get me wrong, I'm not pessimistic. Jesus will build his church, and he will build it on the gospel. He doesn't need American Christianity to do it. Vibrant, loving, orthodox Christianity will flourish, perhaps among the poor of Haiti or the persecuted of Sudan or the outlawed of China, but it will flourish.

And there will be a new generation, in America and elsewhere, who will be ready for a gospel that is more than just Fox News at prayer.

Dr. Moore is obviously not afraid to take on just about everyone with this column. He has attacked the Christian Right, the Christian Left, Mormons, and our general obsession in America with celebrity. Interestingly there is a lot that Dr. Moore has said here that I agree with. His analysis of the Christian Right and Left are very spot on and I think that people do try to fill the voids in their lives with, as Dr. Moore put it “therapy, consumerism, racial or class resentment, utopian politics, crazy conspiracy theories of the left, crazy conspiracy theories of the right; anything will do.” Where I differ from Dr. Moore is that I do not believe that the Gospels are the only thing that can fill that void. But admittedly that is a discussion for another time.

So here we have evangelical Christians who believe that Mormons are in fact not Christians and I have a feeling that many also believe that President Obama is not a Christian either. Obama’s dilemma, among many, is that his faith is not neat and tidy. Take his statement in 2004 that I recently covered as a Quote of the Day –

So, I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people. That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived.

That is not traditional or orthodox Christian ideas but does that automatically kick him out of the Christian faith? I don’t think it does but I can understand why so many people are confused by his faith. The President’s faith isn’t something that can be easily summed up in a few words and often that is what people have a hard time wrapping their heads around. I know this based on my own personal experience in discussing my own religious beliefs with people. I have a couple of short phrases that I use to describe my beliefs but almost always they are greeted with looks of uncertainty, confusion, and misunderstanding. That is how people seem to be reacting President Obama. I’m sure Thomas Jefferson could relate.

But the big question still remains: who is more Christian, Glenn Beck or Barack Obama?

Honestly it is kind of a stupid question. People are going to quibble over the nuances of these two men’s faiths, pick them apart, and judge them against their own religious traditions and many will say that neither are Christians. If they both claim to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then as far as I’m concerned they are Christians. Sure neither belongs to a traditional Christian tradition, but at one time anyone who wasn’t a member of the Catholic or Orthodox Churches wasn’t considered a traditional Christian, yet now there are hundreds of denominations that are considered part of traditional Christianity. What is important is how these men lead their lives, how they treat others, and what they do, not the name of their faith. People have argued and squabbled over what it means to be a Christian since the beginning of Christianity and I doubt that is ever going to change. Why not instead focus on the quality of people’s character instead of nitpicking their professed religion to death?

NASA Joins Flickr

And releases some pretty cool pictures in the process.

Currently Listening

1. “Summer Babe (Winter Version)” by Pavement (from Slanted & Enchanted)
2. “I Wanna” by The All-American Rejects (from When the World Comes Down)
3. “Insane Today” by Fabulous Disaster (from Put Out or Get Out)
4. “ABC” by The Pipettes (from We Are The Pipettes [US Bonus Tracks])
5. “15” by Rilo Kiley (from Under the Blacklight)
6. “Runner” by Re-Volts (from Re-Volts)
7. “Pet Rock” by Teenage Fanclub (from Bandwagonesque)
8. “It’s a Miserable Life” by My Name (from The Blasting Room)
9. “In the Sun” by She & Him (from Volume Two)
10. “The Fear” by Lily Allen (from It’s Not Me, It’s You)