So, as the clock struck midnight, on December 8, how was I ringing in my 35th birthday? I was pretending to be Ian Curtis!
My friends are playing in a Joy Division tribute band for a Christmas party. But, the guy who's gonna sing for them is in Chicago until a few days before the show. So, I volunteered to act as stand-in for Matt/Ian Curtis for a Sunday night practice. Wow! What a good time!
The band has taken on a lot with this project. But, they sounded fantastic! And, it was a real treat to get lost in the music for a couple of hours. We did lots of great songs. Off the top of my head, we did Atmosphere, She's Lost Control, Walked in Line, Isolation, Shadowplay, Ceremony, Digital, Love Will Tear Us Apart, and Dead Souls.
Today, I've got lunch with my parents. Then, this evening, some Scar Party recording. Can't wait! I'm sad that Krystal has to be in Connecticut for work. But, we had a great weekend, and another one coming up this weekend.
How convenient that the current financial crisis provides a perfect opportunity for anti-union corporations to hurl attacks at the whole concept of organized labor. The big US automakers, the big corporations who stand to benefit from denying employees the RIGHT to bargain collectively, and the deaf, dumb, and blind Republicans who spread their nonsense propaganda without even understanding it, are all falling all over themselves to blame the Big 3 automakers' woes on high union wages.
The reality is, American automakers have been having their asses handed to them for 30+ years because of BAD BUSINESS DECISIONS (a Hummer in every driveway!) and poor designs.
I've seen two INCREDIBLY MISLEADING stories on MSNBC recently. And, MSNBC is supposed to be the "liberal" media.
First, I've seen this ludicrous myth thrown around: "Union autoworkers make $70/hr."
This is FUCKING NONSENSE. Even if you said that "including benefits, Union autoworkers make $70/hr.", it would still be fucking nonsense. This is an old myth that's been debunked over and over. Google is your friend if you wanna know the full story. But, the way that anti-union activists arrive at that $70/hr. figure is deceptive and dishonest. They take the hourly wages for all active employees, then add them with the cost of healthcare and retirement benefits for all employees AND RETIREES. Then they divide the total by the number of current ACTIVE employees.
The second deceptive argument against unions was something I saw on MSNBC this morning. The claimed that French Automaker "SmartCar" is able to make their cars by paying an average wage of $15/hr. On the other hand, the average wage for an American, union represented autoworker is $23.50/hr.
Wow. You might think, if we didn't have these greedy unions, GM, Ford and Chrystler could make cars much more cheaply.
What the news report failed to mention is that France has UNIVERSAL, SOCIALIZED healthcare and other services available to all of their citizens. If the US government provided all of these socialized services to US citizens, then the definition of a "living wage" would change and we could live on lower wages.
I've also seen recent arguments to the effect that "Unions were useful in the past, but we don't need them anymore." This is nonsense. What has changed? What has happened that might cause giant corporations to voluntarily negotiate a fair contract and wage with their employees on an individual basis?
NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
You may have a good, non-union job. And, this may cause you to think, "if I didn't need a union to get a good job, with good benefits, and a good wage, then why does anyone?"
It's a valid question. But, consider this. Some of the things you take for granted about your job, would never have existed without the COLLECTIVE BARGAINING POWER of an organized union. You like your 5 day, 40 hour workweek? Well, thank a union member. You like paid vacation? Thank a union member. You like sick days and FMLA? Well, thank organized labor.
But, most importantly, you like your wages? Consider that Union jobs typically have a huge influence on the prevailing wage of a geographic area. Those union members fighting for a fair wage, walking a picket line, and sacrificing (with their families) in the name of fair treatment, are doing it for you, too. Be thankful that you don't have to make the same sacrifice. And, be thankful that unions fight for fairness and justice for ALL WORKING PEOPLE.
OG&E is non-union. But, the employees of OG&E pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION when the CWA (Communication Workers of America) is negotiating a new contract with AT&T. They know that what's good for AT&T employees is also good for OG&E employees.
So, if you don't understand why Unions are still necessary in 2008, then do a little research on the organized labor movement. You may be surprised what you find.
I'm an admitted Sooner homer. But, c'mon... let's get real here.
Texas beat Oklahoma two months ago on a "neutral" field. Big fucking deal. Now, whiny Texas fan is bitching about losing out on the Big XII South title. They're crying about winning "head-to-head" versus OU and then getting the short end of the stick because of the BCS rankings. They think that the BCS or polls shouldn't have anything to do with it. They think that the "head-to-head" game should be all that matters.
All this proves is that the average Longhorn fan cannot even count to three. They'd like us all to conveniently forget that there is another team in the Big XII South that only has one loss. They'd like us to forget that that one loss was to Oklahoma and that the third team actually beat Texas "head-to-head".
These moronic fans don't want to forget about the polls. They want to use the BCS rankings to narrow the field down to the two highest ranked teams (OU and UT) and then, after they've used the polls to issue a big fuck-off to Texas Tech (who beat them), then, and only then, do they want to go back to this "head-to-head" nonsense.
Dear Longhorn Fan,
There are three teams tied for first place in the Big XII South division. One of them even beat you "head-to-head". But, you want to pretend that that one doesn't even exist. Well, sorry. Just because the game in Dallas is the only one that matters to you all season, doesn't mean that the same holds true for the Red Raiders. They actually think that game in Lubbock on November 11, you know, the game where you lost, should mean something too.
You cannot use the BCS as reason to arbitrarily dismiss Tech, and then throw out the BCS and lean on "head-to-head" after you've eliminated the team that beat you "head-to-head". This is EXACTLY the kind of sour grapes, cry-baby logic that I've come to expect from you. But, it just won't fly.
There are THREE teams tied for first. You can't use "head-to-head" because it doesn't solve anything. Texas beat Oklahoma. But, Oklahoma beat Tech. And, yes, try as you might to forget it, TECH BEAT TEXAS.
No, Texas Fan, if you want to use "head-to-head", then you need to apply it fairly. That is, "head-to-head-to-head". Deal with this:
Total Points Scored Versus The Other Two Teams Tied For First In The Big XII South
Texas Tech 60 Texas 78 Oklahoma 100
There it is. There's your "head-to-head" scoreboard. So, take your "45 - 35" signs and shove them up your incredibly disappointed asses.
And, while you're at it, why not take a lesson in class from Sam Bradford. While your players, coaches, fans and alumni were out "campaigning" for Texas to win the South this weekend, Sam was telling ESPN, "if we'd have just won that game in October, there wouldn't be a controversy here."
You can't pretend away your loss. And, you need to show some fucking respect to the team that beat you. I think that you've got a great team this year. Now you just need a little class to go along with it.
What a badass name for a ridiculously shitty day. Now, get out there and risk your life for $20 off on an electric toothbrush or a laptop that was already slow last Thanksgiving!!!
How Firm A Foundation, is the third recent release from Norman, OK filmmaker, Mickey Reece. Many of you know Mickey as one-man, dissonant art rock band, El Paso Hot Button. And, anyone who knows Mickey, knows that this isn't only his third movie. He's made movies with his friends for a long time. But, only recently, he started taking things a little more seriously and scheduling premiers for his creations at Opolis in Norman. He'll do the same with How Firm A Foundation on December 14.
This film really centers around one prominent character, Bill Donahue, played by the ever improving KameronPrimm. I've been critical in the past about the quality of acting in Mickey's movies. But, the truth is, Mickey probably couldn't get the movies made without the help of his friends and the atmosphere that working with them creates. And, honestly, they're all getting better. KameronPrimm is really quite good as Bill.
Bill Donahue is an entrepreneur. He owns a machine shop and a lawn business. He's a simple, honest, hard-working man who makes an unlikely hero. The film focuses on his relationship with a long-time employee, Joseph (played impressively by DallosPaz), and a new employee, Ralph (played by director, Mickey Reece).
I don't want to get too into the story, for fear of spoiling it. The film is around 40 minutes long, so I can't say much without giving away a lot. But, this is a good movie. I feel like this is the most "real" of Mickey's movies. Weird though it may be at times, it's a touching story. There's something more human about this movie, than what Reece has given us in the past. And, it's a good thing.
Fans of (way) underground indie music will appreciate the appearances by Dustin Sanchez (We Are Good Friends) as Wilson, Harry Merry as himself, and Ali Harter as Bill's Accountant. The film's score, by Justin Rice and the D. Whitfield Ensemble is fantastic.
Mickey's movies get better and better. And, it's great to see every aspect of the films improve, every time. The acting is better. The music is better. The films look better. And, most importantly, the stories get better. Come out to Opolis on December 14 and see for yourself. Admission is only $3. And, all of your cool friends will be there.
I want to believe that the Democratic party is in much better shape than the Republican party because they're somehow a little less corrupt and a little more focused on progress. I want to believe in them. We'll see!
It started happening even before the election. When it was clear that the nation was leaning left, and preparing to elect Barack Obama to the Presidency, and even more Democrats to the House and Senate, the right-wing pundits started pushing this notion of America as a "center-right" nation.
People, let me tell you right now, this is complete nonsense. A significant percentage of Americans self-identify as "conservative", for a few reasons: They're afraid of the idea of radical change. They would rather go with something bad that they know, than something good that is "new". They have been conditioned to believe that "liberal" means something bad, or dangerous, while "conservative" stands for strong and reliable.
But, consider that most Americans actually lean a little left on most important issues.
Most Americans want healthcare coverage to be available to all people. And, most of us realize that the choice is between trusting a corporate system that is driven by profit, or a government system that should (theoretically) be driven by a desire to meet the needs of the people. If we could really go to the polls on election day and vote out executives from insurance companies, then I bet my coverage would be a lot better. It's scary to call it "socialized" medicine, because the truth about Socialism has been so corrupted over the years. It's seen as somehow antithetical to Democracy. But, our federal government already spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other nation. And, we're the only one that doesn't provide socialized healthcare to our citizens. If we could clean up the government, instead of always reacting and throwing out the baby with the bathwater, sometimes new radical ideas can develop into incredible benefits for the citizens. But, my point is, if my Representative or Senator were responsible for overseeing the administration of a national health system, then every election day would see them held accountable for the job that they're doing. Most people favor that idea when you don't call it "socialist".
Most Americans think that the government should play some part in protecting us from being victimized by the greed of incredibly powerful people who do not have to answer to the voters.
Most Americans think that we should try to be better world citizens. Reestablishing our good reputation in the world will go a long way towards reducing the number of people in the world who want to do us harm. We know that engaging the world and leading by example is a more effective way to affect change than with fighting wars for oil OR money. Most Americans don't believe that we should be occupying countries to protect the financial interest of only a few very large corporations.
Most Americans realize that there are several reasons to make investments in alternative energy sources, and we CARE about all of them. Americans want cleaner air to breathe and water to drink. We can't afford to continue putting gasoline in our cars as the supply dwindles and prices skyrocket. We realize that most of the people in the world who hate Americans, do so because we exploit their resources. We know that investment in energy technology and infrastructure modernization simply HAS TO be done. And, we realize that in doing so, millions of great jobs can be created.
Most Americans don't think you should be able to go to a gun show and buy a machine gun. Most of us don't think that holding gun owners more responsible for what happens with their weapons is an attempt to "disarm America". You can respect the Second Amendment and still make every effort to keep people safe from firearm accidents and keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of criminals.
A majority of Americans think that access to abortions should be safe and legal.
Most Americans believe in our Constitution. And, most of us believe that it should protect ALL American citizens.
These are not "radical" ideas. And, this is not a "center right" nation. And, who the fuck gives Karl Rove ANY say in setting the agenda for the years to come?!? Barack Obama ran an amazing campaign. His agenda is not a partisan agenda. It is a common agenda. It is THE PEOPLES' agenda. The progress that he wants to make for this country and the world will not be derailed by a sensationalist media that thrives on controversy. And, it will not be remotely influenced by the logical gymnastics of newly irrelevant fools like Karl Rove or Robert Novak. The easiest way to hasten the extinction of the failed, divisive politics of the past, is to look to the future.
Amazing. Hopefully, this will put an end to the nonsense about her running in 2012. Her political career is OVER. Check out this Fox"News" report on the FORMER "future of the Republican Party". Apparently, she was also unclear about which countries make up North America. None of this even remotely surprises me.
Fox"News" is now also accurately reporting that McCain's slide in the polls wasn't a result of the financial crisis, but actually began several days earlier after Palin's appearance in the Katie Couric interview.
McCain clearly lost for two giant reasons:
1. Judgement. His selection of Palin just killed his chances of winning. When you're the old guy, with all the experience, you can't make decisions that are this colossally bad.
2. Obama had a positive message. In his 30 minute infomercial, he didn't mention McCain or Bush one time. If the press asked McCain to sum up his candidacy in one sentence, you can be sure it would have been a slam against Obama.
HUGE victory for Barack Obama! It's a great day for this country. McCain's concession speech was gracious and classy. It was a sad reminder that the McCain that we saw in the last days of the campaign were not the real McCain. Unfortunately, the real McCain is a much better person than the person his handlers presented.
But, this night is about Obama. And, this night is about change.
I'm prepared for Barack to deliver the greatest speech ever in about 10 minutes.
I still haven't opened a beer yet. Krystal's out of town. I'm not really comfortable being this anxious in front of a crowd. So, I just ordered a pizza and I'm cable news surfing.
The folks at Fox "News" are pretty somber. They sound crushed. But, nothing of consequence has been called yet. I'm assuming that they have some exit polling data that they're not excited about.
At 2:08PM CST, I, Chris Harris, am prepared to call the 2008 presidential election for Barack Obama! Congratulations, President-elect Obama, on your decisive victory!
Seriously folks, the turnout this year is unprecidented. It's looking like we'll finally have a turnout that indicates a genuine interest in the political process in the U.S. And, with record turnout, it can only mean one thing. The candidate with the most enthusiastic voters will win in a landslide. And, trust me, Republicans are NOT excited about this election.
If I'm wrong, I'll be back here this evening, typing a drunken apology.
In a small precinct, where turnout typically averages between 60 and 80 votes per election, I was voter number 284 at 9:45 AM!! There were a shitload of young people in line!! I'm predicting that Obama will carry Cleveland County. We'll see tonight!
And, no.... It's not good enough that you just go vote. I'm not one to say, "it doesn't matter who you vote for, as long as you vote!"
It does matter. You should vote for the future of this country and the world, by casting a vote for Barack Obama. While you're at it, if you live in Oklahoma, then vote for Andrew Rice, too.
It's no surprise that Evangelicals are getting involved in this election. I spent a little more than a week on the road with them this Summer. I can tell you that this is a band that is engaged in what's happening in this country. Before the show in Columbia, Missouri, we happened to walk by Obama's local campaign headquarters. The whole band spent plenty of time talking with the staff there and picking up buttons and stickers.
I'm not surprised then, to find out that they're back in Columbia, working for the Obama campaign, in a swing state that could turn out to be very important to Obama's chances for success on this HISTORIC election day. I'm a little surprised that they're back on the road, just days after returning from a two month, grueling tour. But, that just shows how big this election is and what it means to young people in America. This is the future, happening right before our eyes.
From their blog:
"That’s right, Josh and I spent the day in Missouri canvassing and making phone calls for the Obama campaign. It’s been great! We rolled in around 1pm today and starting canvassing, hitting about 100 households in the Columbia area. Then we got our phonebank on, each calling roughly seventy people in the same area. If Obama wins here by a narrow margin, I’m taking some credit for an Obama presidency. Sorry."
You should definitely check out their BLOG. It's a fantastic read! Also, befriend them on MySpace, and tell them how much you appreciate what they're doing for their country.
yikes. I was at the grocery store today, feeling goofy for being the only one there who wasn't in costume... so, I see this girl in the produce area of the store. she looks like an average, everyday college girl. the back of her shirt said, "McCain/Palin 08". then, she turns around and has a comically huge pregnant belly. i thought it was part of her costume, so I say, "Bristol Palin?"
man.
she shot me the most pungent stink eye in the history of dirty looks. she sneered, "no." then, she turned and walked away.
way uncomfortable.
it would've been an awesome costume, though.
she has to be having twins or something. it looked unreal.
I was late to the show. I missed the comedy and the opening band. But, I was there to welcome my friends home from a long, grueling tour.
When I showed up, around 11:00, the parking lot across from Opolis was nearly full. Wow! And, there were a ton of people milling around in costume outside the venue. As I approached, I only recognized one face in the crowd. Wow! Is this the new crop of OU freshmen? Are they really this into music? I hope so! It was a different crowd. Very few familiar faces. And, these kids were pushing their way to the front to see the band. Rather than be upset that these punks were pushing me around, I figured it was a good sign that they seemed to care about the music. At least half of them did. The other half spent the entire time outside. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. Nevertheless, this was one of the best, most enthusiastic crowds I've seen for Evangelicals in Norman. Hopefully, it's a sign of things to come this year and for at least a few years to come.
Evangelicals came home with a very tight, very intense set that's been honed to perfection from nearly two months on the road. They kicked things off with Bellawood, which is probably my favorite song from their usual set. When Josh Jones sings, "There's a monster, inside of me", you can see in his eyes that this is not melodramatic posturing. Josh is a born showman. He's fantastic as a frontman. But, there's something very real about what he gives you from the stage.
After the opening tune, they plowed through fantastic versions of most of the songs that I saw them playing this summer on tour. After Paperback Suicide (another personal fav), things got creepy, though. They played a cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put a Spell on You, that was tailor made for a creppy Halloween show. It's probably the "heaviest" song that Evangelicals have ever played. Having recorded a version of this song last year that was sort of pieced together, it was pretty great to see how they interpreted it as a band. This song was fucking huge.
Skeleton Man and Halloween Song rounded out the spooky jams for the evening, before the band closed with Another Day. It was a great night. A spectacular homecoming from one of Norman's most prized musical treasures. And, a fitting occasion for their return.
It's truly scary to see how much better they get every time I see them.
I'll admit that I'm getting a little sappy about this election. It really feels different this time. I feel like electing Barack Obama really will set our country in a better direction. This video has just about every celebrity ever, telling you in a very humorous way, why you should vote. Please watch and enjoy. And, then go vote next Tuesday.
You should go check out this new song at Perez Hilton's site. I'm not interested in hosting any bootleg mp3s, so give Perez the clicks and go check it out over there.
I'm finally getting around to blogging about this show. I've taken a few days to let it all sink in. It was truly a special moment in time that I fell lucky to have seen.
I was already coming back from Connecticut through Chicago, so it didn't really cost me anything to get there. And, I was lucky enough to be able to stay with friends and borrow one of their cars to drive to the show. So, all told, this experience only set me back $12.50 for the ticket to the show.
It was a packed house at the Bottom Lounge, a 400ish capacity club just outside of downtown Chicago. It was off the beaten track enough that I was able to find free parking easily within a block of the venue. Nice.
When I got in, everyone was sitting on the floor in front of a movie screen. I don't particularly like standing up for hours upon hours, so the sitting thing looked good to me and I surveyed the floor for a nice spot to sit.
They started with the film, Major Organ and the Adding Machine. It was a "silent" movie, accompanied only by music from the project of the same name. It was really cute. A sort of psychedelic story for children, it looked to be a blast to film. The sound during the film was fantastic, so I started getting excited about how the bands would sound.
I got excited too soon. Once the bands started, the sound constantly fluctuated between passable and downright poor. The collective had somewhere around 12 to 15 musicians taking part. There were two drum kits, two keyboards, a bass amp, several guitar amps and a half dozen or so microphones for vocals, horns, strings and singing saw. It was a lot of inputs to keep track of. I don't know why they didn't bother to bring out a sound engineer to make this stuff sound better. I looked back at the crusty, jaded house engineer and he just looked frustrated, pissed, and confused. And, it showed in the sound. Hell, I'd have volunteered to go out with them and run the sound for free, just to be a part of the circus!
Anyhow, the sound aggravated me, because I'm deeply in tune with that shit. But, it certainly wasn't bad enough to be distracting or ruin the show. In the end, I could hear most of what was going on. Anything that I couldn't hear enough, I was able to fill the gaps with my memories.
I got into the whole Elephant 6 thing a little late. But, I did happen to be turned on to Olivia Tremor Control around the time of Dusk at Cubist Castle. It was a very influential album at a time that was very important in my life. So, while everyone there (including me) was hanging on every single sighting of or inference to Jeff Mangum, I was really, really excited to see OTC.
I heard lots of old favorite songs by OTC, Apples In Stereo, Elf Power, Circulatory System, and the Gerbils. I also heard a lot of songs that I was unfamiliar with. To be honest, I didn't enjoy any one more than any other. It was more about the experience than about hearing my favorite songs.
The vibe onstage was so fucking amazing. I'm not religious at all, but god bless Julian Koster for putting this thing together and for seeming to be one of the sweetest, most enthusiastic people I've ever seen on a stage. I was really touched by his child-like joy.
Total time for the show, including the movie, was about 4:15. That's a long time. But, it really kinda felt like you were a fly on the wall when all these people would get together and play songs for each other. It didn't feel like I had paid to see a performance. It felt like I had paid to be able to quietly observe a special, intimate evening of friends enjoying and encouraging each other for as long as they could hang in there.
The Elf Power stuff was pretty great, too. I've become a pretty big fan of that band. I think that I enjoyed the feel of their songs much more with the E6 collective band than I did with the Elf Power touring band when they came through town this year.
One band that I hadn't heard before, just totally blew my mind. That band was called Nana Grizol. I LOVE THIS BAND! Theo Hilton, the main dude in the band, gave a really inspiring performance. He reminds me of Conor Oberst or John Darnielle singing for an Elephant 6 band, with the bratty enthusiasm of Josh Jones. You should really check out this band. Top quality, indeed.
I could go on all day about the show and the performances. Hell, it was 4+ hours. That's a lot of stuff to talk about. But, I'll just sum it up by saying that this show made me feel young again. Not so much in that it reminded me of being a younger age... But, it reminded me of a time when I had a younger spirit. And, it showed me that you can still embrace that younger spirit, even as you move on in years.
I'll leave things with a miracle capture from a YouTube video of Jeff Mangum's performance of Engine with Julian Koster. It was a very dark video. But, I just got lucky to catch a camera flash where you can see my face. It looks like my head is growing out of Jeff's right ear!
They ended the show with everyone taking the stage for Circulatory System's great song, Forever. "We will live forever and you know it's true, know it's true." Julian let us know that it's ok if we sing along. But, it wasn't happening. Jeff Mangum was on stage and everyone was clearly fixated on him, trying to make out his voice in the crowd. How do I know that every eye in the place was trained on Jeff Mangum? After a few times through, he motioned to the crowd to join in. And, all at once, the entire building was singing. It was a pretty powerful moment. Eventually, the band started slowly walking off stage. Jeff grabbed an acoustic guitar and Julian grabbed his saw and bow. As they made their way to the center of the audience, the song continued. "We will live forever and you know it's true, know it's true." As they took their position the audience executed a perfect fade. It was glorious. And, just as they started tuning up for Engine, the d-bag house sound guy brings up some crappy house music in the P.A. He was promptly shouted down, and the guys delivered this performance:
McCain got in a couple of zingers. But, the laughs just didn't add up, much like the electoral college for him.
What is funny, is the detachment from reality exhibited in the comment section of the YouTube page for this video. Those poor, under-educated fools are gonna have a miserable future ahead of them.
I seriously laughed my ass off at this. Very funny stuff. For a minute, I thought, "well, look at ol' Johnny Mac. he's laughing! he's got a good sense of humor!" Then, I saw him laugh at the Facebook joke (that he COULDN'T POSSIBLY have understood) and realized he's just laughing for the cameras.
I guess he's really pissed. I thought that they SNL sketch was fucking hilarious. C'mon Marky.... They didn't even really make fun of you that much. How 'bout you leave your Boston mook roots behind and laugh about it?
The lyrics are kinda cheesy. But, it's funny. The video is funny. And, honestly, by the end of the song, I was tapping my toe and digging the horn lick.
I'm in Connecticut right now visiting Krystal. She's in the middle of some intense work here and will be gone Sunday through Friday nights for a few weeks. So, this weekend, I came up here and we're gonna go to Vermont for the weekend. Leaf-peeping and cheese tasting are on the itinerary.
If you're planning to break into my house while I'm gone, to steal my gear or pet my kitties, you'll have to get through this dude first:
The leaves that I saw when I flew in over Hartford were absolutely amazing! There were still a lot of green grass pastures (that or I just flew in over one of the largest golf courses in the world). But, the trees are the brightest red, orange and yellow! It was beautiful.
I can't wait for the drive up to VT. We've got GPS and a few iPods full of good travel jams. I'm looking forward to a driving trip. Krystal and I have such busy lives lately. It'll be nice to just sit for a spell and get some good hang time. We're staying at a B&B in Jamaica, Vermont. I'm not a big B&B kind of guy. I don't care much for lace and "country" style anything. But, it's about all they have for accomodations and it's a roof over our heads. Sounds like it's gonna be cold up there! I'm gonna walk to the mall in Milford, CT today and buy a scarf while Krystal is at work.
We'll be back to CT on Monday morning and then I'm going to Chicago on Tuesday for the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise tour's stop in the Windy City. There are rumors that Jeff Mangum will show up and maybe play something. He joined them in NYC and sang some BGV's on an OTC and a Elf Power song. We'll see. I'm stoked either way.
I guess I better get out of bed and get on with my day.
John McCain has been a perfect example of the vast distance in the generation gap currently creeping slowly across time. The internet is honestly the demarcation point between old people and the new generation. Hell, I barely made it. I didn't have more than a couple of computers at my high school. But, I caught up eventually. My parents did, too. But, the generation just a little older than my parents (who are admittedly pretty young to have a 34 year old son) seems a little reluctant.
McCain can't use the internet. He doesn't use e-mail. Can you even imagine that?
And, now, AC/DC has decided that iTunes and digital downloads are just some passing fad designed to get someone (other than them) rich:
In a not at all surprising twist, the newest AC/DC album, Black Ice, which is sure to be craptastic, will only be available at Wal Mart and Sam's Club. Because if anybody is in it "for the love", it's Wal Mart!
Now that Palin has been found to have abused her power as Governor in Alaska, the McCain/Palin ticket is the first in American history in which both candidates were found to have violated ethics standards before a national election.
McCain, of course, for his role in the Keating 5 savings and loan scandal in the 80s and Palin for her abuses of power related to the "Troopergate" scandal.
Bravo! I wouldn't expect anything less from the modern day Republican party. At least neither of them were ever community organizers!
Seriously. Take a look at these videos. Now, I'm sure that we could dig around and find plenty of examples of liberal activists acting like fools. But, these are just the average, everyday voters that are turning out to these McCain/Palin rallies.
This is pretty alarming. These people are clearly detached from reality. And, they're like a wounded wild animal. They're dangerous.
Enjoy:
Get a job! Go to Russia! You commie faggots!
European Socialist!
It really blows my mind how immature and petulant and disrespectful the McCain/Palin supporters are to the Obama/Biden supporters. It's both laughable and sad how the Obama supporters seem so interested in having a discussion and actually talking about issues, while the McCain supporters will just rattle off a few key words that they don't understand and then laugh with each other and turn their backs.
"Obama is a terrorist!" "ACORN is responsible for the financial collapse!" ?!?!?! "Is Obama American? I don't know what he is. Just listen to his name!"
I can't help believing that this is the result of an intentional dumbing down of an entire population of people in a deliberate attempt to create a society of easily-marketed-to robot droids who will never really question anything.
When Obama and McCain debated last week, I remember that the pundits claimed the result of the debate was a tie. Funny, I thought, because I had watched the debate and thought that it was clear that Obama was the victor. Sure enough, a couple days later and the conventional wisdom is that Obama mopped the floor with ol' Johnny POW.
Look at editorial pages all across the country today, and you'll be told that Sarah Palin either tied or beat Joe Biden in last night's VP debate. But, polls of people who actually watched the debate indicate that Biden won easily. I read one such editorial piece on CNN.com today. I was so frustrated with this idea that by managing to not fall over, Sarah Palin somehow won the debate, that I was looking for the comment section to express my dissatisfaction over this editorial piece. When I scrolled through the comments, it was clear that I wasn't the only one who thinks that this propping up of Palin is fucking bullshit. I decided a comment was unnecessary. The people are not this stupid. The only polls I've seen that indicate that Palin won the thing, were polls from Fox"News" and The Drudge Report. Big fucking surprise there!
My frustration is NOT with the 30%ers who will declare victory for Palin because they're so moronic that they still think that Bush is doing a "heck'uva job". My frustration is with these fucking "pundits" who work for the mainstream media, who clearly understand that this woman is a fucking moron, but they're propping her up because a close election means more viewers for their networks. They're getting punked by the polls. Americans seem to be (miraculously) making up their own minds about what they're actually seeing in these debates. It seems that the people aren't interested in having blowhards at the MSM tell them how they should feel about what they just saw.
I'm still predicting an Obama/Biden win in November. And, the closer we get, the more I'm convniced that we're looking at a landslide of epic proportions.
Looks like we're about a month away from the next Scar Party show, which will be the first with the full band. We're really excited about this show. It will be the start of something big. And, we're really thrilled to let you in on our little secret.
I'll be more forthcoming with details in the next week or so. But, be prepared! Nov. 7 is the date.
I'm just amazed that Sarah Palin has managed to make George W. Bush look pretty intelligent and capable by comparison. I mean, at least GW grew up around politics and world events. Sarah Palin seems as if she never even really considered most of these issues until she got the call from McCain and people started trying to train her and teach her what to say. She seems blissfully ignorant about pretty basic world events.
Ever since the first Scar Party show a couple of weeks ago, I've been really excited about what the future holds for this project. Playing a show by myself and trying to make an interesting production of it, really gave me some confidence in what I'm trying to do with this band. It was also nice to have both Scott and Colin, who will be the drummer and bassist respectively, at the show to offer their support and also to see how high I wanna set the bar with this band. I really have high expectations.
We had our first full-on band practice for Scar Party today. Man... This 3 piece band is waaaay more fun to play with than that silly sampler. In fact, I can still use the sampler with the band. It's like having a fourth member that plays sound effects! I feel like this band is gonna sound really incredible. It's a pretty large sound for a 3 piece band.
We start recording next week. I'm also working on some video stuff that will probably be seen spilling from a projector at our shows in the near future.
"I've been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, the second grade."
That's right. The above quote is Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, talking about Joe Biden at a campaign stop yesterday. The person who would be a tirade-induced heart attack away from the Presidency speaks as if she were, like, fifteen years old. Srsly.
Thankfully, she's blowing it hardcore. I noticed her reading her answers off of note cards during the interview with Katie Couric.
Krystal and I went to Chicago this past weekend. Chicago is probably my favorite U.S. city. I've been there three times this year. If it weren't for the brutal winters, I'd move there in a heartbeat.
I met up with my cousin, Kevin, and went to the My Bloody Valentine show at the Aragon Ballroom. Holy shit. The Aragon is a BEAUTIFUL venue. It was HUGE. Just a wild guess would be 4000 capacity. The ceiling was painted to look like the night sky, including LED stars that would flicker! The balcony, which wrapped all the way around the venue, was incredibly ornate, and carved to resemble a fantasy castle or something you'd see in a dream.
The place was really packed. I had heard that the show sold out very quickly. It was an unusual and diverse crowd. There was a good vibe, though, and I felt as comfortable as you can when you're pack't in a big, hot room with 4000 other people.
We missed the opener. I wasn't too terribly heartbroken about it. I had checked them out on YouTube and they sounded like a pretty generic "psychedelic" garage band from Brooklyn. I only gave them one video to impress me. But, I was not. I can't even remember what they were called. So, no big deal. I always feel a little guilty about skipping the openers, though, having been one myself so many times. But, this was one of very few big "concerts" that I'll ever go to again. I don't like huge crowds. So, showing up just in time to see MBV and split, was just perfect.
We settled in on the side of the room, nearly even with the sound booth. I always walk around and listen to the room when I'm running sound. I want it to sound good all over the venue. But, in the end, I know that it usually sounds best where the guy/gal mixing the show is standing. So, that's where I stand.
When My Bloody Valentine first came on, I was a little disappointed in the volume. I had heard that this show would be painfully loud. I even got some high-tech earplugs in preparation. But, about 5 songs into their set, I realized that the volume was nearly twice as loud as the first song or two. They were creeping it in on us!!!
The setlist was pretty similar in content, but not necessarily order, with setlists I've seen online. They played most of Loveless, and some of my favorites from Isn't Anything. There were a few songs I didn't really recognize.
The sound was really fantastic. There were a few songs where the sound of the drums just wasn't working AT ALL for me. Really snappy, clicky toms. But, on the loudest of the loud songs, this sound worked well. And, sometimes the toms really sounded boomy. I don't know what was going on. But, there were about 3 songs where the drum sound really ruined the song for me. I'm picky that way.
Towards the end of the set, I finally got what I was hoping for. Strobe lights start going ape shit and this insane roar hit me in the face! Everyone in the band seemed to be making the loudest, most intense sound that they could with their instrument. It sounded like you were standing right beside a dozen Space Shuttles being launched at the same time. I hung in for a few minutes and then just really thought it would be a good idea to put the new earplugs in. Good thing I did, as this insanity continued for a good 15 minutes. The lights and video got really crazy during this part. It really did fuck my head up and I started seeing things that weren't happening. It was so loud that the vibration of the floor was hurting my feet!
I spend too much fucking time on the internet as it is. I probably won't blog very consistently. But, now I can comment on my friend's blogs. I'll post links to some of my favs soon.
