The First Week of Autumn

Happy Second Equinox, everybody! Fall officially begun a couple of days ago (and it still was 85 degrees outside!), and fall has always been my favorite season. I've always been lucky to have been a resident of New England for all my life, where the foliage has always been absolutely stunning to look at. I always enjoyed taking long walks or drives and absorbing the beauty of the landscape during autumn. The leaves are kind of changing color here, but not a lot, which is typical for September; the true change in weather usually comes around October. And October is easily one of the best months of the year for me.

Even better, my girlfriend and I are taking a trip down to the Washington D.C. area in the middle of October. She's never been there before, and I haven't been there since I was 11. My uncle lives down there, so we have a place to stay. We need a vacation; this summer was especially stressful, and we're still incredibly busy now that we're back in school and trying to form a new music project. So 4 days in D.C./Northern Virginia/more of Virginia if we're feeling ambitious just may revitalize us and give a sense of relaxation that vacations usually do. I heard that fall in D.C. is absolutely gorgeous, and I've actually never been down there during that time. I am going to be bummed because we're going two weeks before Jon Stewart's Restoring Sanity Rally/Stephen Colbert's Keep Fear Alive Rally). I did some research on record stores in that area, and there's a ton of 'em, including one literally 5 minutes away from my uncle's house!

I've had the soundtrack to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on repeat the past couple of hours. It's a brilliant soundtrack to an even more brilliant movie. It contains music by Beck (he even wrote the music for the fictional band in the film, Sex Bob-Omb, which sounds like a hybrid of The Stooges and Death From Above 1979), Broken Social Scene, T-Rex and Metric. I also got acquainted with some now-defunct bands; Plumtree, an all-girl Canadian band who actually had a song called "Scott Pilgrim," whom the character was named after, and Beachwood Sparks, a country-influenced rock band who did a gorgeous cover of Sade's "By Your Side," which perfectly complimented one of the more romantic scenes in the movie. Usually, soundtracks serve as a way for a filmmaker to shoot off his/her favorite tunes, but very few these days see a film soundtrack as an art form: this one does, surely.

And fuck the Senate for blocking the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell! Proof that the GOP is still living in the '50s (1950s? Or 1850s? Can't decide which).

I'm Not Dead

I know it's been an eternity since I have written anything on this, or anywhere else for that matter. I tend to drop off the face of the blogosphere and go Nick Drake on everybody's ass, but up until now I feel like I have had nothing to say. I have started drafts on blog entries and other shit, but hit a creative dead end after a few paragraphs and it all ends up in the digital trashbin. I started an entry about Obama standing up in favor of the Ground Zero Mosque (more like a Muslim version of the YMCA a few blocks away) and railing on how he just might have a set of testicles after all, but then I got distracted by the carnival that has been my head for the past few months. Apart from turning 25, (finally) getting my first taste at waiting tables (far more lucrative than ice cream whore), moving in with my girlfriend, listening to a shit ton of new music, having my band break up, trying to eat healthy, trying to get an exercise regiment going, and a lot more other stuff, it has been hard to finish writing a sentence, let alone upkeep a blog. And such distractions and errors actually cost me a freelancing gig that didn't pay me a lot, but I was able to put some away (until I needed new shelves, a new dresser, and a master brake system for my trusty ol' Lumina). But I'll find others I'm sure

Last time I blogged, back in July, I had supposedly begun work on a project to name the Top 125 albums since 1985 as a way to say "fuck you" to SPIN magazine, who had done a similar list (factoid: both me and SPIN were birthed in 1985). I compiled a list of 125 albums out of a possible 600 or so contenders, got writing and stopped. Because it's bullshit, no one really cares, and I was checking out a whole slew of new albums that I had never heard before from all different genres and eras, and I thought the list was predictable. What was my #1 choice? You guessed it: Nirvana's Nevermind. That's right. The album I've listened to more than any other album ever. How original. And yes, I was on a major Nirvana kick this entire summer. I was also gonna do a commentary piece on VH1's latest "Greatest" list where they did the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (which they did in 1998, when VH1 cared more about music than reality shows starring Bret Michaels), and for what? To show how culturally bankrupt VH1 has gotten in the past decade? To opine about who should be on and who shouldn't, consdering I think the artists in my Top 100 would be people VH1 and their "panel" would never consider in a million years? Who cares? It's a waste of goddamn time.

My band A Slanderous Choir, disbanded in August. The split, overall, was amicable, but it was awkward since I was the one who pretty much decided to quit. Basically, we played about 10 shows (including a radio spot on my friend Malcolm Tent's radio show on WNHU, a local college station), and I just didn't feel like we were clicking. Amelia and I wanted one sound, and our drummer wanted another. Practices usually lead to squabbles and arguments, and it was damaging our friendship. So it got to a level if we wanted to stay friends, the band would have to go. We played our last show on July 23, although we didn't know it at the time, and it was a bad final show. The bar PA was shitty, Amelia blew her voice out after 3 songs, and we cut our set short by 4 songs just to get the fuck outta there. We practiced one more time and then I decided that I had had enough. I actually felt like a hypocrite for a while because our drummer wanted to quit after our very first gig for pretty much the same reasons (wanting a different sound, not feeling like we clicked musically, general depression and dissatisfaction), and Amelia and I had to talk her into staying and giving it another go, which she reluctantly did. Even then, she had wanted to form another band. And I had entertained a similar idea secretly. It took me until that last show to confront the feeling that I wasn't behind our music 110%; Truth be told, I hated a couple of our songs. But we all decided that splitting up would be for the best; Our ex-drummer is forming another band, and Amelia and I are in the process of starting another band. I'm not too worried right now. I'm still young, and I'm focusing on work and school also. But I took away a lot of lessons and positive experiences from being in A Slanderous Choir. I got a taste of doing gigs, meeting other bands, networking and all that fun stuff.

I'm kind of glad I'm not doing music right now because I've come to the conclusion that I know nothing. I've been doing nothing but checking out new artists/bands/albums/7"/EPs for the past couple of months. I try to check out a few a day. I've also been cleaning out my vinyl collection and the stuff on my iPod. Seeing what I really like, what I never want to hear again (Led Zeppelin, here's looking at you!), and what I just don't care for. I'm also taking a music history and appreciation class (my final class at Housatonic, then off to Southern; I gotta get the ball rolling on transferring and all that shit), and I'm finally developing a taste for classical music and minimalism.

Politically speaking.... You know what? Fuck it. I'm a socialist. Happy, Hannity?!?!?! The right these days is making Bush and his pals look like hippies passing out free condoms and pamphlets on fighting homelessness at a Hendrix show! The new superstar in the Tea Party is Christine O'Donnell from Delaware, who beat out Mike Castle, probably the most center-leaning Republican in the House of Representatives, in the Delaware Senate primary. Things are looking kind of bleak for the Democrats, not that, in a way they don't deserve it. After wussing out on public option and passing a watered-down health bill that catered to insurance companies and lobbyists perhaps wasn't the best way to keep their base excited and their grip on power intact, but when you have a 24-hour news cycle up your ass all the time, it's hard to have any integrity. Still, when you consider the alternative, the Tea Party..... The GOP is probably gonna win in November, there will be a stranglehold in Congress from now on, things will get worse when people realize that the Tea Party candidates only want limited government when the Democrats are in power, people will realize that the GOP got us to where we are now in many aspects,and the sane people in this nation will be wagging their fingers going "See? I told you so."

I'm gonna focus this blog more on myself, and less on the world. I'll still write about music, politics, films, books, etc, but I'll be more personal. I know not to turn this into a bitchfest, and view this blog as a work of art and a vehicle to keep my writing up.

And now for my current theme song. A little tune from Paul Weller and co. from 1980. The Jam's "Going Underground."

25 So Far...

Last week, on June 28th, I've turned 25. Up until my birthday, I was depressed about it. My ever existential self kept thinking that if by chance I live to be 100, I'm a quarter way at best from kicking the bucket. I would hate to think that my life is even that much over, but I also have to think that I could die tomorrow, so just carpe diem and shut the fuck up. I moved out of my mom's house, for once NOT under acrimonious circumstances, and I moved in with my girlfriend's family. I'm still adjusting and I haven't moved all of my shit over here yet, but so far it's not bad. Of course, the past few days the weather has been creeping near 100 degrees and hella humid. It doesn't help that work's been really busy too.

So what happened with Music Spiel (the blog I was paid to write for)? Well, the guy who ran it, Dave, said that he was putting it on the back burner for now and he'd get in touch with me. So I've come back here. I'm gonna post the Top 125 albums of the last 25 years, because SPIN Magazine did something like that and I wasn't too happy with it. I'll tell you why when I start the list, which will be in the next couple of days. And right now, I'm just gonna blog on here. And politically speaking, I just don't care anymore.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"

I realize that I haven't been all that personal on my blog. It has been basically a plethora of political rants, music stuff, social commentary, and general critiques of the state of the world. My personal whining was reserved for my LiveJournal, which I stopped writing in.... 2007? So I'm gonna do that a lot more because when all is said and done, I guess I'm worth knowing... sorta.

"Miss Me Yet?" Not In a Million Years

If you were to go driving on Interstate 35 near Wyoming, Minnesota, you would see this billboard. It shows a picture of former President George W. Bush waving, and it says "Miss Me Yet?" Who knows? Michelle Bachmann probably funded it.

Alright... Bush looks like a jackass in this picture, number one. Number 2, Bush left office with the lowest approval rating since they kept track during the Eisenhower Administration. Number 3, who could you trace a good chunk of the mess we're in back to?

Well, Bush-in-a-Billboard, to answer your corporate-funded question: NO!!!!!!!!!!! The Republicans got their ass handed to them in 2006 and 2008 for a reason, and the answer lies no further than the goofy man waving in the ad. For all of his faults, President Obama is nowhere near as bad as George W. Bush; he's broken a lot of campaign promises, and hasn't lived up to his potential, sure, but Bush he is not.

And anyone who misses Bush must be swiggin' some serious moonshine!

Irony and Contradiction

Here are some great ironies and contractions in American policies:

- Thomas Jefferson writing "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence, while being a slave owner (and knocking one up)

- Ronald Reagan having an airport named after him after firing all the air traffic controllers (Yes, I stole this from a stand up comic; can't remember her name, otherwise I'd give her credit)

- Herbert Hoover supporting Prohibition, yet sneaking off to the Belgian embassy to enjoy a frosty cool Belgian ale

- Any GOP politician speaking out against homosexuality only to be caught in homosexual tryst (and getting busted for it)

- Al Gore using a private jet, and having a home that leaves a massive carbon footprint, while going on & on about energy conservation.

Well, the Teabaggers have managed to give irony a whole new definition this past weekend. Their summit in Tennessee had a pretty hefty pricetag of $549 (or $349 just to hear Sarah Palin open her mouth), all while protesting "reckless spending." Yes, they were spending their own money, and the government is pulling it out of thin air, and we'll have to pay it all back, blah blah blah. Still, it's not consistent with their message (other than "We have a darky in the White House, we're tools, and we listen to every word Glenn Beck says"). Most grassroots political summits such as this one should not cost much of anything; $20 and a cookout maybe. Summits with a big pricetag are for those "Washington elitists." Dinners of steak and lobster are for the assholes in charge of things, right? Imagine if Martin Luther King did that during the Civil Rights Movement.

The keynote speaker at the Tea Party Convention was the Queen of Irony and Contradiction herself, Miss Alaska. Sarah Palin took the stage to an adoring crowd, and managed to go on about slamming Obama, and dissing the "lamestream media," which she is now a part of, I might add. Recently, she has become a contributor for Fox News, which has more viewers than any other news network (I dunno why). In fact, one of Bill O'Reilly's key talking points when combating the "loony, leftist media" (which does not exist; I guess no one mentions that Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan are conservatives and are on MSNBC) is that Fox News owns NBC & CNN in ratings.

She did make some talking points on how people are fed up with Democratic leadership. I hate to give her even the slightest bit of credit, since I absolutely despise her, but the Democrats are sucking right now. The Democrats losing Massachusetts was a sure sign of that. Palin irked that the Democrats blamed their candidate, but let's face it; Martha Coakley was an awful candidate. The campaign was run on complacency, and they took Massachusetts' mostly liberal demographic for granted. Scott Brown had more charisma, and won people over simply by running to be the 41st vote to attain a filibuster for a bad health care bill. It's not some great referendum on the "Obama agenda" (and polls show that neither were the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia; more New Jersey). It's a sign of frustration amongst voters, and Scott Brown may be conservative, but he's more centrist and he's not some great Republican hero either. Sarah, you're putting way too much hope into a minor election. What she doesn't seem to get is that the Republicans are in trouble too.

She also went on about "nothing but talk, talk, talk" from Washington, and I do agree. Obama has been all about a lot of talk. A lot of talk and not a lot of follow through. I don't need to go over that again. However, most politicians are all talk, and I can bet you dimes to dollars that Palin is the same way.

However, most of her speech was just cheap shots to entice the crowd. She chastised him for his use of teleprompters, even if she used one during her RNC speech back in 2008, and politicans have been using them since Jah knows when. Also, she had points of her speech WRITTEN ON THE PALM OF HER HAND!!!!! She also said that this nation needs a commander-in-chief and not a law professor. And what qualifies as a commander-in-chief, ex-Governor Palin? Making decisions that are 'from the gut' and because YOU think that they are in your best interest? Unless I slept through Civics class one too many times, the President is supposed to interpret laws and follow the Constitution. Laws are always subject for debate. I think if Bush had acted less from his gut and maybe thought about things, we would have saved a trillion dollars and at least 4,000 people would still be alive.

And what better keynote speaker during their ironic conquest than Sarah Palin! She is a walking contradiction if there ever was one. Apparently it's OK for Rush Limbaugh to call someone a retard, but not Rahm Emanuel. Add that to the Book of Palintology!

The thing that irks me about Sarah Palin is that she can dish it out but she can't take it. Whenever she comes under fire by anyone in the media, whether it be MSNBC, Katie Couric, Dave Letterman, Elmo, Snoopy, SpongeBob, the girls from Jersey Shore, etc, she curls up and plays victim. She can spout hateful rhetoric about socialism, and Real America vs. Fake America, Obama is evil, and all that, but when someone attacks her, she whimpers in the corner. She demonizes the media for victimizing her, but she sets herself up for it. Once you go into politics, especially on a national stage, everything you do is up for grabs. Every shit you take has someone willing to inspect it. If you don't like that, ex-Governor Palin, become a private citizen, stop charging $100K per speech and SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!! If you don't like being dragged through the mud, stay away from the mud pit.

What else really grinds my gears about Palin is that she uses her family as a political football. Dave Letterman made a crack about her daughter, she calls for him to get fired. Rahm Emanuel makes a comment about liberal Democrats being retards, and she uses her Down's syndrome afflicted baby as a political crutch to get him fired. She whores her family out for her political gain, and she also whores them out to pursue action against others who may have offended her? Is nothing sacred to Sarah Palin?

Back to the Tea Party Movement, who are protesting raising taxes even if 95% of them will get tax cuts when they fill out their W-2s, I'm hoping that this is another third party that peters out in a few years, like most of them do. However, them gaining traction in the political field is actually a little unnerving. This party was started when people took reasonable concerns about Obama's administration, such as jobs, the economy, spending, and turned it into a right wing version of Paranoid Time, only some of the people in this movement are indeed Minutemen who support border control, and not the 80s punk band (or fans for that matter); and at the helm were people like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin.

Alanis Morissette should remake her song "Ironic" and put some of these contradictions in. It would add some truth to the song, since the original lyrics weren't ironic at all.

UPDATE: 2/9/2010 11:17 PM

And another thing... She got $100,000 for speaking in Nashville, as she does wherever she goes. She says that she is donating it to "the cause." Why charge at all, then? I'm sure "Going Rogue" has generated its share of revenue. It was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. She must have made at least a few million off of it at this point. If she felt so strongly about this cause, why not donate more money to it? Why charge "the cause" $100K to speak, only to donate it back to them, pretty much leaving them no better or no worse financially than before their giant convention in Nashville?

Updates Amid Snowpocalypse (well, not here, but not far from here either)

Ahoy mateys!

I've come to you all with some news. I have accepted a pretty low-paying job as a music blogger on another website. It is located at www.musicspiel.co.uk. As a result, any music-related blog entries I do will be on there... because I'm getting paid for it. tee hee.

However, I still will be updating Nothing to Fear, Nothing to Doubt to discuss current events, my boring life and its many self-discoveries, political crap, and other shit. I will keep all 3 of you who read this happy!

Till then, check out my new blog.