You Think, You Thought, I Too.

12:54 am - "Another Awesome Concert" Blog

A few weeks ago Kelli and I attended a "free" concert at Hammond's Festival of the Lakes.  I say "free" because although the concert was free, parking was $15.  Whatever.  We were there to see The Spin Doctors and the Gin Blossoms, two more 90s acts still surviving the touring circuit.

11:01 pm - An Ode to My Doggies

03:38 pm - Stop, Cubs, Stop

As we mark the ceremonial midpoint of the Major League Baseball season, I've decided to discuss something that's been bothering me lately (big shock).  Although the Cubs have won only 43 games so far this season (along with their 43 losses), something has happened at the end of each of their 27 at-home victories that has annoyed the heck out of me.  That would be the playing of a song called "Go Cubs Go."

This song was written in 1984 by Chicago folk musician and uber Cub fan Steve Goodman.  Popular around that time, the song has, since 2007, become the official victory anthem of the Chicago Cubs.  I am probably one of only a few Cub fans who can't stand the song - it's a horrible, hokey, unimaginative piece and has little to no applicability to the context in which it is now played.  I will now demonstrate:

11:05 pm - Thinking About Mortality

Current Mood: sad

11:37 pm - The Greatest Concert Ever

Think about your favorite band/music performer, someone you may have been listening to for over 10 years.

Think about how amazing an experience it would be to see them perform from the first row of a standing-room-only crowd.

Think about how incredible an experience it would be to meet these performers and talk to them after the show...

01:01 am - An Ode to WNUA

04:35 pm - More of the Same from the Left

I am currently in the mid-to-final stages of writing my Master’s thesis on news media bias.  This study, and my own constant consumption of “news” with a critical eye, has taught me a lot about coverage and perspectives.  It is with this knowledge that I bring to the forefront something interesting that I recently realized.

I have known for years that Fox News is biased toward Republicans.  Anybody who watches the network for any marked amount of time (20 minutes) can blatantly see it.  The “news actors” have no journalistic ability to “report” anything; but they sure know how to drop in pithy-sounding opinions (disguised as “facts”) that would make Peter Jennings, may he rest in peace, turn over in his grave.  The sexist and racist stereotypes at Fox News are also disgustingly blatant, if you’re looking.

I haven’t regularly watched Fox for years; but MSNBC’s obsession with it makes their material hard to miss.  When Republican talking heads tried to hype this past April 15^th as "Teabagging Day" (I love how Wikipedia feels the need to differentiate!) Fox News was there every step of the way: broadcasting live from such events to give the impression they were the thing that hundreds of thousands of Americans were doing.  It was overhyped, before during and after the actual day.

I have known for a while as well that MSNBC is biased toward Democrats.  The daytime “anchors,” notably Norah O'Donnell and Contessa Brewer, approach “Republican strategists” (whatever that means) with scathing contempt if they say something that does not match typical liberal ideals.  On one occasion, O’Donnell demanded that the “Democratic strategist” she was interviewing “jump in here” after a “Republican strategist” adamantly spoke out in a way O’Donnell obviously did not like.  After 5pm on MSNBC, you need a chainsaw to cut through the liberal bias.

Recently, with the new ruling regarding Proposition 8 in California, supposed protests organized as a “Day of Decision” took place.  These protests were hyped on MSNBC, especially on the 9pm Rachel Maddow Show.  Now I’m not shocked that Maddow, who is openly gay and at least once weekly features pro-gay propaganda on her program, would promote the “Day of Decision” on her show; but it was interesting to watch as she overhyped the masses of people taking part in the protests – exactly like Fox News did to describe the Tax Day protests.

Both Fox News and MSNBC are disgustingly biased as they pass themselves off as legitimate “news” networks.  But at least Fox News has begun to accept the fact that they are biased and that everybody knows they are biased.  For MSNBC to routinely tout itself as being better than Fox News is rather embarrassing; since they do the very same things Fox does.  The only difference is their political spectrum is slanted 180 degrees the other way.

Further reference

12:34 am - Robert Palmer

I listen to and enjoy many different music artists, my favorite of these being Nirvana, Collective Soul, Gin Blossoms, Don Henley, KT Tunstall, and John Mellencamp.  I've been to an amazing number of concerts in my life, and, God willing, 2 more this summer.  But I always seem to get into the music of most artists after their primes (Collective Soul, Gin Blossoms), after they've left music or, unfortunately, after they've died (Nirvana, George Harrison).

11:57 pm - Here we go Again...It was Nice While it Lasted

On November 4, 2008 the people of this country elected Barack Obama president.  As great as that moment was, that's not what I remember most about that day.  I remember November 4, 2008 as the first day in 2 years that regular unleaded gasoline fell below $2.00 a gallon.  It was the continuation of the gasoline price freefall that began in October when gas was over $4.00 a gallon.

02:22 am - Old Thoughts Part 3 of 3: "Brilliant Pandering Job"

John McCain selected Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, as his running mate for vice president. He could've gone with any big name Republican, but instead went with the no-name, 2-year governor of the most vacant state in the Union.

This is nothing more than a brilliant pandering job by John McCain, even better than the idea to eliminate the gas tax that would in turn eliminate infrustructure support. McCain knows that there are tons of undecided women voters who are still burning angry because Hillary Clinton wasn't popular enough to win the Democratic nomination. He feels that he will now have these women eating out of the palm of his old, crusty hands because, WOW! LOOK! There's another woman in the race now!

These undecided women voters are some of the biggest idiots in the world. Those who said they would vote for McCain if Hillary wasn't the nominee now have another reason to do so...if they want to vote for a ticket that probably supports everything opposite of what the undecided women voters stand for. Idiots.

McCain's choice will probably net him a greater number of Hillary supporter votes than if he had chosen a male runningmate. But this choice is just the latest in a long line of decisions, statements, and policy positions that show John McCain is willing to say or do anything to win an election in which he cares nothing about the American people; a group of people who he thinks are absolute morons who actually like what has been going on here for the past eight years.

01:58 am - Old Thoughts Part 2 of 3: "Deer and Mourning Doves: Nature's Speed Bumps"

I love nature and I love animals. But sometimes animals do things that interfere with what humans do. This is understandable; I don't blame animals for it - humans have invaded their territory, have controlled certain species' populations, allowing for out-of-control numbers for other species, and have no real concern for living "with" other species, rather than "controlling" and "managing" them.

Which brings me to my recent encounters with nature; better yet, nature's recent encounters with me.

I love seeing deer. Although they are incredibly common throughout the country, it is something special to see a deer or deers [sic] walking through clearings from the highway.

Well last month Kelli and I were returning to Terre Haute on U.S. 41. The occassional deer is not uncommon in the evening along this highway. Less than an hour out of the Haute I was driving along when I saw the eyes of a deer gleaming back at me from the side of the road. I slowed down immediately and tried to scare the deer off by flashing my brights at it (In hindsight, this was probably a stupid decision). The deer immediately began to start running parallel to the road. I started to speed up thinking it would dart back into the woods when the deer started zig-zagging onto the road and into my lane.

I slammed on my brakes and my tires made the SCREEEEEEEEECH noise for about 20 yards. I do not remember stepping on the brakes; it was just reflex. Kelli was apparently screaming at the top of her lungs at this time; I have no recollection of that...only the sound my tires were making. The front of my Yaris bumped the left side of the deer as the car coasted to a halt in the middle of U.S. 41. Thankfully there were no cars anywhere in sight so there was no threat of a dangerous pile-up. I tried to calm Kelli down for a few seconds before pulling off to see if there was any damage, amazed at what had just happened and praying that my still new car was not damaged. I got out for an inspection; but the bugs slamming against the car due to the headlights made it difficult to see anything. A later checkup revealed no damage to the Yaris.

I always knew there was a deer-hitting threat down this highway, but I never thought the deer would view flashing lights as an invitation to jump in front of whatever was flashing. I now view Blue-Collar comedian Ron White's quote about deer-hunting as etched-in-stone law:

“Woo, that's an elusive little creature! If you ever miss one, it's because the bullet's moving too fast. I'll tell you what; slow the bullet down to 55 miles an hour, put some headlights and a little horn on it, the deer will actually jump in front of the bullet!”

Which brings me to Mourning Doves. These birds are absolutely beautiful. Their call is gorgeous and I love to watch them walk (more like waddle) around, allowing you to get so close to them before flying off with a “hehehehehe” noise. They’re so cute when there’s a couple of loving mourning doves standing around so close to each other. Aside from all this, they seem to be slightly unintelligent.

Again on the road: On a recent drive up north for jury duty, I encountered several mourning doves with my car. Now most birds will fly straight across the road with plenty of time before the speeding car is even a threat to them. Earlier this year I saw a beautiful pheasant glide so smoothly across U.S. 41 before landing in the trees. Even the Red-Winged Blackbirds that seem to live on the sides of Indiana highways stand off the shoulder to not be threatened by the car. Mourning doves, on the other hand, are a different story. They have no problem landing right on the highway. On this trip I had to hit my brakes on three separate occasions to avoid turning the little beige birds into asphalt juice. One of them landed right in the middle of my lane no more than 50 feet in front of me before taking flight just before it was literally grilled by my Yaris. And it’s only these birds. I don’t know what it is.

I love nature. I love deer and mourning doves. I just feel like I've cheated Yaris-animal intercourse so many times that I'm living too dangerously for my comfort level.

09:23 pm - Old Thoughts Part 1 of 3: "Stupid White People"

I haven't posted in awhile but I rarely stop writing.  This is the first in a series of blogs I wrote earlier this year but never got around to posting.

P.S.: Despite the tone, I don't consider this racist or "reverse racism" as some whites may consider it.

----------------------------------

As a white male I have probably enjoyed many privileges during my life. But dating someone who is not white, and examining myself through social scientific scholarship thanks to graduate school, has interestingly made me look at "whites" and the whole concept of "whiteness" a little differently.

As I watch the ending of the modern-day tragedy that is the Democratic Primaries, I am struck by the stupidity of some whites, primarily the white females who are so live-or-die for Hillary. I saw one angry moron yelling that if Obama is the nominee, all of Hillary's supporters would vote for McCain and that "JOHN MCCAIN WILL BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!"

As badly as I wanted to hit my remote control button that kills the person on the screen (an idea set forth by George Carlin that should be seriously considered in this day) I instead rolled my eyes and questioned their zeal.

First let's ask why are white women worshipping Hillary? 1. Hillary's a white woman. 2. Barack Obama is a black male. 3. Hillary's a democrat and will likely uphold Roe v. Wade and work for middle class wages, etc.

So then why would, if Hillary is not the nominee (which God-willing she won't be), these Hillary-zealots throw what they're fighting for to the wind to support the candidate who will turn everything they want on their heads? John McCain will do nothing for white women, definitely not on the economic front. Are these Hillary supporters so selfish in wanting to show the world that they are a loud, united (obnoxious) voice that can accomplish something as a whole that they would be more willing to elect someone who will ruin them and the nation even more than put down their weapons and elect a person who in all likelihood will work with Hillary in most ways? But John McCain is white after all; and I'm sure that's a selling point among many of these people.

Apart from politics, most white people are obnoxious. Kelli and I went to another Terre Haute Mexican restaurant this past week; and as an aside, we have effectively given up our search for good Mexican food in Terre Haute. It just doesn't exist. The sad thing is this restaurant had the exact same set-up, same furniture, same decor, SAME MENU, SAME TEXT AND TYPEFACE ON THE MENU, and exactly the same everything as another Mexican restaurant of a different name about three miles down the street. IT WAS FRIGGIN VERBATIM!!! Yet the food was only minimally better, strangely.

Anyway, throughout our stay at the restaurant there were only five Mexicans in the entire restaurant - Kelli, and the four restaurant staffmen who beared the same stereotypical "Mexican" look that most white people have in their heads - short, dark-skinned, black moustache - the only thing missing was the sombrero. All the other customers were white and looked like they walked into what met their expectations of what a Mexican restaurant should look like, and ate the Mexican foods that white people love.

While we were sitting there, Kelli and I heard one white woman looking over the menu say "tortilla," only she pronounced it "tor-till-e-uh." Not only did she pronounce the L's, but she added a freakin' I!!. Kelli and I both looked at each other in disgust.

I'm thankful that I have a greater knowledge and appreciation of Mexican people and Mexican culture than I've ever had. It's pretty sad that most whites will never experience authentic Mexican food and Mexican culture - just the stereotypical stuff that has been taught and reinforced for decades. It's not necessarily their faults - just another flaw that society promotes and never deals with.  It's also sad that these Mexican establishments have to lower their standards to satisfy the significant white customer group and to stay open - promoting the corporate perpetuance of the white person's Mexican stereotypes in order to get their business - and to demean the people themselves.

But let's not forget this was in Terre Haute. A place where people have more kids than teeth; where people drive ten miles under the speed limit after waiting at a green light for five seconds before going; a place with an 86% white population; and a place where hundreds of people stood in a cold restaurant alley last April to listen to Hillary Clinton babble.

01:37 pm - Gone to the "Big Electron"

Legendary comedian George Carlin died several weeks ago at age 71. George was the foremost commentator on America, its people, and especially the language we use and the everyday situations we find ourselves in but never really talk about. No topic was sacred, nothing was off-limits, and he could never go too far. His landmark "7 Deadly Words" skit led to a Supreme Court decision about regulating indecent television and radio content.

My friend Jon introduced me to George's work in high school. He was hilarious. He was brilliant. He was all this and completely original. We went to see him live in Merrillville in 2003 and the show was all it should have been. His classic shows are usually aired on HBO and HBO Comedy and are always worth watching and recording. His material evolved with the years and is constantly entertaining and thought-provoking. Even his old stuff will still make you laugh.

Of course George's material (especially since the late 80s) is not for everyone. It can be highly offensive if you take it too seriously. But George was never one to care if he pushed the envelope too far - he didn't have any fears or limits about what he could bring up in his shows. And I can do nothing but admire him for that.

George has been a big part of my life and continues to be. As a teacher, at the end of the final class of each week, I read one of George's observations to my students to give them something to think about over the weekend. I use several of George's clips to help illustrate the subject matter I teach. My students seem to really respond well to it.

I hope to one day be able to own George's career retrospective "All My Stuff." I've seen so much of his work and there is so much good stuff that it's hard to remember it all. Written below are some of my all-time favorites - not given justice because none of it sounds good unless you can hear it straight from the man himself.


Something I teach to my COMM 101 students:
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those words in and of themselves. They're only words! It's the context that counts! It's the user; it's the intention behind the words that makes them good or bad! The words are completely neutral; the words are innocent. I get tired of people talking about bad words or bad language, bullshit! It's the context that makes them good or bad!"

"Poor people used to live in slums. Now the 'economically disadvantaged occupy substandard housing in the inner cities.' And they're broke. They're broke! They don't have a 'negative cashflow position.' They're fuckin' broke!
Because a lot of them were fired. You know, 'fired': 'Management wanted to curtail redundencies in the human resources area; so many people are no longer viable members of the workforce.'"

"Legally drunk. Well if it's legal, what's the fucking problem?! Leave my friend alone, officer, he's legally drunk!"

"'It's the quiet ones you gotta watch.' This sounds to me like a very dangerous assumption. I will bet you anything that while you're watching a quiet one, a noisy one will fucking kill you! Suppose you're in a bar and one guy's sitting over on the side reading a book not bothering anybody and another guy's standing at the front with a machete banging on the bar saying 'I'll kill the next motherfucker who comes in here!' Who you gonna watch?"

"Did you ever notice than anyone who drives slower than you is an 'idiot?' And anyone driving faster than you is a 'MANIAC!'"

"Your house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get...more stuff! Sometimes you gotta move; sometimes you have to get a bigger house. Why? Too much stuff!"

"You ever get that vuja de feeling? Not deja vu, this is vuja de: the strange feeling that somehow, none of this has ever happened before! And then it's gone..."

"I do not understand why prostitution is illegal. Selling is legal, fucking is legal! So why isn't selling fucking legal?!!"

"I know things you never see! You never see a Rolls Royce with a bumper sticker that says 'Shit Happens!' You never see a really big tall fat Chinese guy with red hair...You never see someone taking a shit while running at full speed!"

"Here's something no one has ever heard, ever. Ever! 'As soon as I put this hot poker in my ass I'm going to chop my dick off!' You know why no one ever heard that? Right, no one ever said that! Which to me is the most amazing thing, no one ever thought to say that before tonight! I'm the first person in the world to put those words together in that particular order! First guy!"

"Then there are some things you don't want to hear...You don't want to come home from work and hear, 'Honey, remember how we told the children never to play on the railroad tracks?!'"

"I got a lot of good ideas...Here's something that's gonna make a fortune, get it on this: This is a roach spray - it doesn't kill the roaches; but it fills them with self-doubt as to whether or not they're in the right house."

"Al Sleet here, your hippie-dippie weatherman, with all your hippie-dippie weather, man! Temperature at the airport is 88 degrees, which is stupid because I don't know anybody who lives at the airport...Tonight's forecast: Dark. Continued dark tonight, turning to partly light in the morning."

"We like war cuz we're good at it. And it's a good thing we are, we're not very good at anything else anymore! Can't build a decent car, can't make a TV set or a VCR worth a fuck! Got no steel industry left, can't educate our young people, can't get health care to our old people, but we can bomb the shit out of your country alright!"

"I have this really moron thing I do; it's called THINKING! And I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions...I have certain rules I live by; the first rule: I don't believe anything the government tells me!"

"You don't have to be a historian or a political scientist to see the 'Bigger Dick Foreign Policy Theory' in play. It sounds like this: 'What? They have bigger dicks? BOMB THEM!!' And of course the bombs and the rockets and the bullets are all shaped like dicks. It's a subconscious need to project the penis into other people's affairs. It's called FUCKING WITH PEOPLE!!"

"You know when you've been eating ice cream too fast and you get that frozen spot in the back of your throat? But you can't do anything about it because you can't reach it to rub it? You just have to kinda wait for it to go away. And it does. Then what do you do? EAT MORE ICE CREAM!! WHAT ARE WE FUCKING STUPID?!!"

I don't think I ever laughed harder than when I first heard George's genius bit on "Airline Announcements" from his 1992 HBO special. Its brilliance can not be expressed here in text; therefore its 16-minute entirety can be seen here.

Wherever you are George, you are missed here. You left an indelible mark on the way people see the world. You were truly one of the very best; and all comedians, regardless of who or how successful they are, owe it to you for breaking down comedic walls and for opening up innumerable possibilities to humor. Your ingeniousness has made generations of people laugh and think about things a little differently. Your brilliant work will cause us to laugh for decades upon decades to come; but we won't be able to laugh the same way.

01:36 am - One for the Birds (Turn Turn Turn)

So I saw a Cedar Waxwing for the first time ever today.  There were actually two of them.  Absolutely beautiful; sitting and eating in one of the berry trees on campus.  It was pretty much exactly like this photograph I found.  I saw my first Baltimore Oriole late last year, which was even more gorgeous.

I don't know why I have such a captivation with birds.  I've had it since childhood and before I could even remember.  I love their calls.  They're so beautiful and carefree.  Maybe John Lennon was on to something when he wrote "Free as a Bird."

I also saw a Robin literally chasing a squirrel today.  The squirrel ran as the robin flew behind and swooped down and almost nipped him - probably about 3 or 4 times.  I was almost the victim of a robin swoop several years ago when they were nesting in my backyard; the squirrel must have done something to really piss the nesting robin off.

Terre Haute may really suck; but the bird population is at least one positive aspect.  It counterbalances the ridiculous flying insect population.

03:16 pm - So Beautiful and Colorful, I Lean on That.

The girl with the sweet-sounding Scottish accent and wicked strings rocked the Murat Center in Indianapolis this Wednesday.  I don't particularly care for (alright, I pretty much hate) most of the music being produced today; but there's something about KT Tunstall's stuff that I can't get enough of.  I could listen to all three of her CDs on repeat all day.  Her latest album, Drastic Fantastic, is one of my favorite CDs I own, and her previous one, Eye to the Telescope, is right behind it.  

As soon as I heard she would be playing Indy, I wanted to be one of the first to buy tickets on the morning they went on sale.  When it was time for the concert last night, I was probably more excited than I had been at a concert in awhile.

Kelli and I were seated in the 6th row in "Orchestra Right" in the Murat Egyptian Room, a very unique concert venue.  In all actuality, we were about nine or ten rows from the stage - which was awesome!  Irish singer/songwriter Paddy Casey opened the show with about seven or eight songs that I enjoyed.  Compared to other opening acts I've heard he was really good.  KT Tunstall and her band then took the stage at 8:40pm.

I got the impression that KT is a really down-to-earth, sweet girl who loves to play for her fans - just as a musician should.  She cracked jokes, made fun of herself, and was really appreciative of the Indianapolis crowd which welcomed her back overwhelmingly.  She played a great set of music that I don't think left anything out.  Miniature Disasters, Little Favours, and Hold On are three great upbeat pieces of music that get you dancing in your seat; the third got people to the front of the stage to dance.  She followed with the sad but truly beautiful Other Side of the World - one of my favorites.  Funnyman is another one of my favorites and she made it sound excellent live.  KT started pounding her guitar to open her signature song, Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, while the Indy crowd rose as one and a huge mob rushed to the front of the room to dance.  They would remain there for the remainder of the show - much to the chagrin of some of the less fortunate whose eyelines were being blocked.  KT performs the song with the help of her loop pedal to create an amazing atmosphere of lyrical and instrumental layers, an amazing example of which can be seen here.  She slowed it down with the beautiful Under the Weather and the amazing Beauty of Uncertainty, which got my ears ringing after awhile.  One of her best new songs, If Only, followed with KT's 8-note singing of "If Oh-oh-oh-OH-oh-own-ly" and her four male musicians chanting "If-on-ly, if-on-ly."  The lovely Saving My Face and the immensely popular Suddenly I See closed out her main set with a standing ovation.  KT returned to the stage to perform two more great songs, Universe & U and the incredibly catchy Stoppin' The Love before closing the show at about 10:05pm.

KT Tunstall is one of the very few newer performers in music today that goes out and puts her music at the center of the show.  No elaborate stage set-up, no choreography, no special effects, no lip-syncing, no gimmicks.  She lets her songwriting excellence and performing talent speak for itself.  With a band that plays upright bass, cello, mandolin, ukulele, and a keyboardist who also plays xylophone, marimba, and TRUMPET, KT has one of the most unique bands in music.  And it's all real!  No synthetic production, no pre-recorded effects - just live.

This was probably one of the three greatest concerts I have ever been to.  The music was excellent; the energy was constant; the venue was fairly intimate; and the cost was a steal.  I will definitely be first in line again to see KT Tunstall in the future.

KT Tunstall - Indianapolis, IN - May 21, 2008

1. Miniature Disasters
2. Little Favours
3. Hold On
4. Other Side of the World
5. Whitebird
6. Funnyman
7. Throw Me a Rope
8. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
9. Ashes
10. Hopeless
11. Under the Weather
12. Beauty of Uncertainty
13. If Only
14. Saving My Face
15. Suddenly I See
*ENCORE*
16. Universe & U
17. Stoppin' the Love



Other pictures to be posted to Webshots eventually.

Current Mood: chipper

04:52 pm - Oh Dem Bums!

I had the privilege to attend a Chicago Cubs game at beautiful Wrigley Field last weekend and it was even more fun because Kelli and I were seated in the bleachers - home to some of the most colorful Cub fans.  While several of the "Bleacher Bums" around me got progressively drunker, they opened up their knowledge vaults and let out some brilliant thoughts.  Here are the best ones I could remember (there were many):

"Do you like dirty jokes?"
"Sure."
"You're weird."

"So when are we going to wife swap?  I mean, when are we going to wife/significant other/life partner swap?"

Upon seeing a girl with a Tootsie Pop shirt that read "I never made it without biting.":
"I know she bites people.  I'd bite her for her shirt.  Only problem is she has a shirt underneath it.  I'd bite her twice."

Loudly saying to a passing woman from another row:
"Do YOU bite people?!  Hey!  Do YOU bite people?!"
"Noooo...?"

Speaking of kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland:
"I'd rather catch herpes from a stone than from another person."

"If I'm going to catch a communicable disease, I'd prefer it to be from a local woman."

And finally, speaking of marital troubles:
"She hasn't given me a blowjob in 407 days."
"Shhh; there's a child behind you!"
"Alright, 406 days!"

I wish I could remember more, but those are the ones that stood out the most.

Thankfully the stupidity in the bleachers was not the only highlight of the day.  The Cubs scored 6 runs in the 7th and went on to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Go Cubbies!

01:48 am - The Capital of the Political World for One Night Only

"We think half of Gary has reported..."

"The other city to look at is Hammond..."

It was rather unbelievable watching MSNBC's late coverage of the Indiana primary election last night.  All other news stations bowed to Hillary's presumptive victory speech but MSNBC remained calling it "too close to call."  At around 11:45pm, Hillary's lead was miraculously cut from 40,000 to 20,000, thanks primarily to initial reports from Gary.  More Lake County votes dropped her lead to about 16,000 an hour later.  Hillary eventually won by what was determined to be a margin of less than 14,000 votes, thanks to Lake County going to Obama by over 17,000 votes.

I can't remember ever hearing as many mentions of "Lake County" and "Gary" and even my beloved hometown of "Hammond" on the news at one time ever; not even when Gary was the murder capital of the nation, or when serial killer David Maust killed three children and buried them in cement graves in his Hammond home.  Gruesome yes, but that's usually the kind of news that comes out of post-industrial, blue-collar Northwest Indiana - "an amalgamation of steel mills and chemical plants in cities with large minority populations such as Gary and Hammond, along with numerous white suburbs to the south," according to MSNBC.  It was rather lovely to hear the overwhelmingly "blue" northwestern-most corner of Indiana spoken about in such great importance, regardless of the "negative light" Mayor McDimwit said it put us in.

12:46 am - The Lesser-Clinton and Dick

Hillary Clinton is coming to Terre Haute tomorrow.

Who the hell cares?

And now to our neoconservative beast of a vice president on the fifth anniversary of the blood-for-oil war in Iraq:
ABC reporter Martha Radditz told Dick that "Two-thirds of Americans have said it's not worth the fight."

His response: "So?"

He goes on to rumble: "You can't be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls."

Ok...not only did he just directly give most of America his old, shriveled middle finger, he actually believes there was a fluctuation in the public opinion polls.  Five years have proven nothing but a constant decrease in support for the war.  Either he's inhaled too many oil fumes from his sleepovers on Middle Eastern oil barons' yachts or he's really that stupid.  Thank God only 306 days until Jabba the Hut and his puppet boy are forced out of office.

01:32 pm - Who's to Say the Way a Man Should Spend his Days?

In honor of the induction of John Cougar Mellencamp into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame today, I am finally posting the blog I wrote after attending his concert last November, and kinda forgot about.  This completed the lineup of absolutely amazing concerts I had the honor to attend in 2007:
_________________________

He rocks.  He's been doing it for 35 years and there's a reason he still sells out arenas around the country.  He rocks.  He's just that damn good.

I had the privilege to see John Mellencamp live in concert this past Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

He stepped out on stage with the audience roaring; and he began the show with the familiar notes to one of his greatest  most notable songs, "Pink Houses."  The audience loved it and yelled out the "Gulf of Mexico" line in verse 3 nearly as loud as John himself.  My favorite Mellencamp song, the quirky "Paper in Fire," followed, complete with violinist and accordion player, followed by an awesomely melodic version of "I'm Not Running Anymore," a short video clip of which from this concert can be seen here - click on the 11/3/07 Indianapolis concert link.  Mellencamp then rendered a solo acoustic version of "Small Town."  In the second verse, he substituted the lyrics "Married an L.A. doll and brought her to this small town" with "I was 13-years-old when I wrote this song!" which brought out another roar from the crowd.
Mellencamp debuted a total of five new songs on the evening.  One of them, "Jena," was based on the events surrounding the racial tensions in Jena, Alabama.  Mellencamp told the story of how the song garnered controversy, specifically from the mayor of Jena, who criticized how the song portrayed the town, saying, among other things, that Mellencamp went too far in portraying the town as a racial hotbed.  After calling the mayor a "mother fucker," Mellencamp performed the overall tame tune.
The classics continued with an empassioned "Rain on the Scarecrow," the Chevrolet theme song "Our Country" and the full on golden rock of "Crumblin' Down," "Jack and Diane," and, with words from Mellencamp to never just roll over to those who are in power, "The Authority Song," with most of the audience on their feet, shouting back full choruses at Mellencamp, closed out the set.

Interspersed with grateful comments to the audience, anti-establishment rhetoric, and pleas for compassion, peace, and an end to ignorance in our country, Mellencamp was done with his set in less than an hour and forty-five minutes.  He pretty much went from song to song with minimal breaks in-between, if any at all.  Although he played most of his best stuff, I was a little disappointed in the amount of music he left out of his set ("R.O.C.K.," "Cherry Bomb," "Key West," "Wild Night," "Your Life is Now," "Walk Tall"; just to name a few.).  But when you're as prolific as Mellencamp is and as successful as he has been, you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want.  I was disappointed to later find out that he performed both "Walk Tall" and "Thank You" at the Terre Haute show several weeks prior, which I unfortunately missed due to a prior engagement.

He was a living legend - rocking his guitars and dancing around the stage like he was in his 30s; all the while outperforming men and women half his age, backed up by one of the greatest bands of musicians in the entire music industry today.

He has yet another album coming out in 2008, and I only hope I will have another opportunity to see him live some day.  Even from sitting in the balcony, you could feel the vibes exuding from the incredible amounts of energy on the stage.  Next time, I hope I can soak in his greatness from the very front; I can't imagine how great it was to have been able to rock out in the front row.  He's one of the few I would be willing to dish out big bucks for because it doesn't get much better than this.  If I could find someone who appreciates his music as much as I do and be able to share it with them as well, that would be just as great.  I'll even pay for their ticket.

John Mellencamp - November 3, 2007; Indianapolis, IN
1. Pink Houses
2. Paper in Fire
3. I'm Not Running Anymore
4. Check It Out
5. Minutes to Memories
6. Ride Back Home (new song)
7. Young Without Lovers (new song)
8. Small Town
9. Ghost Towns Along the Highway
10. Rain on the Scarecrow
11. Troubled Land (new song)
12. If I Die Sudden (new song)
13. Jena (new song)
14. Our Country
15. Crumblin' Down
16. Lonely Ol' Night
17. Jack and Diane
18. The Authority Song

02:41 am - Heartwrenching

I recently purchased the Nirvana Live Unplugged DVD, which for the first time features the entire show, uncut.  It is truly one of the most powerful events I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing, even if it's some 14 years after the fact.

I still don't know why I've gotten into Nirvana all of a sudden.  They were already long gone when I first started listening and comprehending FM radio; and although I knew they were the founding face of mainstream grunge music I was never curious about their sound.  Now that I've heard them, I guess their music has a powerful, relatable force to it; at least that's what it feels like.

Recorded in mid-November 1993, this "Unplugged" performance was brilliant simply because of what it was - Nirvana playing acoustically.  Obviously it's fairly difficult to perform grunge music in such a manner.  Thus, of the 14 songs performed in the concert only 8 were Nirvana songs; the rest were mainly obscure covers (including my favorite song from the entire performance - a version of The Meat Puppets' "Lake of Fire").  Aside from the performance, the greatest part of this DVD is that it is completely uncut.  The band would occasionally take long breaks in between songs to shoot the breeze with each other.  Lead-singer Kurt Cobain would light a cigarette and flip through the songs on his stand.  Several times, nobody even knew what songs to play.  Cobain asked the audience for requests, but didn't take any of them.

But it is so hard to watch the performance and try to look beyond Kurt Cobain; knowing that he HATED the success the band had encountered, and looking like he had the weight of 100 worlds on his shoulders.

He opens the show with a very stone-faced "Good evening,"  and a jab at the band's fairweather fans:  "This is off our first record.  Most people don't own it."  You can see disdain in his face after performing "Come As You Are," one of the only commercial "hits" the band played during the set.  You can hear the pain and personal turmoil behind his lyrics and in the way he performs them; his rough, gravelly voice at times sounding strained over the soft guitar melodies.  A couple years of intense drug use trying to cope with unwanted success, all the while forced in the limelight by the media and called the "face of a generation" may do that...

The show went on for only about an hour and the final song of the evening was a cover of Lead Belly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"  Unbelievable really to see that Nirvana's loud, obnoxious grunge sound had an inspirational root in early 20th century folk and blues music.  Cobain screams the final verse of the song before unleashing a blood-curdling cry, followed by an almost somber look out into the audience before ending the song.  It was almost like Kurt Cobain's own personal way of saying goodbye - Cobain apparently took his own life less than 5 months after the concert was recorded.

The stage for this performance was designed, intentionally or not, to look like a funeral - beautiful flowers and lit dark candles all over the place.  It's almost like Cobain knew what he was doing the whole time.  This was to be his last big performance - a somber performance; the death of Nirvana - not featuring the song that made them an overnight mainstream phenomenon, closed out with a painful cry in a song originally performed by Cobain's favorite folk performer.

Truly a work of art by one of the greatest there has ever been.