Saw (hed)p.e. last night at the House of Blues in Chicago. They're a pretty good band with a rap-metal vibe that doesn't suck, and even though they seem to have lost one of their guitarists they keep it pretty heavy. Their dj looks like he's been living on the street for a while. The music is good and i like most of what the frontman Jahred is saying, but he did a pretty good job of alienating gays and Christians throughout the show. Enough with the tough-man talk, get on with the music.
Strangest thing was, after the show we were hanging out in the Foundation Room, a kind of vip room at the HOB with Matt, Greg, Sean and his girlfriend of nine months Joanna. As we're winding things up Joanna gets up and leaves in a friendly way, and then sean starts talking about how she didn't include in him in their new year's eve plans. I asked him, "wait a minute. did you just end it with her right now?" He said yes and at my request of Are You Serious, he explained that not only did she not include him in her nye plans - she said he was welcome to come along, but that wasn't cool with him - that after nine months, she still didn't call him her boyfriend, and didn't want him calling her his girlfriend. So, i guess the nye thing was the proverbial straw on the camel, but I've never seen a relationship end so abrubtly and almost unnoticeably.
So, that was the strangest part of the night.
The saddest part of the night was afterwards when I removed the last remaining pieces of gear from matt's house. Ah, how things are changing.

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GFY, Assholes!

I thought Chicago was a happening city! There is nothing really going on in this city more than halfway exciting for New year's. WTF? It's all hotel and club parties with C-List DJs (Any DJs I know excluded of course - they are all world-class). Me and the wifey and a hot friend are going to one of the more pretentious clubs, Rive Gauche, since they have open bar till 4 am for $100.

population reduction grindcore metal

It's really unbelieveable. This has sent shockwaves throughout the entire metal community. I for one am going out to down to Jaeger with some buddies, in memory of Dime. It hasn't gotten any better with the passage of the day - some jaeger can't hurt.

Chad Lee's post about Dime. More great pics.

RIP Dime.

He kicked the ass of every day had, and died doing what he loved.

Damageplan was growing on me - i just saw them three weeks ago. Dime was on the upswing of a second peak.

I can't say anything that hasn't already been said, i'll just say FUCK and make sure to drink some Jaeger tonight for Dimebag.

"Keep rippin'" - Dimebag Darrell

---

dude... are you fucking kidding me... dimebag - i can't even begin to describe this. I've been watching the story unfold here for the last 20 minutes and i just can't believe it. It's not on the teevee and it's buried on the web... but it's real... GAAAAAAAAH!

I don't know, I dont know, FUUUUCK. And here i was about to go to sleep.

Think of how bright this country could be with all of the money we've wasted. It is dark now, there is a pallor hanging over our souls and it is because we have been failed by our leaders. While I think it's best for President-In-Waiting Kerry to lay low for the time being while Chimp implodes, I hope that he can start a positive campaign soon; I can't take too much more of the dreary malfeasance oozing out of our halls of power. A simple, honest, positive message would be so powerful against the Right and their lies, and would help us start our country on a new road to the light.

"When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then his is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader." --Plato

From MightyGirl

"Your style is played-out like a two-toned down goose,
You couldn't Converse if you had fuckin' React juice.
So hold your corner as I hold this mic up in the air,
I'm eatin' through your crew like Stven King's Langoliers."
-- Pfife of Tribe Called Quest on "Motivators"


That is so awesome and makes me laugh every time.

Who wants to bet on the first "Reality" show that will feature a death - possibly by one contestant of another?

Ratings are their god, I wouldn't put it past them.

Ah, yes. The old blog. Thought I'd dust it off and just try to write alittle bit every day or so. I am definitely intimidated by all the great blogs out there, but as I need to teach myself with song writing, I've just got to start and get some momentum, and see where it goes. It'd be nice to have a kind of diary to remind me of my life.
So. Band practice today, didn't go to Transit afterwards. We were hoping to play with a new drummer, but he couldn't make it. Mark has gotten a little better but he just doesn't have the confidence to go much further.
Ok, that's a good start. Let's see how long I keep this up.

Standing before might
brave and True
Knows no one course is right
Peace crushed by metal
In the Dirt of Failed Men's arrogant power

The Bull of fearful power
Deaf to Truth
Surrounded on all sides
It crumbles from the inside

Closed eyes and dead minds
Grasp for Power and Wealth
...When Light breaks through
Power and Wealth will not save you

-- Dedicated to Rachel Corrie, American, 23, crushed by Israeli bulldozer while peacefully protesting against demolition of Palestinian homes

Behind a burning red fog
The great Mind swims in confusion
Its blood ferments
In anger
Honor and Wisdom
Will cower

-neurosis

"Hey, Mr. President. When even the Germans don't want to fight, take the fucking hint."

- the Onion

"This tax relief is for everyone who pays income taxes. ... Ninety-two million Americans will keep this year an average of almost $1,100 of their own money."

One third of all Americans will never see a dime of that tax cut. Half of all taxpayers will get less than $100 from the Bush tax cut. Those who make more than $1 million a year will get an average cut of $92,000. That may average out to $1,100, but it ain't going to the average family. As The New Yorker recently noted, if Bill Gates walked into a soup kitchen serving 60 bums, the average worth of the people in that room would be $1 billion each. But it would still be Bill Gates and 60 bums.

- Molly Ivins on Working For Change

Here's a selection of the history items that Geov Parrish always lists at the end of his articles. I only take a few of them; the rest can be found in his articles at Working For Change

Reclaim History!
Things that happened on Jan. 30 that you never had to memorize in school:
1838: Osceola, Seminole war chief, dies under questionable circumstances while imprisoned at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina.

1933: Nazi Leader Adolf Hitler assumes office, named Chancellor of Germany, after a controversy over the counting of ballots with partially punched chads in Bavaria. Bad things follow.

1948: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement, is assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu fanatic.

1956: As Martin Luther King, Jr. stands at the pulpit, leading a mass meeting during the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, his home is bombed. By chance, King's wife & 10-week-old baby escape unharmed. Later in the evening, a thousand angry African Americans assemble on King's lawn. When King appears on his devastated front porch, he'll tell them: "If you have weapons, take them home. ... We cannot solve this problem through retaliatory violence. ... We must love our white brothers, no matter what they do to us." King's speech lifts the nonviolent protest movement to new levels of effectiveness.

1973: James McCord and G. Gordon Liddy, of Nixon's re-election committee, found guilty of Watergate burglary and wiretap attempt.

1976: George Bush the first becomes 11th director of the CIA, four years before his first run for the Presidency and subsequent election as Reagan's VP.

1981: The Reagan Administration "de-emphasizes" the Endangered Species List "to concentrate on recovery rather than reporting new species."

The whole article is here.

I just had a troubling thought. Bill Gates and a very few other super-rich philantropists are giving oodles of money to try to help developing nations break free from the dieases that are ravaging them. This of course is wonderful, and other super-rich people should be encouraged to join the fight - Gates gave 200 million dollars, which is hardly noticeable to him. Others who are similarly rich should do the same.
But what happens when these nations start to see their population expanding and living longer? Unless their economy and society as a whole are prepared to deal with a lot more able-bodied people wanting to work, we will have a whole new breeding ground for terrorism on our hands. Especially due to the mental damage that will be present in these societies for gernerations over what they went through, they will be very vulnerable to being led down the dark path of violence and blame-shifting.
So I propose that a similar effort should be undertaken to prepare these countries with the economic and social infrastructure to handle an influx of people ready to work. There are so many advantages to starting this early, and having it ready when the changes start to take effect. Besides the clear relationship to the availablitity of decent jobs to the vulnerability of a society to terrorism, this could be a rare opportunity to develop new, expandable and scalable infrastructures that are based on the newest and most forward-thinking concepts available. Instead of taking baby steps towards true integration with the rest of the world, what if the first new buildings, for example, were built with eco-friendly energy generators, wireless internet access, and efficient but aesthetically pleasing civil engineering? What if we gave them the best, and not just the bare essentials? The rewards would pay for themselves in the long term when these societies and cultures were able to rise to being full participants in the global economy. When people have decent jobs, living conditions, and the hope that other nations see promise in them - justice and liberty are never far behind.

Below follows an unedited stream of consciousness of my watching the State of The Union, read at your own risk:
Basically, I am excited that he laid out plans for fuel cells and Aids help in africa
everything else, same old crap that won't help, and NOTHING new on iraq, or "terra" in general - He doesn't have a coherent solution, and his fly-by-night plans will cause so much more harm than good. And just watching Cheney back there gives me the creeps.

distinguished citizens, and fellow citizens.
"we have the doody"
every child...that can pay for it.
dhs - underfunded
tax relief - $300?
reforms? Holding them to account?
employ everyone...except the 8% that we don't on purpose
It's so fucking childish - one side stands the other doesn't -
Cheny is practically convulsing behind him, when he says the word "money"
$1,100 is a LIE that is not weighted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He hasn't really said anything yet
big fucking deal - that doesn't help me
401k's dont count - but he doesn't want you to know that
Spending discipline - read:cut schools, build bombs
still pushing privatizing SS...
twisting words, still pushing the privitization of everything! IT WON'T WORK
medical liability reform - tell that to the woman who had a needless masectomy
energy - sounds good...
pollution cut - IS MANDATORY! but he wont tell you
forests - cut 'em all down! That way they won't catch fire! Makes sense
1.2 bn for fuel cells - J f'n C I agree with him
He set a timelime, I dont beleive it... this is encouraging at least
WOW
ok, lets move on
back the schwill - faith-based crap
gov't paid mentors, ok i'll bite
did you see his eyes blink talking about drugs
wow - drug Treatment - ok good
too much religion, but treatment is good
partial births - party line, a falsehood that is a lie
no human cloning - fair enough
afghanistan - not as good as it sounds - pretty much a disaster there
Africa AIDS - can't believe he's talking about it, lets see what he offers
Cheny has a "fish clap"
15 bn over 5 years - is that actually more than the UN asked for?
J f'n C!
ok on to "terra"
Cheny just looks so fucking evil! like, eeee-vihl. He stares and stares at W, I can just see his forehead veins popping
what a cold motherfucker - "They're no longer a problem"
buffalo - wasn't a cell
american justice = death or prison with no chance of a lawyer
homeland security - UNDERFUNDED
ballistic missles - we don't need it, they can't stop a box-cutter
I don't want a BushCo injection
threat intervention = TIA???
violence, free peoples...get to the point
ok, the meat
regimes
blackmail - already happened - korea
hitlerism, nazism, communism... defeated by the might of america
grow up
defend the safety, however, what you want to do will Lower our safety
are they booing him? or "woo woo-ing" him?
basically, a big f- you to all other nations
iran - didnt really say anything.
korea - oppressive, yes
what about all the treaties YOU pulled out of?
ie, blackmail
we already were blackmailed
iraq
"potential" wealth?
where are the 8,000 pages that no one else has seen?
those damn aluminum tubes aren't suitable for nuke production
"intelligence"
iraq has let scientists talk without "minders"
let's see some goddamed PROOF of what you're saying
Saddam would never arm terrorists, they'd take him out first
Don't threaten me with a day of "horra"
he had enough sense not to use them last time
dictator assemblimg wrlds most dangerous weapon - YOU
attacked villages with OUR support
I don't beleive the stories you're telling - don't intimidate me
The generals don't stand - they know he's a fool
finish it off with some god nonesense, i don't share your beliefs am i not one of your "Americans"?

I haven't written here in quite a long time, really only because I've been pretty busy, and there is SO much good blogging out there that I just don't have much to add to the impressive display of research and thought going on out there. There is a kind of big-picture conspiracy idea I'm trying to work on - well, not really conspiracy, but there are clues as to the origin and goals of the current right-wing, neo-nazi imperialistic administration that are slowly falling into place in my mind, and I need to get them onto (e-)paper. I think that not quite the beginning but close to it is Prescott Bush (Bush Sr's father)'s association with and funding of the Nazis during WWII and the businesses that were spawned from that. I have an uneasy feeling that the Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes, and I am not kidding, Hitler were pawns in someone or some other group's plan for the future. That sounds crazy, I know, but when the picture becomes clearer it might not be too far off from the truth.

Everyone else is writing fantastic stuff about the current Bush and his idiocy, and I can't compare to the depth and insight, so I'll just list my favorite sites and hope that you read at least a few of them - they are ALL Must Reads!
Working For Change
This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow
Common Dreams
Xoverboard
TruthOut
Reason
Tapped
Ted Rall comics
Fanatical Apathy
The Nation

And, what the heck, a little shameless self-promotion:
I play bass in the band Lunch - come see us play live!
DJ Max Cascone - You probably got here from there, but just in case.

Well, that's all for now, I hope to write more soon.

Live For Peace.