Wake up, Lemmings!


Our current administration has been absolute on their stance in Iraq with no withdrawal in sight as well as the impending war with Iran, still feeling confident with the original decision of invading Afghanistan and pinning most of the blame of 9/11 on Saddam and the rest on Bin Laden and if that isn’t enough telling the citizens of these rapidly becoming un-United States, as a bill to hugely increase internet streaming services is about to be passed, building of more prisons is in effect, giving more money for military spending to Isreal than any-other-countries combined, whipping up the populace with phony immigration concerns while making it almost impossible to have any practical, coherent medical insurance for the average person and basically attempt to take away any remaining rights we as citizens have in the name of “Freedom” that our economy is strong and just fine.
This tells me that one should never, EVER doubt the power of suggestion.

One of the greatest things about this country of ours is that every-day-folks like me have the great opportunity to vote. I vote and I take it seriously. I vote on local measures as well as bigger initiatives all the way up to voting for the presidency. However, I like my vote to count, especially when concerning the latter. Guess I’m glad I don’t live in Florida, huh? (See: 2000 election).
What is bothering me the most in these gas-price gouging, excessive consuming, Paris Hilton/American Idol worshipping uncertain times is the presidential candidates we have to choose from. Personally, there is only one candidate who is running that I am even remotely in-line with politically and that candidate doesn’t stand a chance like a bucket of fried chicken at one of my family gatherings of even getting on the ballot. Every presidential election that I have voted in (with the exception of my first time) it always seems that I have to settle. Always! It’s like having three piles of stinking, dirty socks and I have to select the one pile that stinks least.
Yeah, I know it could be worse….or is it already on its way?

Sometimes you just have to stand back and gape in awe of where you live. Living here in Marin County one almost always has something to be in awe of. The natural beauty of the place is a good reason. We have the bay on one side and the ocean on the other with beautiful Mt. Tam between them. We have redwoods and wild life and wonderful weather to be sure. However, I'm talking about the other things that makes one pause and ponder. This morning is a prime example.
While walking to my studio I noticed a man probably in his early thirties riding his very high-end and expensive mountain bike. He was riding in traffic wearing most of the standard, dorky looking "super-hero" garb but what caught my attention was that he was peddling with no hands because his right hand was busy holding a lit cigarette and his left hand was holding a cell phone to his ear as he barked into the phone between chugs on his cigarette.
Man, sometimes I actually like this place.

Please! No more Paris Hilton! I don't know who she is, what she did or why anyone should remotely care. Just stop now. Please. Stop.

I’m a pretty easy going guy and have very few rules in life (the main rule being that there aren’t many rules and what few rules exist are generally subject to change at any moment). However one rule should always be implemented; if you are an adult male you should not wear any type of ball cap backwards unless you are catching a baseball/softball game (rally cap is fine here), riding a motorbike without a helmet (a bicycle on a windy day is okay too) or looking through the view-finder of a camera. And the older you are the worse it is.

I’m not too down with reunion tours. I look at them as about one step above “Tribute bands,” and several steps below French Pop music. My general experience with seeing bands on reunion tours was usually met with disappointment. I saw the Police, Gang of Four, Parliament/Funkadelic, War, the Pretenders, Tower of Power etcetera in their respective “hey-day(s)” and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I still enjoy listening to their music from time-to-time as well. An example of the point I am trying to make is this; I went to see Gang of Four a few years ago at the Fillmore for their “reunion tour” and though they were pretty tight for the most part they were nothing compared to how they were when I saw them back in 1979/1980. Frankly, they were not as vibrant as they once were and seemed to be trying way too hard to please. I left that evening wishing I had never gone. Maybe if it was my first time seeing them the experience would of been different, but I had seen them before and I felt somewhat cheated.

I never saw the Rolling Stones or the Who or even the Kinks in the 1960’s but I did see them in the 1970’s and they were great. However, I saw the Rolling Stones during their Bridges to Babylon tour (my old job. Long story, don’t ask) and, once again thought they were tight and such but it all just seemed so stilted and hokey to me. Mick was pretty stiff and looked pretty silly and good 'ol Keith... his age has finally caught up to his physical appearance.
A Stones show back in the 1970’s held a lot of weight and was considered quite the “Chic” thing to go to and be seen at. Now it seems like an over-priced nostalgia tour where for a wheel barrel load of money you can sit several miles away with a bunch of 60-year olds and watch specks on a platform stiffly move about under colored lights…..oh, and they’ll shoot off some fireworks at the end for ya.
Don’t even get me started on why they (the Stones) even bother to continue to record and release records. I feel that they could have stopped somewhere after Tattoo You and still have several ( and I do mean several) hours of “hit” material to play and that isn’t even counting the other stuff that they recorded that wasn’t a hit but is just as good if not better.

The drummer from the Police, Stewart Copeland stated recently that the opening reunion tour concert the Police just played in Vancouver, Canada, “…was lame.” Though I wasn’t there that very well could be an accurate statement. The Police haven’t been a band in over 20 years and frankly I’m not surprised that Mr. Copeland thought they came off lame.

It seems to me that in most cases it’s actually better to end on top than to continue on until one reaches mediocrity, or in bands such as the Police’s case perhaps this is one-too-many-trips to the well?

I still whole-heartedly encourage you to support music, art, film and literature locally as well as globally.