Posts (page 2)

Where have all the great conversationalists gone?  I could listen to him all day...

Our most famous graduate of Hume-Fogg Academy High School in Nashville is Bettie Page.  She graduated salutatorian and was named most likely to succeed.  She did.

Hume-Fogg is one of the most respected magnet high schools in the nation, established in 1855.  Their curriculum on advanced microeconomics is considered by the College Board to be the best in the world.  Hoo-hoo.  Erection time for supply & demand freaks, and deservedly so.  Bettie Page was a top debate team member, expressing opinions on how women should be able to do whatever the fuck they wanted in 1940.  Go Bettie!  We are proud to call you a local gal.  Wasn't she just a doll?

KD and I took a stroll downtown this afternoon to photograph the old buildings on Broadway, built in the late 1800's with ornate design and Gothic architecture.

For those unfamiliar with the famous quote, it was a popular phrase and song from the Great Depression.  Things are not that bad at the moment, but they are not good.  Unemployment is at a 5 year high.  For the eighth straight month, job cuts have increased.  Bush said, and I quote: "the economy is fundamentally sound."  He balked at the idea that any stimulus to the economy was needed.  Herbert Hoover, another Republican, held the same opinion from 1929-1933.  Remember how that worked out?  Sing along with me folks... "Brother, can you spare a dime?"

Can you imagine anyone having a sense of historical perspective, and yet wanting the same political party in office that brought us 2001-2008?  Can you imagine anyone who realizes we were deceived into a "war" with Iraq, fueled by corruption and incompetence, wanting a candidate that sides with Bush's commitment to it, even though respected Republicans, military generals and Alan Greenspan (R) support a cause against it?  Who are these people who blindly support War and Failure as long as an American flag waves behind it?  Are we lacking that many neutral minds capable of saying, "The economy sucks, this war sucks, and the conservatives need to step down for a while so the other side can swing the insane balance towards reason."

I ask these silly questions on moot points because it's amusing.  The Republicans have a chance to continue this Reign of Crap because their loyal followers will stoop to siding with the Devil if he backed the GOP platform.  Can any decent Republican stand up and say their party would have nominated a woman for VP if Hillary and Barack hadn't been part of the picture?  Indeed.  Where was this diversity during the Republican primary?  Exactly, and shame on you for picking your brain for a response other than, "Yep, we're pretty desperate and transparent."  Either way, we will have a black president or a female vice-president when this is over, and you can thank the Democrats for the progress.  So, looking forward, who is the more likely candidate to pull us out of this depressed economy like Franklin Delano Roosevelt did all those years ago?

This is the type of crazy (wonderful) woman I'm attracted to, which is why I'm not married.... meet my friend Caro:

Her profile: "Yeah, yeah, you know me, the hologram formerly known as Revenge who enjoys sexxin' her brother, cruelty and blood. Ambiguous, fickle and detached, I am prone to hallucinations on which you suffer from an Internet Disease and I've found the cure, yet refuse to share (oh wait). I generally settle for whatever and don't care about anything."

Her rantings: "Idealists who don't believe in anything, liberals with closed minds, scientists blinded to theories. Rationalizations, rationalizations, rationalizations.  Go fit your stereotype of authenticity, your perfectly planned model of conservatism and free-thinking mixed in a bowl of apparent success. Keep it classic while adopting new trends, stand by a philosophical idea, lean towards an artistic concept, have a take on liberty, quote an obscure author, have an "honest" picture taken and agree with the review of a film. Hush, don't say anything inappropriate, better to be stiff than to say something out of context. Does everyone approve? Maybe not, but as long as no one disapproves you're good to go. Keep living in a middle path so that worlds may never collide. "Be yourself": the worst advice that can be given. Speak or shut the fuck up, just don't be you, don't be you! You're constantly dripping truth."

Her sign: Cancer :)

Her other sign:

War.  We've been doing it for ages.  For religious differences, for greed, for cultural and racial ignorance leading to genocide.  We slaughter each other.  And I mean slaughter.  What have we gained when the blood drains and the dust settles?  Some new turf?  The spoils of the defeated?  We should stop wars and focus on assassinating global leaders who promote it, instead of sending young patriots off to die in their senseless chess matches.  Start cutting the heads off the War Snake and we might see less of it.  Presidents and Dictators across the world would not like it, but they don't mind instigating this sickening madness.  If this is part of human nature, I am not human.

When you were young
You were the king of carrot flowers
And how you built a tower tumbling through the trees
In holy rattlesnakes that fell all around your feet

And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder
And dad would throw the garbage all across the floor
As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for

And this is the room
One afternoon I knew I could love you
And from above you how I sank into your soul
Into that secret place where no one dares to go

And your mom would drink until she was no longer speaking
And dad would dream of all the different ways to die
Each one a little more than he could dare to try

I don’t like the word giddy.  It is reserved for schoolgirls and childhood spasms.  And yet, I was giddy for a few moments tonight as the house lights went down and a familiar shadow walked onstage.  The Boss was in Nashville.  Then that recognizable throaty voice said hello into the microphone.  The crowd exploded as the E-Street band joined them.  Springsteen belted out song after song for the next three hours.  This guy was born to perform.  His guttural lungs heave rock & roll.  I have never watched anyone sing with as much passion, soul and joy, his face contorting with every lyric.

Clarence wailed on sax and Steve played it cool.  Max looked like a demonic choirboy turned recovering alcoholic trying to play his way out of hell to save his doomed soul.  His drum solo was impressive, and I have never seen drums pounded & banged that ferociously... ever… and I’ve seen Neil Peart live with Rush.  The E-Street boys were sensational.

A word about age… Bruce is 59, but looked 39.  He appeared to be made of solid rock and muscle.  The ageless icon jumped, ran and slid across the stage on his knees at full speed as if he was still a young punk from 1970’s New Jersey.  His voice boomed and held firm against time, daring Mother Nature to rob him of his God given talents.  She did not.  The teenage girls in the audience begged and danced for Bruce as their mothers did before them.   Towards the end of the night my favorite song Rosalita brought the house to its feet.  Dancing in the Dark provided the best moment of the night when Springsteen reenacted Courtney Cox’s world debut 24 yrs ago, but instead brought an older woman from the audience on stage to dance.  He ended the song by hoisting the star struck lady into his arms and gently depositing her back into the crowd.  The place went nuts.

His slow, almost unrecognizable rendition of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” was remarkable and led into his own Cash-like “I’m on Fire.”  This show surpassed my favorite concert from 10 years ago when I saw Led Zeppelin’s Plant & Page in the same Nashville arena.  Mr. Springsteen is The Boss for a reason.

This post goes out to Kristin, my favorite Vox wife on the West Coast.  She put me up for the weekend and gave me a tour of her home state California.  It was bee-u-tiful.  We visited the beaches of San Diego and Santa Monica along with indigenous staples like In-N-Out Burger (she made me buy a T-shirt).  Kristin showed me her hometown in the San Bernardino Mountains, again beautiful.  Her friends took me on an obligatory quickie tour through Hollywood (blech) and Beverly Hills (gag), but they introduced me to an amazing vinyl record shop where I snagged hard-to-find debut albums by the Cure, Stooges, and Velvet Underground.  I was very pleased.

On my first night in town, her roommate joined us at a local pub, but details of what happened after that became fuzzy -- Kristin claims I danced at the bar and sang ABBA tunes with her on the way home... now, because she is having hallucinations of this magnitude we can only assume she got into my drug stash.  In any case, I enjoyed Southern California and I miss it already, even the Vegan food Kristin forced me to eat.  I think these two photos from this weekend best represent our personalities and the "ah, good times" we had.

* The title of this post is a reminder of how much I laughed this weekend.

The line is often blurry, but always there, a reminder of how precariously we walk the tightrope every day.   The "Line" can be the purgatory between good humor and poor taste or the delicate thread separating life and death.  Those who seek the Line can lose jobs, friends, family, you name it.  They are risk takers.  To approach the Line or not to approach it -- that is the question.  The safest spectators shy away from it and adhere to tradition and structure.  Noncomformists are drawn to the Line, like Carol Anne to the Light... “Don’t go into the light, Carol Anne!!”  We push the limits, whether provoking authority, challenging convention, or just being honest when sensitive ears cannot bear it.  We are adrenaline junkies, truth seekers, and dare devils of the "how dare you" variety.

Meaningless boundaries are the leading obstacle to progress.  I’ll prove it in an exercise that will change your life, but this will require an open mind and a fair amount of thought.  Make a list of conventional rules that you have always followed, which after careful review make no sense.  The longer you think, the longer this list will become.  Now the hard part... begin breaking them.  It will be difficult, but start with the easy ones. 

Fart in front of someone who is not aware that you fart.  How ridiculous you’ve been all this time, right?  You have gas in your ass and it is high time your casual friends acknowledged it.  Stop all the cramping and blow it out your ass for God’s sake.  Sure, give a courtesy warning, but then let ‘er rip.  Next, tell some jackass in your circle of “friends” that they are negative, unsupportive, and you no longer want to associate with miserable fucks like him/her.  Admit to friends and strangers your deepest dreams and fears – screw ‘em if they think you’re weird.  You are, but so are they.

Change your appearance.  Start wearing clothes you really like and refuse to support name brands.  Reject all trends.  Wear an Abe Lincoln stove pipe hat with 70’s gym short-shorts and snakeskin cowboy boots.  Speaking of uncomfortable positions – hang out with people you have nothing in common with and learn something about them, and yourself.  The next time your gut says, “I’d like to try that,” but your mind says “No, you’ll look foolish,” go for it.  Did I mention this will change your life? 

Once a day, check off one of the stupid “rules” and begin to experience real freedom.  You can thank me later.