Dazed, Confused, Disoriented

Wednesday night and Thursday night, I slept for roughly four hours or so. I was working on my Medieval History paper and then my Content Analysis for Media and Politics. The Medieval paper turned out pretty well, I think. It was about 12.25 pages, and I added a nice color picture of a painting of Freddy II. The paper for my Polisci class was pretty shitty, since I was pretty burned out by that time. It only had to be four pages, but I don't think I did a very good job of actually meeting the requirements of the paper. We'll see. Dr. Rankin has been a very lenient grader thus far, but I don't want him to think I'm an idiot.

Anyway, the title of the post refers to the fact that I was pretty tired by the end of classes on Friday. I got home a little before 3:30, listened to some music, checked my email, and flopped onto my bed around 5pm. Well, I just woke up now, and it's a bit after 4am. I had expected at least someone to call - namely Matt - to tell me that we were going downtown. However, no one called and I consequently did not wake up.

I am considering an extra semester - holding off graduating in December to do an internship semester in Washington, DC as part of a political science program. It would involve taking out more loans, of course, and it would make it just about a full seven years without a Bachelor's Degree after high school, but I don't really know what I'm doing when/if I graduate in December anyway, and this may be good for the resume. I don't know how to make the little accent mark over the 'e' so you'll just have to try to read that correctly. I haven't made any decision on this yet - it's just a possibility.

Well, I think I'll take advantage of the fact that I'm up now and do some laundry before I eventually have to get ready for work. Then I'll try to get back to sleep to minimize the degree to which my concept of night and day is screwed up.

Roberto Planto Toronto

Against my better judgment, I purchased two tickets for the Robert Plant show in Toronto on Wednesday, July 6. I should know by now that no one is actually going to go with me, but still I persist in this dreamland, thinking that even if none of my friends will go, I'll have met someone by then that will actually want to accompany me not just to concerts, but just about anywhere. But what are the odds of that happening? Ha.

I'm still planning on trying to go to the two Philadelphia shows. Not sure when they'll be going on sale.

Incidentally, Robert's site has finally gone "live" at www.robertplant.com - it's very hip. Check it out, but make sure you have the latest Flash plugin.

I have a nice long paper to write about Frederick II for my Medieval History class, so I'm going to get back to that now.

Pearl Jam Tour In The Works?

I received this message as part of the PJ Rumor Pit newsletter in my email today:

We're here to put a little bug in your ear because a little birdie paid us a visit and told us, "tweet tweet ca-caaw ca-caaw." After careful research, we learned that it translates to: Please be sure your fan club membership is current and your mailing information is up to date by April 19th. And if you haven't joined the fan club yet - what are you waiting for, eh? You can go to the "Goods" section of http://www.tenclub.net/ to join, renew, or update your fan club membership. You can update your email or postal address at address@tenclub.net, and don't forget to keep an eye on the News area of http://www.pearljam.com/ for additional updates.


(TenClub members receive priority seating for concerts)

From October 2, 2004/Various Comments

Left to Right: Mike McCready, Peter Frampton, Jeff Ament, Ed Vedder, Matt Cameron, Neil Young, Stone Gossard, Pegi Young

I recently obtained copies of most of the Fall 2004 Tour (Boston shows plus the Vote For Change concerts), so I thought I'd break this picture out. It's from the show Loretta and I saw in Toledo. These shows have not been (and likely will not be) officially released, and the quality is so-so. The Toledo show features prominent vocals and the rhythm section up front in the mix, with the guitars somewhat toward the back, but it's nice to have nonetheless. At the show, the four guitars for the encores (Mike and Stone, Frampton and Neil) sounded quite muddled, and the CD shows that my impressions were fairly accurate. But hell - it was Neil Young coming out to tear it up with Pearl Jam! - so I'm not complaining. It was quite a sight to see.

I may try to get another copy of the Toledo show, since the guy who sold these on eBay obviously did not burn the CDs very carefully - there are obvious digital flaws in quite a few places, likely a result of either inferior media or burning at high speeds, or perhaps a combination of those factors.

In any event, it's always nice to have a document of a show I've attended - I appreciate the brave efforts of those people who sneak MD and DAT recorders into concerts - it takes some guts. I listen to the Robert Plant shows from 2001 on a pretty regular basis, and I hope to get a line on that Myrtle Beach show as soon as possible. It's not really close to being there, but it definitely brings back at least a little hit of the same emotions I felt. Good stuff.

There may be no more effective mood-enhancer than great music. It can change my whole day. Yesterday, I was reading for a while in the library after class, but the nice weather drew me out and I took a drive down Route 5 into Westfield and then took Route 20 back to Fredonia, windows down and jamming out to Stone Temple Pilots' second album, Purple, the whole time. As a result, I was in a pretty damn good mood for the rest of the day.

Bugman In Trouble (Again)

Former exterminator and current House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is facing accusations of inappropriate behavior and questionable ethics again after disclosure forms showed his wife and daughter pocketed $500,000 for services to the DeLay campaign.

New Tour Dates For The Summer, and an Invitation

From Pollstar:

Whole Lotta Tour

Fresh off his keynote appearance at March's South By Southwest conference, Robert Plant is preparing to return to North America for a tour backing his upcoming release, Mighty Rearranger. The former Led Zeppelin frontman so far plans to make the rounds of theatres, casino venues and sheds in June and July, kicking things off in at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island June 15 and winding down at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles July 24. In between, he'll crisscross the continent with stops including Boston, New York City, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas and San Francisco. Mighty Rearranger is a collection of new original songs with Plant's backing band, the Strange Sensations. But fans can expect a healthy dose of Plant and Led Zep classics as well. In the meantime, Plant is in the midst of a seven-concert series at London's Royal Albert Hall to benefit The Teenage Cancer Trust, along with The Who's Roger Daltrey, Eric Clapton, as well as newcomers Franz Ferdinand and Keane.
______________

So I know the dates aren't even on sale yet, but I would like to get to both Philadelphia (Upper Darby, PA) shows and the Toronto show. This will, of course, be dependent on finances and circumstances when tickets go on sale. Please take a look at the tour dates if you have any interest in Robert Plant and/or you have any interest in accompanying me to a great concert. The co-headlining tour with Jeff Beck does not look as if it will materialize, although that's fine with me as it likely means longer sets from Plant. If I haven't already promoted it enough, Mighty Rearranger is due out in the US on May 10 - same as the new Weezer disc, if I'm not mistaken. The Philly shows would make for a nice mini-roadtrip with a stay somewhere around the area probably the night before the first show and again the night before the second. I'll just wait for the offers to come pouring in.

Ha....ha.....ha.

More St. Patrick's Day Fun

Lending a hand - or two

So this isn't quite what it looks like. You might not immediately realize it from this picture, but this girl has a boyfriend. It seems as if every time someone comes to my apartment for the first time, they must ask me "hey - are those your weights?" and "you really lift those?" and invariably insist that I show them, insinuate that I'm lying, or try to lift them alone. Tammy here took the first and third approach, and I had to intervene before she dropped them (like Thom did) and possibly broke something (like my floor, for instance). I think it may have been a simple ploy to engage in a little grinding action, but I could be wrong. Undoubtedly, she walked away disappointed from the close encounter and I doubt she'll be coming around again.

Blogging Issues

I get emails whenever a comment is posted on my blog. I just got an anonymous comment reading "foiled again" and I have no idea what post the comment refers to, since it is not on any of the recent posts. Blogger should adjust the comment system to identify which post each comment is referring to, because now I have to go through each post to find what the hell this extremely verbose person is talking about. Frustrating. As if I don't waste enough time on my own without other people forcing me into it.

Contest

Kate snuggling up with Matt

Contest: If you can accurately describe the expression on Matt's face in this picture, you'll win a fishing trip with the master himself, date and location to be determined by Mr. King.

Schiavo Comments

I haven't been in an any type of hurry to weigh in on the Terri Schiavo ordeal, but now that it's over (she died around 9am today - here's a link to the NY Times story), I suppose I have a few things to say.

The fact that this became such a huge issue in the media is just a testament to the fact that there's very little going on right now for them to sink their teeth into. The main competition has been the Michael Jackson trial/soap opera. What's that you say? A discussion about the President's plan to eliminate Social Security? A debate about what kind of nation we want to be - a social welfare state or a social Darwinist state? No, no, no. Why would we want to concentrate on something that's actually important to more than four or five people? Come on, now. Be realistic.

Anyway - the war is old news, there are no elections coming up, and thus the media have to turn small stories into a huge orgy of sensationalized crap. The Terri Schiavo case is nothing more and nothing less than a dramatized version of the same types of decisions that are made every day by thousands of families. It is an extraordinary difficult decision to make for most families, but the question has to be asked - in what kind of condition would the person have considered themselves still living and not merely alive? I think most of us, if asked whether we would choose to remain alive in Schiavo's state...............

So I started this post at 5:31pm, March 31. But since that time, I have checked Wendy's site, and she pretty much says what I was going to say, in much the same spirit, in a likely more concise way than I would have. So I'm going just going to refer you to her site. Sorry for cheating.

Mitch Hedberg - Dead at 37

In very sad news, comedian Mitch Hedberg has died at the age of 37 of as yet unknown causes.

He had so many great lines, and such fantastic, understated delivery. I must say that every time I watched him perform, I was reminded of my friend Abe.

Mitch, you will be missed.

Stolen From Thom's Blog

St. Patrick's Day 2005 with Amanda and Theresa. This picture appears on Thom's blog with the caption "Wyatt's a pimp, a crazy, drunken pimp." The accuracy of this claim is still in dispute. Something that is beyond debate however, is that this is a pretty horrible picture of me. I'm not sure where I'm looking.
I think by this point, I had already had my interaction with Amy, the girl that works at Two Brothers, who was formerly employed by Quality Markets. Perhaps I'm smiling like a mental patient because she had actually talked to me, if only to inform me that she "sort of" had a boyfriend. Amy and I always seem to have intense eye contact whenever we meet, but that could be my imagination. Or it could be that she is just looking back at the scary guy who is staring at her. Anyway, I need to figure out more ways to interact with her after I've been drinking, because things were a lot smoother than when I tried to talk to her at the grocery store. Alcohol - the social lubricant.
Speaking of which, although it's not completely obvious in this picture, Theresa had been thoroughly oiled at this point in the evening, and spent much of her time at Muldoon's weaving in a somewhat circular fashion.
Amanda had admitted earlier that night to occasionally checking my blog after parties for tales of buffoonery by myself or others, but avoiding the political commentary, with which she evidently takes issue. Ah well - I can't enlighten everyone, now can I?

Nice.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina House of Blues March 21, 2005

The Strange Sensation is...
Justin Adams - Guitar, Mandolin, Bongos
John Baggott - Keyboards
Clive Deamer - Drums
Billy Fuller - Bass
Skin Tyson - Lead Guitar


The Strange Sensation strode onto the stage at 8:30pm, picked up their instruments and broke into an ominous beat. Three of the band had various types of hand-drums, and Skin Tyson was on acoustic guitar. Robert Plant emerged from the shadowy stacks of amplifiers, his hands raised over his head, clapping with the rhythm of the drums. He picked up a drum as well and approached the microphone and told us to

"Close the Door, Put Out the Light
You Know They Won't Be Home Tonight"

...and so the crowd was hooked, entranced, and Enchanted for the next two hours. "No Quarter" has been dramatically reworked once again to serve as the opening number. As another review mentioned, "They choose a path where no one goes" is now the dominant refrain. Instead of evoking images of medieval warriors, the new rendition paints a picture of a relentless quest over a dark desert landscape (lyrics pertaining to snow notwithstanding). "Shine It All Around" was next, carried by the soaring emphatic cries of "SHINE" and built on the earthquake-proof foundation of Fuller's bass and Deamer's drums.
"Black Dog" is another mightily-rearranged Zeppelin tune. Plant gave the crowd the chance to fill in some verses, holding the microphone out, but there was some confusion among many and Robert had to pick up the slack, throwing a smile and shrug back to Deamer before launching into the "ahhh-ahhh" portion of the song.
Two new songs followed. "Freedom Fries" was well received, although it is questionable whether a crowd in Republican-heavy South Carolina would have cheered as much had they been truly listening to the lyrics "...A little give and take to satisfy my needs/You can give me lots but I'll take some more/I got my eyes on your treasure 'neath the desert floor" and "the liberator goes too far." Ah, well. "Let The Four Winds Blow" followed. This is a dynamic light and shade song in the Zeppelin tradition, with a somewhat mellow, tentative introduction leading into a raucous instumental section.
Plant instructed us that the new album was a sort of commentary on the aging Baby-Boomer generation, the people who ask "how are you, where are the restrooms, and what's a woody?", which he followed with "Thankfully, some things are still working properly."
"Heartbreaker" has also undergone significant change - the signature riff remains but has somehow been diminished. Despite hearing this version from the Tsunami Relief Concert webcast, I did not immediately recognize it at the show. This Page-less rendition has, predictably, no unaccompanied guitar workout in the middle, but Skin had a pretty nice solo nonetheless. Bonnie Dobson's "Morning Dew," popularized by the Grateful Dead, may be the number that has been changed the most in the shortest span of time, from Plant's subdued Priory of Brion performances in 1999 and 2000 to the early days of the Strange Sensation in 2001, the version on Dreamland, and now in its present incarnation as a more up-tempo rocker.
"That's The Way" is beautifully done, and as another reviewer noted, it is a welcome replacement for the somewhat tired "Going To California," although "Tangerine" would have been great too. I think Clive Deamer might be able to do "Poor Tom" some justice, but perhaps asking for anything off Coda is unrealistic.
I wholeheartedly agree with the suggestion that Plant could and probably should substitute some of his own back catalogue for the Zeppelin songs in the set. While it is certainly a thrill to hear "the voice of Led Zeppelin" as he is often billed - on songs that the Hammer of the Gods produced, I am of the opinion that songs like Wreckless Love, Horizontal Departure, Little By Little, Ship of Fools, and many others would be great to hear. As it is, Robert seems to have abandoned his earliest work as a solo artist. Nothing from Pictures at Eleven appeared on last year's Sixty-Six to Timbuktu retrospective. It would seem that Plant believes he's no longer near that particular place as an artist and that his more recent output is more representative of how he'd like to be viewed. Alternatively, it may be merely a concession to the sheer fact that so many more people were wearing Zeppelin shirts than Plant shirts, and that disparity represents general expectation in the crowd that he will be churning out a Zep-heavy set. I was a year old when Pictures at Eleven was released and two when Plant started to tour with Phil Collins on drums, but it would have been very interesting to go to some of those early shows where no Zeppelin songs were performed and fans had to be satiated by a few vocal nods to the man's previous band in the form of "Keep a coolin'" and "let me take you there..." It would be great to hear from people who attended those shows to see what the general crowd feeling was like after the show. Was it one of disappointment? There is also the distinct possibility that Robert really likes doing the Zeppelin songs because he has more fun singing them - and doing them in his own way - than some of his solo work. It could even be that he would work with Page again if they could just play small clubs, although I genuinely believe the control factor may be the key reason that Robert's guitarist happens to be named 'Skin' and not 'Jimmy' - the freedom to play whatever he wants in whatever arrangement he prefers on a given night, and knowing that his is the final word on the matter. In any event, personally I cannot shake the underlying feeling that something is missing when Plant does Zeppelin songs, even though I do unquestionably enjoy them. Unless two or three of the remaining members reunite, I don't believe I'll ever be able to top the feeling I got when I heard Plant sing live for the first time at the Orpheum in Boston 2001 - specifically on "In The Light" and "Whole Lotta Love." Absolute chills, goosebumps, hair standing on end, tears in the eyes - the whole bit. But enough of my ranting...
"If I Were a Carpenter" would not have been my selection from Fate of Nations, but it was performed well, very close to the version on the album. I would have preferred "Great Spirit" or "The Greatest Gift." Similarly, while "Tall Cool One" is a fun song (it has been arranged to rock more and be less silly than it ever was on the 1988 tour) and is always well-received, there are other songs on Now and Zen that might have been reworked to greater effect. Skin scraped four fingers of his right hand over the strings like a cat pawing at a feather and the band really seemed to be enjoying themselves.
"Tin Pan Valley" is apparently Robert's shot at his contemporaries, like The Who (or what's left of them anyway), who are cashing in on former triumphs without producing anything new. I think it's also a song that serves as a reminder to himself that he should only go forward. The song rocks, and everyone on stage knew it. It is another "tight but loose" number that had Plant screaming "like THIS" into the mic during the freak-out instrumental section.
"Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" should definitely be dropped from the set. After not playing it at all from 1970 to at least 1988 if not the 90s, this song has been overplayed from the Page/Plant outing in 1995 to the present, and the worst thing about that is that none of the post-Zeppelin versions even approach the glory achieved with the Jones/Bonham rhythm section. If it is a simple matter of Robert wanting to showcase his still-potent vocals, there are myriad other songs with which to accomplish that objective, and while Skin is indisputably a great axeman, he almost always disappoints me with the solo on this song.
In stark contrast, "When The Levee Breaks" is a welcome addition. Always one of my particular favorites, this was done with what one reviewer accurately described as a chain-gang style chorus on the last word of phrases like "Crying won't help you, prayin won't do you no GOOOOD." Bonham's drums are sampled for a backbeat and Justin Adams plays electric mandolin. This song was fantastic - although I think Jonesy's instrumental version with steel guitar does come close, the vocals put Plant's over the top.
For the encores, "The Enchanter" was up first, and provided another reason for optimism about the new Mighty Rearranger. Plant and company have managed to embrace some of the more modern directions of music, specifically 'electronica,' that Radiohead and others have enjoyed success with, and mixed it with elements of rock and Middle-Eastern vibes to create a unique and effective final product. Besides that, it gave the quirky and talented Mr. Justin Adams to dance around the stage with his guitar. This guy is quite the performer; I saw his antics produce a smile on Plant's face many times during the evening. In general, the entire band seemed to have a tremendously good time. There were smiles all around. Some of these may have also been produced by the very odd man to the front and right of me. He and his two moderately attractive female companions (one older and one younger) had been waiting in folding chairs outside the venue since 8:30 that morning, which put them three hours ahead of me. The rest of the early-arriving fanatics all had easy-going and smooth conversations, but this guy had remained apart from the crowd. His jet-black hair was set in a fashion that he doubtless believed to be the height of style, and he had three standard reactions to everything that went on during the show. First of all, I never saw him smile. He would instead emphatically point with all fingers extended to whatever band member he thought was doing a particularly good job at any one moment, all the while fixedly staring at them. At other moments, such as after "Shine It All Around," he would very stiffly hold up a small sign with a '10' on it, indicating his approval. Finally, he would also point vehemently at the elder female companion when Plant would look his way, perhaps indicating that he wanted Robert to take her backstage. I don't know. At the end of the show, he was pointing emphatically once again, this time at Billy Fuller, who seemed both mystified and amused enough to approach the edge of the stage and shake the man's hand while glancing with amusement and confusion to Justin Adams, who could only shrug.
"Whole Lotta Love" closed the show and featured a "Spoonful" introduction before the "Delta blues" slow beginning. The crowd erupted and Plant made them repeat the "wanna whole lotta love" refrain not just four times, but six or seven. The middle section now includes Theremin-like sounds produced not by Skin but by John Baggott, as well as an extensive bongo performance from Adams before returning to that incredible riff of all riffs. This song predictably got the greatest reaction of the night, and I must confess that I will probably never tire of it. All in all, a fantastic show - worth the 13-hour drive from southwestern New York.
I was hardly even disturbed by the woman who had vomited directly behind me between the opening band and Plant's performance. It was, however, a very close call. I had to be very careful where I placed my feet. The only other obstacle to having a better time was the guy who believed he was Robert Plant's illegitimate son and wore his blond hair in as Plant-like a way as he could manage, just to prove his point. Little Bobby Junior was not so little - in the immediate vicinity, he was the only one taller than me, and of course happened to be standing almost directly in front of me. Eventually - aided by the movement of the crowd to avoid the vomit - I was able to position myself slightly to his right, and spent most of the evening in a third-row center position.
That's about it, folks. I could tell you about my drive and about a few times where I walked into a gas station carrying a map, eliciting a response of "y'all is lost, ain'tcha?" but I won't.

...and here's the rest of the picture.

If anyone ever calls you a Turck-face, this is what they mean.

Off The Road

I have returned. Details to come. Probably tomorrow. I'm quite tired. Over the course of 59 hours (from 11am Sunday to 10pm Tuesday), I was driving for 26 (approximately 1700 miles roundtrip, which is roughly equivalent to driving to western Colorado from here).

For anyone who may be interested, here's a fairly complete setlist of what was played Monday evening. The sequence is probably incorrect, but the beginning and ending is fairly accurate. I'll write up a little review in the next couple days so it can be ignored.

No Quarter (Houses of the Holy)
Shine It All Around (Mighty Rearranger)
Black Dog (fourth album)
Freedom Fries (Mighty Rearranger)
Let The Four Winds Blow (Mighty Rearranger)
Morning Dew (Dreamland)
Heartbreaker (II)
Tin Pan Valley (Mighty Rearranger)
That's The Way (III)
If I Were A Carpenter (Fate of Nations)
Tall Cool One (Now and Zen)
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (I)
When The Levee Breaks (fourth)

Encores:

The Enchanter (Mighty Rearranger)
Whole Lotta Love (II)

Southern Man

Well, I was considering going to New York City on Thursday to catch Robert Plant. However, I decided that I would be nervous as hell driving there by myself and probably be too tweaked out to either enjoy myself or even find the place on time.

So with careful consideration...

Alright, so it was a spur of the moment decision. I'm going to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina instead. It's a few hundred more miles, but I figure it might be a more relaxing drive. I'm going to leave sometime tomorrow and probably get a hotel somewhere fairly close (within a hundred miles or so) and wait outside like the crazed fan I am to get in as early as I can (it's a general admission show at the House of Blues). Not sure if anyone is going with me at this point. I got two tickets just in case.

Should be interesting. I do think Robert will be touring later this year, but it looks like it may be a co-headlining slot with Jeff Beck. In the interest of seeing as long a show as possible, I am going to see him when he's the main man on the bill. A band called Love Drug will be opening the MB show.

That's it for now.

Hittin' the Board for the Lord

From an article entitled "Jesus on the Half-Pipe" - here are some of the highlights:

"...other members of the King of Kings Skateboard Ministries team are quick to say that they do not skate for adulation or even for the thrill of catching big air. They skate for Jesus."

"Mr. Palau is so convinced of skateboarding's effectiveness in youth ministry that he said he suspected that Jesus himself would be a skater if he walked the earth today. "Yeah, I mean, he was young; I think he'd get on a skateboard and go for it," Mr. Palau said. "I know St. Paul would.""

"...but I get to ride with guys who are stoked on Jesus."

If you're ignorant like me, you watched Saved! and thought the whole skateboarding thing was a joke with little basis in reality. That would be wrong.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. If they can attempt to co-opt rock music, then skateboarding would be another step in the same direction.

I laughed through the whole thing. Enjoy.

Funny

This article talks about ways to deal with life's little annoyances. Some of them are pretty funny, like the guy who puts strips of sheet metal in reply envelopes that have "No Postage Necessary" marked on them.

It's along the same line as the people who send all the AOL discs they get back to the company.

Did anyone see that Daily Show episode where they interviewed the email spammer and put his private email address up on the screen?

March 17

Went to The Office last night. Discussed non-alcoholic beer with Turck.

Will head over to Steve's BYOB St. Patrick's Day festivities in a few hours. I may get some dinner with Laura, Randy, and Matt first. Thom is scheduled to join us at some point. The party at Steve's seems to be merely a prelude to a walk downtown for what promises to be a crowded and drunken mob. Not sure I'm up for that. I will probably be one of very, very few people in classes tomorrow, since it is the last day before Spring Break.

It remains to be seen if I'll have a computer here over that time. Things would be immeasurably easier for me if I did, but I have to be realistic about how much work I'm actually going to be doing while Kristen is visiting.

I might have some interesting stories tomorrow.

Venturing To Kennedy This Evening

So I'm off to Kennedy to meet up with Matt, Brett, Turck, Lindsey, and possibly Randy and Laura as well. A continuation of the Falconer High School tradition of going for chicken wings at The Office on Wednesday nights.

And I'll be stopping at home to pick up a green shirt to wear to tomorrow night's St. Patrick's Day shindig at Steve's place.

Drilling For Oil in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge

...and the nation continues its trek to Hell, or something very much like it.

Krugman Column: The $600 Billion Dollar Man

Some comments on the latest round of discussion about Social Security "reform"/privatization/elimination. It also includes a nice shot at erstwhile Democrat Joe Lieberman.
Check it out.

Yes, Even More Pictures

The game of beer pong was expensive because it was played (on our side) with Corona. We ran out of beer toward the end of our run of consecutive victories. Our consumption of cheap, nasty beer can be held directly responsible for our loss.

Deanna appears in the first picture with Thom and I. Deanna is in my 1960s class. When I asked her how my presentation went, she said I did well. When I pressed her to tell me what she really thought, she replied with a sigh..."well, you'll never be a teacher. You might be able to be a professor though, because you can be a professor without knowing how to teach. You just need to know what you're talking about." I'm unqualified to be a teacher because of my mumbling and lack of eye contact during the presentation, it seems. I do fairly well with eye contact in one-on-one situations and in small groups, but she's right about my performance during the presentation.

One more career I can cross off the list, eh?

Expensive Beer Pong II

Expensive Beer Pong

Me, Deanna, and Thom

More Pictures!

The GQ appearance was for Theresa's "Christmas Formal"-type party in mid-December. That's me and Nate VanWie, from my Western European Politics class. Nate's an extremely intelligent guy and was always funny in class, as well as in conversation at the parties. I believe he went to high school with Theresa in the Horseheads, NY region.

I can't figure out if I just look evil in that picture, or if I look like I'm trying to be....alluring? I don't know. You decide.

Probably two more pictures to come soon.

Check Out That Look

Falling Short of My Blogging Potential

Sorry the posts have been mainly just pictures lately. I have some things to say, but I haven't had a lot of time to devote to 'blogging' lately. Perhaps I'll get some more time over spring break (March 18 - 29). Kristen's coming home Saturday, so it'll be great to see her.

Administration uses Commercials as News

Long Time

So I haven't posted for a while. I did post a couple pictures from two parties last semester.

Not very much to say right now.

December 4, 2004

Halloween 2004

Public Humiliation Update

7:00pm
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Williams Center Multipurpose Room
Fredonia State
Fredonia, New York 14063

Looks like I will be one of three panelists for the Democrats. The Amnesty International group will be moderating the debate. Republicans, Libertarians, and Greens will also be debating.

The topic will be United States foreign policy. Presumably, I will be somewhat prepared by then. I have two tests tomorrow/today (Friday), I'll be working Saturday and Sunday, and I have to do a half-hour presentation on Monday for my 1960s class about the impact/effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis. That's me talking for 30 minutes straight. Embarrassingly, I've never used PowerPoint or any of those other nifty programs and I don't really plan on learning them now. So I'll probably be attempting to bore my audience into submission with the low monotonic rumbling of my voice.

Complaints, Grievances, and Miscellaneous Ramblings

I'm supposed to meet with members of my Science Fiction class tonight. We're discussing the "group research project" which involves the creation of a website dedicated to various Sci-Fi authors.

Brett, I know you liked Simon as a professor, but I think this might be the worst class I've had in a while. Hardly anyone wants to offer anything in the discussions, and when they actually do, you tend to wish they hadn't.

Most people in this class were apparently pulled out of a StarTrek convention so they could be cast as extras in the latest Revenge of the Nerds film, and this course must be something they do in their spare time when they aren't shooting the movie. The distressing part is that some have evidently been deprived of their normal dosage of Ritalin.

Look - I like science fiction. I read a lot of sci-fi books growing up. Arthur C. Clarke (who is not featured in the class, because for some reason we're only focusing on American writers) is one of my favorite authors. Kurt Vonnegut is regarded by many as a science fiction writer. 1984 would probably be considered science fiction, as would Huxley's Brave New World. However, the people in this class are just too much to take sometimes. I can handle funny-looking people, but usually there's not much in the way of intelligent discussion.

At least five people punctuate each sentence they speak with "like, you know - like sort of like a - you know - like - yeah - like, totally" and I want to shoot them...
Then I realize there's probably too many of them and that they would like totally like, you know, probably like totally overpower me with their like totally telekinetic like powers...like, yeah.
So it would probably be quicker just to shoot myself instead.

The professor has seemingly been influenced by this, because his level of speech tends to deteriorate the longer we're in class. His efforts to pry meaningful commentary out of the group are often laughable. Maybe not so much the effort, but certainly the results. Typically we'll sit in silence until someone just gets too hyper and their furious leg spasms are no longer a sufficient outlet for the pent-up energy of their ADHD. Then the nonsensical words just pour forth and we're all gasping for air over the rising wave of shitty analysis that has just been spewed out.

So many comments have caused me to bow my head and bite my lip in an attempt to stifle my laughter. Today before class began, the president of the 'Sci-Fi & Fantasy Gamers' Guild' (nope, I'm not making that up) was aghast that so few people from the class had shown up for the last meeting. He has now made two or three announcements in class about meeting times and seems genuinely puzzled that he hasn't gained any new recruits.

The entire class is on Listserv, which is essentially a mailing list for the course. Everyone is subscribed, so when someone sends a message, everyone gets it. When we were informed of this procedure the first day of class, a very excited girl with an underbite piped up about a program some professors use called Blackboard. She advocated the use of Blackboard either instead of, or in addition to Listserv. She seemed like she was getting rather wet just talking about Blackboard...her speech quickened and she became flushed as she related the joy, wisdom, and convenience of discussion boards, 'digital drop boxes,' and on and on.

Professor Simon, who initially showed no interest in modifying his standard Listserv procedure, could not resist such an impassioned plea and was ultimately forced to create a Blackboard account for the class. Now besides the multitude of stupid and pointless emails going through the Listserv (and consequently into my Inbox) and the course website - which is updated at an alarming pace with pages and pages of information I will never, ever read - we're now responsible for checking the announcements on the Blackboard site.

Quite the cast of characters. The disheartening thing is that this 200-level English class occupies just as much time - if not more - than the 300- and 400-level History classes (which is my actual major) I'm taking. Twelve books to go through in a 15-week semester. The reading's not enough, however. We also have to do all this outside work on the freaking website that no one in the real world (but perhaps in the world of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Gamers' Guild) will ever visit. Absolutely maddening.

Freedom Fries

Robert Plant, in what looks to be his most political lyrics since Fate of Nations... in the song "Freedom Fries" from the upcoming Mighty Rearranger:

The father, son and the Holy Ghost
Took the last train to the coast
They were moving fast, they were raising sand
They were running wild in the promised land

The father, son and the three wise men
Operating undercover out in Bethlehem
Will they heal the sick?
Can they raise the dead?
Can they bring it on home like the Good Book says?

Billy the Kid told the Prince of Thieves,
A little give and take to satisfy my needs
You can give me lots but I'll take some more
I got my eyes on your treasure 'neath the desert floor

Freedom fries and burns and scars
The liberator goes too far
Freedom fries and screams and yells
The promised land is promised Hell

Paying For Someone Else's Hard-On

Do you think programs like Medicare should cover erectile dysfunction drugs?

I'm not sure I really have much of an opinion on this. I know the drug companies are making a ton on this, but then again - they're making a ton on everything. I just wish they could keep the thousands of ads down to a minimum.

People worry abut their young children asking what 'erectile dysfunction' means, but have they considered what it's like for a guy in his 20s to be watching the news with his grandparents when the commercial comes on and says, "erections lasting more than four hours, though rare, require immediate medical attention..."?

Read the article and see what you think.

Hunter S. Thompson Dies

Thompson, seen here with Johnny Depp.

Visionary author Hunter S. Thompson has killed himself. You might have known him as part of the golden age of Rolling Stone or as the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He was certainly a Kerouac follower, and definitely lived the On The Road lifestyle for many years.

Here's an article he wrote during the 2004 campaign, after the debates.

He will be missed.

Robert Plant Tracks - Links Should Work Now

UPDATE - New Links

Shine It All Around - good solid song - excellent bassline. Sounds like a drum loop at the beginning. I'll leave someone else to point out that the drums evoke memories of a certain song on Zep's fourth album.

Enchanter - probably the best track of the three. I dig that solo.

Somebody Knocking - weakest of the three, in my opinion. Rambling, never really takes off.

From French radio on Real Player (quality's not the best, but you'll get the idea), as described in an earlier post. Not sure if the links will work for everyone. I'll leave them up for a week or two, so if you're interested, get them while you can.

If you like them, buy Mighty Rearranger when it comes out May 3rd.

JPJ & Dave Grohl

John Paul Jones will be featured on the next Foo Fighters album, due for release in June.

Here's the text of an article Dave Grohl wrote for Rolling Stone magazine last April:

Led Zeppelin

By Dave Grohl

Heavy metal would not exist without Led Zeppelin, and if it did, it would suck.

Led Zeppelin were more than just a band -- they were the perfect combination of the most intense elements: passion and mystery and expertise. It always seemed like Led Zeppelin were searching for something. They weren't content being in one place, and they were always trying something new.

They could do anything, and I believe they would have done everything if they hadn't been cut short by John Bonham's death. Zeppelin served as a great escape from a lot of things. There was a fantasy element to everything they did, and it was such a major part of what made them important. Who knows if we'd all be watching Lord of the Rings movies right now if it wasn't for Zeppelin. They were never critically acclaimed in their day, because they were too experimental and they were too fringe.

In 1968 and '69, there was some freaky shit going on, but Zeppelin were the freakiest. I consider Jimmy Page freakier than Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was a genius on fire, whereas Page was a genius possessed. Zeppelin concerts and albums were like exorcisms for them. People had their asses blown out by Hendrix and Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, but Page took it to a whole new level, and he did it in such a beautifully human and imperfect way. He plays the guitar like an old bluesman on acid. When I listen to Zeppelin bootlegs, his solos can make me laugh or they can make me tear up. Any live version of "Since I Been Loving You" will bring you to tears and fill you with joy all at once. Page doesn't just use his guitar as an instrument. For him, it's like some sort of emotional translator.

John Bonham played the drums like someone who didn't know what was going to happen next -- like he was teetering on the edge of a cliff. No one has come close to that since, and I don't think anybody ever will. I think he will forever be the greatest drummer of all time. You have no idea how much he influenced me. I spent years in my bedroom -- literally fucking years -- listening to Bonham's drums and trying to emulate his swing or his behind-the-beat swagger or his speed or power. Not just memorizing what he did on those albums but getting myself into a place where I would have the same instinctual direction as he had. I have John Bonham tattoos all over my body -- on my wrists, my arms, my shoulders. I gave myself one when I was fifteen. It's the three circles that were his insignia on Zeppelin IV and on the front of his kick drum.

"Black Dog," from Zeppelin IV, is what Led Zeppelin were all about in their most rocking moments, a perfect example of their true might. It didn't have to be really distorted or really fast, it just had to be Zeppelin and it was really heavy.

Then there's Zeppelin's sensitive side -- something people overlook, because we think of them as rock beasts, but Zeppelin III was full of gentle beauty. That was the soundtrack to me dropping out of high school. I listened to it every single day in my VW bug, while I contemplated my direction in life. That album, for whatever reason, saved some light in me that I still have.

I heard them for the first time on AM radio in the Seventies, right around the time that "Stairway to Heaven" was so popular. I was six or seven years old, which is when I'd just started discovering music. But it wasn't until I was a teenager that I discovered the first two Zeppelin records, which were handed down to me from the real stoners. We had a lot of those in the suburbs of Virginia, and a lot of muscle cars and keggers and Zeppelin and acid and weed. Somehow they all went hand in hand.

To me, Zeppelin were spiritually inspirational. I was going to Catholic school and questioning God, but I believed in Led Zeppelin. I wasn't really buying into this Christianity thing, but I had faith in Led Zeppelin as a spiritual entity.They showed me that human beings could channel this music somehow and that it was coming from somewhere. It wasn't coming from a songbook. It wasn't coming from a producer. It wasn't coming from an instructor. It was coming from somewhere else.

I believe Zeppelin will come back and prove themselves to once again be the greatest rock band of all time. It will happen. They'll find someone to play the drums and I'll be right there, front row at every goddamn show. Then I could finally die a happy man.

(From RS 946, April 15, 2004)

_______

So if you see me listening to some Foo Fighters CDs in the near future, you probably won't be surprised...

In all fairness, I really liked what I heard of their last record, and I enjoyed them when I saw them live on two different occasions.

There were rumors in 2003 around the release of DVD and How The West Was Won that Zeppelin would reform with Dave Grohl on drums. I didn't put much faith in that - there's a Zeppelin reunion story every year. But they could do a lot worse than Dave Grohl, especially since he so obviously cares about the music. It's nice to hear. And he's right about Since I've Been Loving You - what an incredible song.

A large amount of my time from age 16-20 or so was spent just trying to get my friends who were into 'newer' music to acknowledge the power and influence of Zeppelin in the bands they were listening to - so it's gratifying to hear people like Billy Corgan, Dave Grohl, Raine Maida, Art Alexakis, and others talk about how great Zeppelin is. Just a reaffirmation, I guess.

Robert Plant - Two Tracks from Mighty Rearranger previewed on French Radio

Courtesy of the frequently updated and always informative Tight But Loose Led Zeppelin website, I had the opportunity to check out the preview of Plant's new album (copy and paste this link into your Real Player if you're interested). A few comments...
I could be wrong, but contrary to what TBL says, it seems there are only two tracks from the album - the first single "Shine It All Around" was not played so far as I could tell. The time given (8:30) takes us into the latter part of "Enchanter," which starts somewhere around the 4:40-5:00 mark.
The composition of "Enchanter" sounds just great - the big drum sound overlayed with the great guitar work. A very cool song. A few quibbles though...the vocals sound like those on Dreamland (2002). I like Dreamland, but I REALLY think Robert sounds much better live than he has on the last two albums he's put out (1998's Walking Into Clarksdale with Jimmy Page and Dreamland). The production, which is at least partially, if not primarily credited to him, makes his voice sound thin and much weaker. I understand a desire to have that breathy, whisper-like quality on some songs, but it seems to appear on the majority. I've seen Robert on five occasions since 2001, and each time I've come away impressed with the way he sounded. There are breaks in his voice occasionally - like on "In The Light" from 2001 - but overall, he still had power and sounded really great in the lower and middle ranges (keep in mind he's 56 years old).
I remember being disappointed when I heard "If I Ever Get Lucky" from Dreamland. Although still a strong song, Robert sounded quite a bit different singing it for the studio version than he had when I first heard the song in May 2001 in Boston's Orpheum Theater. "Hey Joe" was another big letdown after hearing it live. I just don't think Plant's vocals have been captured effectively. It almost seems like he's holding back, and there's no reason for it. Perhaps it was understandable when he left out the "loooooove" scream (and indeed, the whole last section) of "Whole Lotta Love" on VH1 Storytellers - perhaps he didn't want a vocal 'break' captured for a television audience...I don't know - it's not like it was a live broadcast. But with the luxury of multiple takes in a studio, one would think it would give him more opportunity to get the best effort saved for digital posterity. I also understand that Clarksdale, under the direction of Steve Albini (who produced Nirvana, among other grunge bands), might have a certain sound to it. I like the album, but all the songs did much better when they were performed live - "When The World Was Young" and especially the beautiful "Heart in Your Hand." I'm not sure if "Sons of Freedom" was ever done live, but I always thought Robert sounded horrendous on that track.
Side note here - the general riff on "...Lucky" is taken almost verbatim from the first or second track on the Desert Road Justin Adams CD that was sold at some of Plant's 2002 gigs (Justin Adams is probably the member of Plant's Strange Sensation with the most creative influence. He plays guitar most of the time with Plant, but on Desert Road, he played all instruments and sang).
I just popped the "Morning Dew" single from Dreamland in, with the live version of "A House is Not a Motel," to see if that was any better - but it's not a great song to use for comparison.

The songs on Clarksdale are usually described as sounding "unfinished" because of the use of so many early takes. With another producer, things might have been different. One of the strongest songs, and one of the few originals on Plant's 2002 release (Dreamland was mostly a covers album), was "Dirt In a Hole," and that was left off the US release. I had to order a copy of the album from Amazon's UK site in order to get that song (it would later be available on the greatest hits/B-sides album Sixty-Six to Timbuktu as well). It should be understood that I'm not displeased with the songs on Dreamland - really just the production. I think it could sound better. However, after the early Zep years of screaming over three guys who were cranked up to '11' (see Spinal Tap) without a proper PA, is it any wonder now that Robert is in charge of the production that he prefers to whisper in our ears and just bring his own voice to the front of the mix? I guess not.

Any opinions on how much difference a producer can make? They pretty much determine the sound of the album - whether the drums are clear or compressed, whether the vocals are up front or buried in the mix, if the bass is a significant part of the song or just something you might notice in the background if you really search for it.

The second track available on the broadcast is "Somebody Knocking." Listening to it, I kept waiting for it to take off. I was pretty disappointed. I hope Robert doesn't think this is one of the stronger tracks on the album, because it lacks quite a bit in my opinion. I really dig the Middle-Eastern influence in Zeppelin, in Robert's work, and in the work of the bands that Zep has influenced (like The Tea Party - see their Edges of Twilight album). The Unledded (1994 with Jimmy Page for MTV Unplugged) project was great in large part due to the guys Plant called the "Egyptian Pharaohs" (Middle-Eastern musicians lead by Hossam Ramsey).

I heard a band in 2001 with Paul at our local Blue Heron festival called Turku that I thought was fantastic (they reminded me so much of the middle section of the Unledded-era "Kashmir" that I kept expecting them to break into a cover of that song, "Friends," or "Four Sticks") and I bought the only two albums of theirs that I could find...However, Plant's recent habit of laying old blues lyrics over Middle-Eastern music has now reached the point of being overdone.
Maybe repeated listenings will help, but the only really intelligible lyrics I heard were taken whole from the blues classic "Crawling King Snake." My first impression was one of boredom. It may have been alleviated had the song actually 'taken off' or changed direction a little. Alas, it did not.
Maybe I'll change my mind when the album comes out. When I first heard "Funny In My Mind (Believe I'm Fixin to Die)" from Dreamland, I was less than enthused about the accordion-like keyboard sound, but I got to like that a little.

All that said, I think "Enchanter" sounds like a song I'll have on REPEAT by May 4, the day after the album's release here. I hope Rearranger gets some good press and a little airplay. It seems as if every year, the media drags an aging superstar back into the limelight and they get their day in the sun (again) with a bunch of airplay on "adult contemporary" radio stations, an armful of Grammys, and a little overdue respect (see Steely Dan, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, et cetera).

Bull

Educational and amusing.

Case Closed

Matt finally weighed in on what actually happened at the New Year's Party, and since he was the target of my alleged assault, I believe we can consider the matter closed - which means I can stop having to respond to this crap.

While I do feel somewhat vindicated (again), it does not allay the anger I feel about the various comments that have been made and the things that were implied about me. I'll get over it though.

I can only be loved and adored by so many people.

Fantastic

Emphasis added -

Amy said...
Wendy, bottom line is this. You aren't the one who FIRST told me the story. I was the one who asked you if the "incidents in question" really happened. So don't think you did anything wrong, because you didn't!
It upset me when I heard the story because I know what a nice guy Matt is and how much crap he's been through with his leg. And I know how Wyatt gets - and could only imagine how much worse he must act under the influence.

I wasn't there, so I shouldn't have commented on things I wasn't present for. I'm sorry.
This whole thing is such a big weird mess.
______________________________________

Another cryptic way of "setting the record straight" by (again) not telling us who provided her with the original (horribly warped) version of the night's events. And then a great testimonial about my behavior (which is apparently something like that of a steroid-user on cocaine).

I can't expect anyone to refute these allegations. This is the kind of intelligent, incisive look at my personality that I've always longed for, and now I'm truly finding out who I really am. I can't imagine a better analysis.

Ah, the power of the internet. The freedom and security to say things to and about people you would rarely, if ever, say to them in person. I really try not to engage in that sort of thing.
I'm fairly blunt in person, and I try to write exactly as I would speak. I don't pander, side-step, or avoid the issues at hand.

Anyway - I wonder how far this would go if we all had to talk to each other face to face. Granted, I think both Wendy and I will go further than others in saying straight out what we think - but even then, it seems like this would be resolved by now and that we could all agree on a single, standard version of what actually transpired. And hopefully that version would resemble the truth, which is that I never hit Matt in the leg on that night or any other. I'm not sure that such a roundtable discussion would involve anyone who was not present that night. It would necessitate an invitation to the mystery person who gave Amy the story of my supposed assault. I'll admit I am now mildly curious as to whom this might be.

Hopefully, this will be the end of it, but we can never tell what people are going to come up with next in their continuing desire to 'set the record straight' by obscuring it further. Gotta love it. In a helpful and appreciated comment under the "Meet Wyatt..." post, Thom has given his version of the night in question. You might know Thom as Matt's good and loyal friend for a period of many years. Amazingly, Thom has yet to realize the destructive power of my aggressive personality. In fact, despite many warnings, Thom hung out with me last night. We went to a party where alcohol was served. There were no fights. There was a certain team who won three consecutive games of beer pong, but (in an effort to 'set the record straight') I won't mention any names.

Krugman Column - Class War

More evidence of the Bush Administration helping the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Meet Wyatt - Lacking Self-Control and Smacking His Friends Around - since 1981

I've calmed down a little bit now. I talked to Matt, and he's going to try to post something to confirm what actually happened by Monday or so. He's at home right now and his computer's at his Fredonia apartment.

You may have noticed that I've been advised to "let it go," but it really seems like silence would be an admission of guilt, right? Frequently, Matt will just come up to me while in the course of hanging out and punch me on the shoulder or in the chest. I usually hit him back, but this is not a violent exchange, and I don't engage in any Tonya Harding tactics. It's a stupid thing that guys do. I have no other explanation for that, but I can tell you that it is seldom if ever initiated by me. If and when I do hit Matt back, he will frequently feign injury in the same sarcastic way that he normally behaves. He's one of my best friends, and we play off each other well when in conversation by ourselves or with others. It's a good dynamic, but it does include making jokes at the other's expense on occasion.

I really don't remember any smacking around happening at the New Year's Eve party, but it's possible that it was so minor that we (Matt and I) both forgot it. Bottom line is that I never hit Matt in the leg.

Another note - when Matt decides to fuck with somebody, it's usually a complete and well-conducted job. He said something to Loretta a few years ago, to which she replied, "your mom..." Matt's response was to tell Loretta that his mother was deceased, and she believed him for more than a few HOURS, feeling awful of course. It wasn't until much later that she found out he was just screwing with her and she didn't take it well.

In other words, he doesn't say something with a straight face, wait till it's been accepted as fact, and then break into a smile right away. He might let you go on believing it for minutes, hours, days, or weeks. He's good at it.

If you read my original post, I talk about how Matt was at my apartment when Aaron called and told us that Amy told him that I had smacked him around. We were both incredulous. And I still am.

I'm not going to go into an expansive history of how Amy and I have gotten along or not gotten along. I considered it, but it would take a while. Suffice it to say that in high school, I thought she was annoying and she thought I was a jerk. I felt bad about the way I had treated her, and made attempts to make peace with her in late 2002/early 2003 before I left for Colorado. I apologized for being such a jerk. In August of 2003, we got along really well when I came home from Colorado for Laura and Randy's wedding. And I think that's where things stood until she forwarded a couple emails to a large group, of which I was one receipient. The first one - a long diatribe about how bad the Clintons were - upset me but I decided not to reply. The second one was, as I said earlier, a play on the Ant/Grasshopper fable with the theme of ridiculing government programs/services for minorities (like Affirmative Action) and the poor. I was ticked off. First of all, I really hate forwarded mail. Secondly, the whole premise of the email was dumb. If I got something like that now, I would probably post the whole thing on this blog and then pick it apart. Instead, I hit 'Reply-All.' I did take a minor shot at Amy in the reply, but I did so in what I thought to be a fairly good-natured way, playing on her (self-proclaimed - many, many times during high school and also JCC [I heard Amy's devotion to Taye Diggs more times than I could possibly count]) fondness for black men - which is fine. I don't have a problem with it and never implied there was anything wrong with it. I also used an ebonics expression somewhat mockingly (bling-bling). Was this the right thing to do? Well, maybe and maybe not. It certainly depended on who you chose to ask. I actually got two very positive replies from two people that were on the list of original receipients to which Amy had sent the email. I was quite surprised. They were both girls from our class (Falconer '99) from whom I would not have expected a favorable reaction. I admired both of them in high school, but I was almost positive that one of the girls had even more negative feelings toward me than Amy ever did. I was pretty surprised, but I was happy. It bolstered my feeling that I had done the right thing by doing something other than rolling my eyes and hitting 'delete' when I got the email.

Well, needless to say, the email that I wrote put Amy and I back on terms very similar to those which we had been on in high school, and now you see the results: this mess.

I think I'm done now. It would be nice if Matt would post his own account of that night's events, but I've said my piece. Normal blogging will resume shortly.

Response to Follow

Right now, I don't have the time or anger to devote to a suitable response, but I will let you know what I'm stewing about.
In case you missed it, here is the post in question. When I post my response, I'm going to do my best to be civil, although I can't promise that I won't be sarcastic. It's almost too much for me to take.
Last night, I received this comment:
_________________________________
Anonymous said...
Hey Wyatt. It's Amy Gustafson - that evil girl who "makes up" cruel stories to make you look like a bad guy for no reason....

Just to set the record straight, it wasn't Wendy who shared this story with me, so don't flip out on her about it.

When I asked her about Turck's New Years party and if you had really nailed Matt in the chest and then pushed his bad leg - she actually gave me a milder version of what I had originally heard. So if anything - you should thank her for making you seem like LESS of an ass.

Matt and Wendy are probably two of the best friends you will ever have. Honestly, I don't see why you don't go out of your way to be nicer to them.

Whatever happened - it's over and done with. I just thought I'd set the record straight. And don't get me wrong - I don't hate you. I just don't know why people continue to hang around you when you treat them like crap all the time.

You really aren't a bad guy sometimes. I sincerely hope you can control yourself at Aaron & Nikki's wedding.

And, by the way, if I do end up bringing a date of another race or ethnicity, I'd appreciate you keeping your Affirmative Action jokes to yourself.

Thanks so much.
_________________________________

The Affirmative Action reference is to an email I sent in reply to a forwarded message involving a political parody of the ant/grasshopper fable sent to me by Amy. I still have the whole exchange on my home computer, and maybe I'll post it sometime. Right now I'm at school, and I wouldn't want to take anything out of context.

This entire thing seems so juvenile and ridiculous to me, and I suppose that when I post my response, I'm going to be playing right into that. I'm sorry, but I don't think I should just let this go. Obviously, someone wants to provoke me, since I don't believe I ever sent Amy the link to my blog and I doubt that she just happened to stumble on a post I made on January 15. If she's not getting this faulty account of events from Wendy, then the field of 'suspects' narrows even further. Apparently I should be thanking Wendy for making me look like "LESS of an ass" which is something that I will do here and now, and in fact I will extend that gratitude toward anyone who can possibly make me look like less of an ass (as we know, this is one of the most difficult jobs one can possibly have). The task of making me look like less of an ass is like being Press Secretary for President Bush, being in charge of odor-control in a field of cow manure, or scientific studies at the Tobacco Institute. Hey - it's tough. I realize that. And for that I thank you.

Yes, I know that seemed like a rebuttal, but I'm not done yet.

Bisignano on Kilimanjaro

Just got this email from my good friend Biz and wanted to share it with all my faithful readers. I also think John's feat deserves a little attention, given the fact that some jerk submitted a picture of himself a week or so ago to the worthless Post-Journal bragging about his climb. Perhaps I shouldn't blame the guy though - maybe his mom sent it in or something. Anyway, John did it with very little fanfare. I heard about his plans from someone else before I heard anything from John. So here's the email:
___________________
Hey Everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that the Kilimanjaro summit attempt was a success. It was an absolutely amazing experience that began at 6,500 ft in lush tropical rain forest and finished at the summit of Uhuru peak at 19,345 ft among glaciers and lunar-esque landscape. The actual hike itself, apart from being almost completely uphill, was actually at a nice slow pace, allowing us to have maximum energy for the 6th day, the summit attempt. The climb to the summit began at 15,000 ft where every breath was a slight struggle and the weather changed more often than my underwear. We started at midnight when the scree slope would be frozen, thus maximizing our traction and minimizing falling rocks. Plus, we would arrive at the summit right around sunrise. It was an extremely grueling climb that took over 6 hours in almost complete darkness. The stars were beautiful and the Southern Cross had me humming one of my favorite Crosby, Stills, & Nash songs. Honestly, the climb is almost a complete blur. I remember staring up the mountain into the darkness and only seeing other climbers' headlamps. They never disappeared. They only kept climbing. It was a little discouraging to look up so it was a little more comfortable to stare down. Plus, it was easier to follow the trail that way.

As we approached Stella Point, which is the saddle that leads to Uhuru, we realized that it was perfect timing. The eastern horizon was on fire and there was a sea of clouds just waiting to explode with the start of a new day. It was almost too cold to take pictures. The water in my nalgene bottle was frozen. We had another 45 minutes of hiking to reach the true summit, Uhuru, and the sign that marks the highest point in Africa. I guess there's not much more to say than it was an incredible experience. Seeing glaciers 3 degrees from the equator is a very exhilarating feeling. The 5 hour hike down the side of the mountain, on the other hand, was not. I didn't think it was possible to get blisters on the tops of your toes.

I hope that this message finds you all well and in good spirits. I will be back home around the 13th of february. I can't wait to catch up with everyone. Until then, Peace and love! And, Hakuna Matata (too bad Disney got a hold of that one).

-John

Ego-Stroking - Leading Me To Public Humiliation

I was asked this evening by a girl who has been in a few of my history and poli sci classes if I would be interested in taking part in a debate early next month. The debate would feature members of the various political groups at Fredonia (Dems, Republicans, Greens, and Libertarians) and be moderated by the Amnesty International group. The subject would be American foreign policy. I went to quite a few of the College Democrats meetings last semester before the election and volunteered for one of the local candidates. However, I found the meetings often conflicted with my schedule. When I did go, I was somewhat unimpressed by how much was actually accomplished. This is no one's fault in particular. This is a small school and I think political apathy on this campus is probably competitive with the worst levels nation-wide. I also find myself consistently to the left of most mainstream Democratic positions, and Kerry's defeat only pushed me further in that direction.
Anyway, this girl - I'll call her Stephanie because that's her name - said that I should really consider being part of the debate because she claimed that I was a "good speaker." I laughed and quickly pointed out that most good speakers do not find that their face becomes as red as mine does when I talk to/in front of people I don't know, just as it was turning progressively more red as I was talking to her. It should also be noted that when I talk in class, there is rarely any serious opposition from anyone who knows what they're talking about, which would presumably not be the case at such a debate. There is another danger as well, which is that my sources may not be as diverse as they should be and I would simply be echoing Noam Chomsky if the subject turned to international terrorism, for instance.
Another problem would be the question of representation. Am I just supposed to communicate the Democratic position? Would I be locked into stating the Democratic view on everything and having to argue for something I did not quite believe? And if not, then even the Green Party may find themselves outflanked to the left by many of the things I would have to say, which might be confusing to everyone.

One of the many reasons I will likely never be a politician - besides the fact that I do not have the money, status, oratory skills, or looks to make it - is my unwillingness to compromise on most issues. My strong stances on many aspects of domestic and foreign policy do not invite any types of bargaining that provide the grease for the political wheels of our system.

All of this aside, it is likely that I will allow myself to be dragged into this with visions of glorious triumph and the adoration of the masses in my mind - and proceed to make a fool of myself in front of a large group of people. I can't wait.

So True

This is a NYT article about distractions while working on the computer. And I'm posting this article because I was compelled to check the NYT website while in the midst of writing a paper. I'm sure you're not surprised, but it's nice to know people are devoting studies to this problem, which is referred to as 'pseudo-ADD' in the article.

Krugman Column

Yesterday's column - called "Spearing The Beast" focuses once again on Social Security.

Noam Chomsky Speech on Democracy Now

Over winter break, I read Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance. On today's Democracy Now broadcast, a speech he gave late last month is featured virtually in its entirety. Depending on your internet connection, you'll be able to listen to it or even to watch it. The speech is a rough overview of many of the themes he explores in the book.
The broadcast goes for an hour - this is not a news program that lives on soundbites - so if your attention span is limited and you haven't had your Ritalin today, it might be tough on you. However, if you can make it through, the knowledge itself will be a significant reward.

Liberal Migration?

Canada or Bust

It's really quite tempting, although I guess I'm one of those people who would like to change our country from the inside rather than just leaving. After all - how long until the US decides they need to invade Canada to increase national security?

The Reagan Years - A Continuation

I just returned home from class and checked the Times website. This article was part of the headlines. I haven't even read it yet, but I don't really need to.

The people behind Bush II are the same people who were behind Bush I, and they're the same people that were behind Reagan. Georgie W gets a lot of slack for being barely engaged in substantive policy debate and discussion, and also for being just a little lacking in the intellectual department. The truth is that Reagan was very much the same way. Although he was a much better speaker - he could skillfully spin things without stuttering through cliched expressions - Reagan was not a brilliant guy. We have much more to fear from those that lurk behind the scenes and actually construct the policies that the leaders are obliged to sell.

What's going on now, and what has been going on since 9/11, is simply a return to basic strategy by those working behind the scenes. Bush has sold us on war in perpetuity - the glorious "War on Terror." To paraphrase Orwell from his masterwork - 1984 (actually the same passage that concludes Fahrenheit 9/11, which was probably the best and most ominous part of that film) - it doesn't really matter who the enemy is, as long as there is an enemy. As long as the war continues, citizens will turn in their liberties willingly, believing that they are only doing their part - their patriotic duty. 9/11 was a necessary catalyst for those that truly hold the power behind the facade of our government. I'm not sure Clinton would have won if the Soviet Union still existed in 1992, and if Gorbachev hadn't brought in reforms like perestroika and glasnost, it's almost certain that Bush would have been granted a second term.

The true policy-makers need an external enemy. I'm talking here about the individuals that make up the "conservative think-tanks" that you hear about. They're not necessarily socially conservative, but they view the Bible-thumping horde as a useful tool - an ally to help them reach their objective. Of course the war on terror is a sham. The budget that Bush has submitted is heavy on military spending and it slashes social programs. Is anyone surprised? This perpetual war is a fantastic excuse to dump billions into the "military-industrial complex." More bombers, better bombs, more recruiters. See one of the sub-headings on the front page of the Times? It says U.S. Redesigning Atomic Weapons. It's an article about the aging US nuclear arsenal. Apparently, we need to upgrade many of our 10,000 warheads. Otherwise, we might find that they're not reliable - and we wouldn't want to find that out when we really "need" them.

When are we going to need them?

There were significant discussions about the viability of using "tactical nuclear weapons" in the Iraq war. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for “Forces Policy" under Rumsfeld is a guy named Keith Payne. In 1980, he co-authored a paper that appeared in Foreign Policy magazine. The article's title? "Victory is Possible." Essentially, the article's aim was to take the taboo out of using nuclear weapons in a pre-emptive first strike against the USSR. Here's a disturbing piece of the article: "an intelligent United States offensive strategy, wedded to homeland defenses, should reduce U.S. casualties to approximately 20 million … a level compatible with national survival and recovery."

What was the response to this kind of talk? Was Payne dismissed as psychotic and sent to an asylum? Of course not. Now he's helping to shape our national policy. Check this article out, because otherwise I'm going to be writing a lot that will just be paraphrasing. The article was written in May 2003, but the main points are still valid. Even though we didn't go nuclear in the Iraq war, there are people in important positions working to remove the stigma of using nuclear weapons in the future.

And we want other nations to get rid of their weapons of mass destruction? Why? Well, obviously it's because we're the only responsible nation - the one that can be trusted with such weapons to use them only when they're necessary. When are they necessary? Well, when we say they're necessary, of course.

Absurdity.

Well, I have some actual work to do, so I should get going on that.

Elaborate, please

I still haven't found the post for which this comment appears, but I can't devote time to a comprehensive search because I'm at work. The comment was this "...wyatt-- i also want to tell you that paul, steve, and i had a conversation tonight-- and we managed to narrow down our favorite thing about you-- your unfailing ability to describe things in a way that is only characterized by you."

Is this a reference to a unique way of describing events, or is it saying that only I would characterize certain events in the way I do? I'm not sure if this is good or bad.

Robert Plant's New Album Due in US on May 3rd

From www.tblweb.com - the definitive source for Led Zeppelin and Zeppelin-related news:

MIGHTY REARRANGER NEWS There was a short snippet about Robert's new album in Thursday's USA TODAY (with a new picture of Robert -- his hair is a tad shorter than the photo that appeared in January's MOJO). The release date for Mighty Rearranger in the US is set at May 3. It will feature 12 tracks. "We've made a very powerful record," says Plant, who says that new label Sanctuary, "can be a great help in pushing these songs out into the great big music machine."http://www.usatoday.com/life/2005-02-03-coming-attractions_x.htm

Don't be fooled by the trip-hop and Middle Eastern touches - Plant still rocks. Hard. (May)
Entertainment Weekly has a piece on Sanctuary Records with lots of tidbits about Plant's new album
ITS'S SO F---ING GOOD, IT'S OUTRAGEOUS," gushes Sanctuary Group CEO Merck Mercuriadis. "Actually, I should really play you something over the phone." He's raving about rock god Robert Plant's forthcoming solo CD, his first disc of original songs in 12 years. And like an excited schoolboy, he preempts our interview for a full five minutes to hold the phone against his stereo's speaker. Receiver buzz and all, the track's robust Led Zeppelin III--meets-- Ray of Light electro-lush charms leave a mighty fine impression. In fact, L2T wouldn't be at all surprised if Plant, following Morrissey's triumphant 2004 resurgence, is crowned 2005's comeback king. Believe it, Led-heads.--Thanks Stephen Humphries, George Boes
_______

I'm sure Kristen will appreciate this news, because she's a tremendous fan of all Robert's solo albums.

Alright. That may not be completely true, but it's only because she's going by the 80s stuff that Biz has, and I believe she has yet to hear 1993's Fate of Nations, which is a personal favorite of mine.

We must welcome Kristen to the blogging world - she has registered with Blogger and is presumably in the process of producing her first posts. She left two comments, but I can only find one, and the other one I would like to have explained to me.

Anyway - everyone should save their money because it looks like Plant's going to tour this spring/summer, and it's always more fun to go to great concerts in a group of friends.

Abe Update

Abe is alive and well in New Orleans. I received a call from our favorite former resident of Stockton, USA last night around 9pm. I will admit that he sounded mildly intoxicated. However, as everyone knows, it is the sincerest form of flattery to be the receipient of a friend's drunk phone call. It means in the midst of that person's good time and mellow mood, they're thinking of you.

As you know, Mardi Gras is this coming Tuesday. Predictably, the festivities have been underway for sometime down there. Abe was accosted by a religious figure of some sort shortly before he called me. Since he was walking alone, Abe theorized that is was possible that he looked lost. When I inquired if he meant lost in the spiritual or physical sense, he replied that he was not sure. I wonder how many souls are "saved" in New Orleans during this time every year...

Anyway, Abe has taken a single-bedroom apartment outside the downtown area - actually well outside - perhaps as far as 10-15 miles outside of the city, and he has a three-month lease. The apartment required him to have a job to sign the lease. Unfortunately, the job he held for one day turned out to be somewhat of a scam. From what I could gather from Abe's description, it seemed to involve managing an outfit that sold counterfeit perfumes, and the job fell through when a court ruled the company could sell the fragrance, but only under a different name.

So presently, Abe is without a job and subject to terms of a fairly expensive lease. He is actively looking for a job on a regular basis, although he may be wrapped up in the celebrations next week.

Abraham has decided on the next goal in his life, and it may take him to culinary school. That's right - Abe wants to be a chef. I, for one, can certainly see Abe in a chef's hat - cooking up a storm in a fancy kitchen somewhere.

The three-month lease will afford him the flexibility to extend his stay if he finds a job he likes, or to return relatively soon - presumably in April.

Although he has not met many people, he was nearly propositioned by a well-endowed woman who claimed it was her birthday. Abe was not taken in by the ploy for endless free drinks - he provided the woman with only one. He assured me that her breasts were larger than his head, and that, as he said, "was just one of 'em!" Remarkable, indeed.

There you have it - your Abe update. Be sure to drop Abe some birthday wishes soon - his 24th is coming up next Friday, February 11.

Pension Privatization Results in Chile

As promised earlier, here is the article from the Times about the results of privatization in Chile. If you happen to check this link after the article can no longer be read free of charge, I can send you the text in a Word file.

Essentially, the article finds that the system has been an economic success from the standpoint of the national economy. However, here's a key passage:

* "What we have is a system that is good for Chile but bad for most Chileans," said a government official who specializes in pension issues and who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation from corporate interests. "If people really had freedom of choice, 90 percent of them would opt to go back to the old system."
Among the complaints most often heard here is that contributors are forced to pay exorbitant commissions to the pension funds. Exactly how much goes to such fees is a subject of debate, but a recent World Bank study calculated that a quarter to a third of all contributions paid by a person retiring in 2000 would have gone to pay such charges. *

The Privatization of Social Security

If you watched or listened to the State of the Union address on Wednesday, or if you've been following the news at all, you've heard about the Bush plan to privatize/"personalize" Social Security. The lingo is very much up in the air, since although Bush has been on the record for years in support of privatization, recently it's turned out that that particular word doesn't inspire confidence in the American people. So from privatizing, the push turned to "private accounts" and now to "personal accounts." Guess what? It's the same thing, just a different name. However, since poll numbers illustrate the level of public support dropping with certain terminology, the press has been pushed to adopt the less coherent, more vague "personal accounts." Some reporters have refused to do so, and they're being called biased by Republicans for shaping the debate in "Democratic" terms. The fact is, these reporters are simply calling the program what it actually is, and they're using the same terms Republicans were using just a few short months ago.

I tend to get very few comments on this blog when I discuss things like this, so obviously most of you are coming here to read about drunk girls and their antics than to hear about my politics, but hey, it's my blog and you might as well learn something while you're here. And I'm just the pretentious prick to think I can teach you something. So read on!

Essentially, the effort to privatize Social Security is a scheme to drive the stock markets up and make the people who already have a lot of money quite a bit more money. This will happen in a few different ways. This is the way I understand it. I'm not an economics major, so this will obviously be a simplification.
The money that goes into Social Security now would be diverted in part into a private account. The way the money gets invested and who does the investing will have a large effect on how much you get in the end. Fund managers will charge fees, and those fees could add up to as much as 1/3 of your contribution. What stocks are you going to invest in? What's going to affect the values of those stocks?

Let's take a small example. Let's say you work for a large company, and you're in a union. Your union is negotiating on a new contract, and part of the contract promises wage increases and increases in benefits. You know that if the contract is eventually accepted, the price of that company's stock will decrease, since the benefits for the workers will mean lower profits for the company. Are you, as a worker, in favor of higher stock prices that will benefit you in retirement - or are you in favor of the increased benefits (say they're in the form of a family dental plan and your kid is going to need braces next year)?

One of the more obvious objectives of the Bush plan is the undercutting of the labor movement in this way. But say you're not in a union and you don't care about anyone who is.

Instead, you're a mid-level executive at a marketing firm. Part of your private account is invested in x Corporation. The company is considering moving its customer service center to India to increase profits. Obviously, this would be good for the stock, but you know that your sister-in-law works at the customer service center and she has three children. She's going to lose her job, and you're going to profit from it.

I'm sure there are countless other examples, and the ones I've offered are kind of weak. I'm typing this on a break between classes. Anyway, hopefully you get the point. Any column Paul Krugman writes for the Times over the next couple months will likely be on this topic, and he can obviously explain it a lot better than I can.

A similar system of privatization to the one that Bush is proposing is already in place in Chile, and has been for the last twenty years or so. There was an article in the NYT about this just last week, and if I can find it again, I'll probably post it.

Just be aware that Bush is going to be trying to sell his program to the American public over the next few weeks, just as two years ago, he was trying to sell the danger in Iraq and the need to go to war. You'll hear him talk about the crisis in Social Security and how the program will be "flat bust" in 25 years. Never mind that we need anywhere from $3-4.5 trillion to implement his plan, which is roughly 1/3-1/2 of our ever-increasing national debt. But hey - let's give the highest income bracket another tax cut. I'm sure that will help.

Maureen Dowd Column in NYT

Plans are in the works for a Creation Museum. Perhaps all you need to know about the Creation Museum is that going to be located in "rural Kentucky." Yeah, that's right.

The philosophy of the museum? "The imprint of the Creator is all around us. And the Bible's clear - heaven and earth in six 24-hour days, earth before sun, birds before lizards. Other surprises are just around the corner. Adam and apes share the same birthday. The first man walked with dinosaurs and named them all! God's Word is true, or evolution is true. No millions of years. There's no room for compromise."

As you know, all those pesky fossils and carbon-dating methods are only put on Earth to test your faith.

Next time you're in rural Kentucky, be sure to check it out.

Groundhog Day/State of the Union

From theillustrateddailyscribble.com

The Waiter You Stiffed Has Not Forgotten - NYT Article

"I can never understand why anyone would be even the slightest bit rude to someone who is about to touch your food."

My thoughts exactly, and I have said virtually the same thing on many occasions. You don't fuck with the people that work on your car, and you don't fuck with the people who prepare or serve your food. Common sense. If you don't tip well, plan never to return to that restaurant, and hope like hell that the person you stiffed doesn't show up working at a place where you dine regularly.

The Real Thing

Three years, eight months ago. At my parents *second* wedding... June 2, 2001.

Don't ask me why I put this up. I'm just in that familiar mood yet again. I happened to be looking for a document on a disk and popped one in that I had made before leaving for Colorado two years ago, marked "Leaving Home - Last Saves," and in a folder named "sm" for soulmate was this picture. And now I've put it up on this blog. Am I a nostalgic, hypersensitive schmuck? Probably.

I'm stomping on the urge to write a lot here about this particular aspect of my life, and I still need to get a bit of work done before I can retire to my bed and what I hope will be roughly 6.5 hours of blissful dreaming. Goodnight.

Hicks

Yes, we lack universal health care and substantial public funding for higher education. And yes, we're considering amending the constitution to curtail the rights of a significant segment of the population... But who would have predicted that the United States would wind up as the backwoods swamp of the 'civilized' world?

The key passage in the article? Try this on for size (emphasis added):

"...these findings set the United States apart from all other industrialized nations, said Dr. Jon Miller, director of the Center for Biomedical Communications at Northwestern University, who has studied public attitudes toward science. Americans, he said, have been evenly divided for years on the question of evolution, with about 45 percent accepting it, 45 percent rejecting it and the rest undecided.
In other industrialized countries, Dr. Miller said, 80 percent or more typically accept evolution, most of the others say they are not sure and very few people reject the idea outright."

The provincial attitudes toward sex and religion in this country never fail to astonish me. What are people teaching their kids? All that talk about pushing America forward into the 21st century... Apparently the 21st century pushed back, and most of the country fell on their ass somewhere back in 1885.