The end of the beginning

This is merely a philospohical discussion... In no way, shape or form is this a spoiler...

Last night was the end of an era for me. Like so many others in my age bracket, I grew up with Star Wars being an pretty large part of my childhood. I have faithfully stood by the films over the years, despite all the criticism on George Lucas and all of the amazing amounts of geekness that manages to smother the commonality of the theme that the film is trying to deliver.
I am also going to go out on a limb and say that every one of the films that Lucas did had its own level of greatness to it, but again the media and those that think they are Star Wars experts wanted to do nothing more than compare all of the films to the one that each thought was the best.
What this last installment of the Skywalker side of Star Wars does it fit each one of the films in its right place, making the entire series a well done piece of craft that will be remembered throughout time. I think that their are some redeeming themes in the series that people too often forget-strength, compassion and most importantly, the Buddhist nature.
This film does what it is supposed to do, awe us and at the same time hold true to the tradition of Star Wars by telling a story of a not so distant future where the line between good and evil is so thin it becomes transparent, in the confusion of what is just.
The thing about the film (I am trying not to give away too much if you havent seen it) is that the finite line between good and evil can be seen by you and I because we know what the end has in store, but Lucas does a good job in making sure that the characters do not have a sense for what is to occur. There are many times where if Anakin were just communicated with a little different, we may have seen something different.

However, it is Anakins destiny. This Star Wars is a step back into the other films, it has the look and feel of the classics, even with the new technology. The reason for this is the transistion begins into the darkness that the other two films were in when they were introduced. This film serves as a good balancer between the two not as much liked films which had a lot of bells and whistles attached thanks to the advance of technology, but this film has enough one on one battles with lightsabers and samuri like jedi-mind shit that it all seems to make perfect sense when considering all the films together.

I am going to add more to this as more people see the film, but if I read a friends blog and it gave all the shit away, I would be pissed. If you liked any of the films, this is the one to go see. Read more!

Everybody Wake Up....

Good Evening...
Well, I seem to have another gig on my hands. This time my client is an organic farm outside of Seattle. I do not want to go into eloborate (sp) detail about this place as I am sure that it will take up too much time and I want to discuss some other issues.

The past several months have been difficult ones for me as I struggle to find a position which I can see myself working for the long run. I went back to college so that I would not have to keep taking these jobs that pay low and don't offer much in the way of providing me with the capital I need to service my debts.

I remember when I was a young fresh punk, living life by my terms and doing okay at it. This was a time where things were simpler, rent was cheaper and people were happy making $5.50 an hour--okay, not happy, but able.
Now, I sit on the other end of the spectrum, where anything less than $15 is an insult to the amount of time and energy that I have spent learning life, but getting that 15 or more dollars an hour requires you to sell your self to the highest corporation because they are the only ones that can pay a person what it takes to live in the real world.
I don't want anything extravagant, but I do want a decent car to commute home to my decent living space in.
Alot of me thinks it is just Washington. The tax system here sucks! If I was a business owner, I would not open up my doors here--no matter how pretty Mount Rainer is. The part that is really nerve raking is that upon average, Universities have increased the costs of tuition for a state school more than 12% on average every year for the last four years--oh wait, then there are no jobs out there to begin repayment of the debt.
Yet the media doesnt cover this.
I do, some nobody with a blog on the internet. It is my personal story. $50,000 worth of debt--and for what? So I can have a better looking resume and still not get interviews?
Thanks.

As far as I knew, this is how the American Dream is supposed to work out:
Your parents get a little tipsy, pops forgets the rubs and 9 months later, youre born.
Mom stays home baking all the food while Dad goes to work or plays golf, then comes home and has a nice dinner waiting for him and a nice drink of choice.
I grow up in a good school with the other kids of all different colors and we all get along together because this is a great country and we are all taken care of. We all do well in school because we are all told from a young age that an education is the way to get ahead in the world and that we need smart people to figure out what we need to do to keep the American Dream from vanishing.
We play sports and get cars to drive our dates around in. We apply to college and get in and become fraternity men and sorority women who then meet and mingle and eventually graduate, get married, get decent jobs and start the cycle all over again when we get a little tipsy, I forget to apply the rubs and 9 months later, someone else is born.

But that is not how it happens.
For me, it was more like this: My family couldnt find work in Buffalo and they knew that the hard times and the reality of the hardship were just beginning, so they were forced to move so that their new family would have a shot at the American Dream.
They first moved to Atlanta, where we should have stayed, except my father was more concerned that his son was going to grow up a redneck racist, so after 5 or so years and the neighbours saying the word nigger or boy one too many times.
Next thing I know, were even further from my releatives when we move to Seattle. In Seattle I quickly discover that people here don't like people from other areas moving in and taking the jobs or the culture that they have worked hard to keep as they like it, but they sure like the money that the new people bring in because it raises the value of the property...
Outsiders not welcome. Move on.

So I go back east for college, but I keep thinking of how awesome the West is compared to the East--it seems like there is really room for advancement, blah, blah, blah. I come back here after I have had enough of the East again, but going to school in Seattle is a joke--the UW, the biggest school in the region (and the only 4 year public) will not accept me because of my "growing period" at SUNY and the community colleges don't allow for Stafford Student Loans-so after many years of struggling at various jobs that don't pay the bills, I keep thinking JUST GET THE DEGREE and youll be back on the road to the American Dream.

Well, thanks to George W, 911 happened (yes, I do blame ole' W and his war buddies for 911 and someday when that fucker is dead, we will all find out the truth). Since then, fewer people than ever are working jobs that actually pay the bills because this country is no longer in the business of trying to march the capitalist machine along for the good of the people, they just do it now for the good of a handful of people. I am not going to be one of those people--and I do not want to be. I would fucking derail this whole machine because I read and I know that the American Dream has become a derailed nightmare for the majority of us out there and half of the country is optimisitic about the future and trying to do what they can to make change happen and the other end is simply ignoring the warning signs and trying to get all that they can before the door finally closes on them as well.

Meanwhile, Bush is trying to rape the social security from the people and give it to his croonies so that they can just take, take and take more and more. What is funny about this whole issue is that he knows good and well that he isnt going to conquer the social security reform, but he will make changes to it, which people will get upset about, but what we should all be upset about are all these people who work at Walmart, who work at Target, who work in food service who do not have health care. Fuck social security--if we don't get people access to healthcare, most of the consumers that people like W and his croonies profit off of are going to be DEAD.

This my friends, is the American Reality. Bet this wouldn't get good ratings on Fox.

Your comments are appreciated. Read more!

Anti-American needs to become the latest american trend....

I can't say that I am an American anymore, even though I was born here and haven't left much. It just doesn't fit me anymore to think of myself as an American when we live in a country where everything is an illusion.
Take for example, this bullshit that is going on with newsweek. It seems like every week there is yet another lesson in how absurdly stupid our government is--and I don't mean just in the national spotlight, but locally as well. This Newsweek bit takes the cake because like so many other instances, the media machine is too chicken shit of covering the real story because they will catch too much shit from the people that pay their bills.
I keep getting asked why I don't go into journalism and I will use my little plot in cyberspace to tell you all why--because I believe in my common man. I wouldn't cut it as a journalist because I think higher than the 6th grade reading level that you have to write toward. I have too much belief that our forefathers thought of wise things like gun control because they knew that society was bound to become the way it is today. I believe that they meant to write legislation protecting the freedom of the press because they knew people George W. Bush were going to do things that the public should be aware of. Perhaps stirring up a fair share of conspiricy theory in this country might do it some good, given the pure shit that we are dealing with in an age where information is shared at the speed of light....
BUT WHAT INFORMATION?
That Lindsey Lohan might be a little plumper than Paris Hilton.. DUH
That Everybody Loves Raymond is not getting as much love as previously thought.
That Newsweek caused deaths and riots in Afghanistan because of the following senatance:
Reports show that torture devices such as throwing the Koran down the toilet are being used on prisoners in Abu Grabe (however you spell it).

All of this is just bullshit. People arent rioting because of Newsweek-they are rioting because they are sick of the US and its policies which it doesnt even follow.

Then there is the local shit. They refuse to cover how shitty the job market is in Seattle. Instead the republicans are playing this game called, We want to be Govenor!

I am just going to stop--I am about to go to bed for the night and now I am developing a headache--either because of this torrential rain we are getting (but remember, we are in a drought) or because this shit doesn't matter to anyone because when it is all said done, we, the Americans, the people who work to pay our taxes and save up to buy IPod's, we are the ones being handed this bullshit to deal with and the Bush and DeLay's of the world are sleeping in their comfortable homes, passing a $500 dollar a plate dinner through their black souls.
Send me to jail for speaking my mind about these "public servants", at least I wont have to pay rent anymore. Read more!

Moments like this, must be remembered.....

First off, I didnt write this, but I was going to write something along these lines.The question that we really all need to ask ourselves is this:

Does the arab world read Newsweek? Do people that riot in the streets because of one sentence in an american magazine? Or could it be as this article states, that people do not like Americans telling them how they need to run their country.
I am beginning to think that most people think this is the greatest country in the world because they don't go anywhere else.
Once again, thank you George W., you capitalist asshole.

News... weak?

Last week, Newsweek published an article "reporting: that, "sources tell Newsweek: interrogators, in an attempt to rattle suspects, flushed a Qur'an down a toilet." Soon after, riots broke out in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza, and Indonesia, among other places. The White House and Army quickly apologized, insisting they would look into the allegations. But there was also a sense that the riots breaking out had more to do with political unrest that had already been plaguing Afghanistan than with Newsweek's allegations. Just this weekend, Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, declared, "foreign hands are trying to disturb our parliamentary elections and are against the strengthening of the peace process."

The U.S. seemed to agree. According to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers, the senior commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry thought that "the violence that we saw…was not necessarily the result of the allegations about disrespect for the Koran… [Eikenberry] thought it was not at all tied to the article in the magazine."

Yesterday, Newsweek issued an apology for its original article. "We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst." Pentagon spokesmen jumped on the apology, attacking the credibility of Newsweek. White House spokesman Scott McClellan says, "It's puzzling that while Newsweek now acknowledges that they got the facts wrong, they refused to retract the story. The report has had serious consequences. People have lost their lives. The image of the United States abroad has been damaged." Pentagon spokesperson Lawrence Di Rita offered, "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said."

It's important, before we go jumping to conclusions that the media is completely without credibility, to identify exactly what Newsweek got wrong. Note: "On Saturday, Isikoff [author of the Newsweek article] spoke to his original source, the senior government official, who said that he clearly recalled reading investigative reports about mishandling the Qur'an, including a toilet incident. But the official, still speaking anonymously, could no longer be sure that these concerns had surfaced in the SouthCom report." Moreover, Isikoff had shown the story to a senior Pentagon official, who did not dispute the Koran claim.

So here's the thing: Newsweek didn't publish anything incorrect. Sources did tell Newsweek that he recalled a Koran/toilet incident in the report. But it turns out that the source cannot be sure that the incident was in the SouthCom report. Note that the editor of Newsweek states that, "The source had been reliable in the past, and was in a position to know about the report he was describing." Also note that the Pentagon is still trying to find out if the allegations are true. According to General Myers, military investigators at Guantanamo "have looked through the logs, the interrogation logs, and they cannot confirm yet [emphasis added] that there were ever the case of the toilet incident."

I'm still perplexed as to why Newsweek apologized. They did not print anything incorrect. Rather, they used a source that proved reliable in the past that turned out to not be able to peg his claim directly to one report, but still holds that the claim is true. And yet, in their May 23rd issue, Newsweek writes, "How did Newsweek get its facts wrong? And how did the story feed into serious international unrest?" Give me a break. It's seems naïve at best, and ignorant at worst to think that Newsweek's allegations of interrogators desecrating the Koran single-handedly fomented the deaths and unrest throughout the Middle East. It's hardly the first time allegations of this kind have emerged. And we still have yet to hear the final word on whether or not they are true.

Not only is Newsweek bowing to pressures, the New York Times even used their story on the issue to shamelessly defend and one-up themselves: "Reader surveys have said that the use of unnamed officials is one of the biggest reasons their trust in the news media has eroded, and several news organizations, including The New York Times, have been tightening rules on the use of unnamed officials." Likewise the BBC covers the story with the headline, "Koran story brings US journalism crisis." They go on to discuss how the BBC has reassessed its journalistic practices of late. Good for them. But it still remains to be seen that Newsweek got it all wrong. So to all those jumping to conclusions, be it Newsweek themselves, Pentagon officials, or Muslim clerics threatening a holy war: let's just settle down for a minute. The jury is still out on this one.

Read more!

...and then there's me and my sarcasm... Read more!

Happy Birthday Sean.... ne of the only guys that I would do the old drink and drive commute for--and he rewards me by taking a god awful shot of me and my huge eyeballs that are not normally this huge.... Read more!

This is pretty much how the weekend went--Rob rolls in from Pullman on Thursday for a little LCD soundsystem at the Showbox. Read more!

Million Dollar Baby was worth 3 bucks at the cheap cinema..

After spending most of my morning recovering from a slight hangover compliments of Captain Morgan, I fell asleep to watching movie trailers at www.apple.com/trailers . This inspired me to go and check out a movie that I have wanted to see for a long time--million $ baby.
I don't want to take up a lot of time here going through the motions of the film, but I would like to make a few comments about it
and since this is my blog, I am going to just that.

Million Dollar Baby
Best Parts
Clint Eastwood always seems to be one of the marks in a good film. What a legend.

Morgan Freeman is sort of the same way--if he is going to narriate (my spelling sucks), then we have the makings of a winner.

When you put these two together you have the geriatric version of Tom Cruise and Will Smith. Hollywood gets their hardon because Eastwood generally only comes out of the woodwork when his hands are all over the script and million dollar baby is no exception.

There is a cast of characters is so dynamic that it would have worked without the two afforementioned stars, but the Freeman narration in the biggest seller of the picture. Sadly, I didn't especially see how Hillary Swank was given the nod that she was and Freeman was distanced. Her performace is great, but it's no better than Boys Don't Cry-- she manages to play tomboy characters quite well, but I think Eastwood's performance overshadowed hers, although the white trash texture seemed to work well.

However, the whole ending is predictable by the way that they portray the villian in the story.
I don't want to spoil it, but let's just the Shiavo family could have taken a firm lesson from this case--Eastwood ended up playing Michael Schiavo and her family was played by, well, her family.

Thats All for now. Read more!

The American Political Machine needs servicing, but its out of warranty.
I woke up this morning to find Alexandra Pelosi on book review on one of the public access channels that I manage to get with my 12.95 most basic cable that money can buy (so basic that Comcast doesn't even publish that it is available). If I had the spare money to buy this book, I would because after watching her for the last hour, I want to give her money so that she doesn't have to sit on those press corps buses waiting for the right moment to speak to someone who is running for public office.

I must admit that I have thus far been successful in avoiding speaking about politics on my blog thus far because I have felt such a distancing from the spectrum since the election that I was more on the side of what is the point when no one is listening ????
Sure, people are listening, but with moreso of a deaf ear than anything else. The republican side believes that they way to justice is through the ears of god, no matter what you are doing that goes against the principals set forth in the bible (after all, its all about intrepretation, isn't it?)

The democrats, which I would like to focus on for nothing more than my blood pressure, need to redevelop themselves as a party and get the actives off their asses and into the spectrum making a case for the American family as it really is in this stage--which is not what it is marketed to be. The flying circus that politics has been over the last quarter century is not what the country wants or needs, but rather what has happened by allowing the principals of democracy to be sold to the not the highest bidder, but the biggest bluffer. The dem's have sat by, attempting to play the honest game of texas hold 'em, why the rest of gamblers at the table are robbing the bank. We as the common citizen can really do nothing to make this change because our voice is muted among the media masses, which don't even remember how to cover the stories that they want in detail--they are not to educate the population, but more to sell to them, to entertain. Look at the majority of the things on the net--the information superhighway--it has been turned into the retail drive-thru.

The heart of all this comes down to what Pelosi is speaking about in her book, how all of these candidates are able to pick and choose what the common man sees because the reality of it is that image means everything when it comes to the election. How else would America condone someone for getting a Blowjob, yet turn around and elect a bible toting cokehead?
If you go to Amazon.com and look up her book, they have many pages of excepts from the book. I am going to type out just a little tidbit for you to allow you to see why I think this book is worth having around...

"When our turn came (to meet the president in a photo op), I said, "Hello, Mr. President" and he said, "Hello, pain in the ass. Where is that stupid camera of yours?" I introduced him to my boyfriend and he instructed him to rein me in."

Hmmmm. Nice work man. This is not the "w" that I think most women that voted him would think of. W is for women? I think w stands for Whoop Ass. What is really wrong with progressive ideas like allowing women to speak, to take pictures of public officials? I could go on and on about this type of thing, but the book has so many little gems like this in it, I would rather you just took it all in yourself.

Anyway, that's my time for now. I am going to now go and repeatidly bash my head against something hard. Read more!

The Long Thought Process of Stand Up!

Stand Up, Stand's Out...

Some people think I am addicted to DMB or have a huge mancrush on Dave Matthews, which I will concede to being slightly true to the point. At the same time, I will also say that I am attracted to what I consider valiant efforts in anything. If you are doing a good job at what you do, chances are I will like it.
I have always thought that the Dave Matthews Band contains the hardest group of solid musicans in the business. They built their fanbase from the beginning by going out there and making connections with their fans. It isn't the tricky marketing or the label, it is mostly those guys going out there and doing what it is that they do best--making good music.
I think it is hard for people to understand exactly how someone can listen to dancing nancies 50 times or see watchtower live that many times, but I can easily say that about sports. It is just something that really frees my soul from the stresses that accumulate living on this rock with all of these capitalists.
But I am sure I will spend time going on and on and on and on and on and on about that later in the summer once they start touring.
Right now what I want to cover in this space is the new album that it would seem we have been waiting for a couple of years for.
Now, again, I need to go back a little bit and explain how I began to feel the way that I do about this album. Perhaps I should grab some coffee.
When the DMB went into the studio to record the new album, the decided to open up a webpage and let the fans watch the progress take place and to see what new things were going on inside of the studio, so we could try to feel what they were feeling. They brought in a new producer, Mark Badson, who recorderd mostly poppy shitty hip-hop, 50 cent, Em, etc. The things that I read was the Badson approached DMB and said he wanted to work with them and they were of the sure, why not feeling, vibe, etc.

Here is the link to the site http://www.dmbnewstudioalbum.com

When they first began recording the album, magic started to happen, updates were going on through the website all the time and it appeared that Batson was working hard to make sure that the Dave Matthews Band was not Dave Matthews and a bunch of studio musicians. Carter seemed to be the most overjoyed of the all.

Then the updates stopped coming as much and details about what was going on ceased as well. Then about two months ago, the album finished and there was a release date. I then just happened to meet Dave here in Seattle at a Starbucks and spoke to him about the newest in new and he seemed in person to really be excited about the new album, which made me excited about it.

But then the waiting and the speculations began and I started to wonder what this album was going to be like. After seening them several times this summer, I was addicted to new songs like Hello Again, Sugar Will and Joyride (some of which didnt make it to the album)....
All of this teasing was getting a titch on the old side, to be honest.
Then VH1 released the album to listen to in streaming mode, which I appreciated. However, as with most new albums, the first listen, I was like WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? I gave it a few more listens and I must say, for the record, I still thought the songs weren't all that good and it was missing two very good songs, sugar will and joyride. Again, I was in the WTF mode because even songs that looked good on the newstudioalbum site sounded like shit. For example, Old Dirt Hill-- has this shitty, poppy intro with boy band singers---- NO GODDAMN IT ANYTHING BUT BOYBAND MELODIES!!!! and the beat, the skat of Dave makes that song so good, but it gets ruined by layering it.
Okay, don't worked up, stay with me here boss...
Hello again, same thing--great live song, but it loses so much energy because it feels like the band is trying to do much in the space it has.
So, I thought that for the first time since RECENTLY (the ep), I would not buy the cd the day it came out. I would just sit by and pick it up from someone, whatever.
Then the day it came out, yesterday, I couldn't bear not to go out and at least give it the attention it deserved. DMB and I have history and I need to respect that.

I am glad I bought it and played it several times yesterday.
HOWEVER---the cd's have a new encrytion in them that makes them impossible just to upload to your computer and copy to things like an IPOD, which really makes a big difference with the way that we listen to music--and it is frustrations like this that make me not want to buy any cd's ever because I know if I wait a little while a little gang of nerds will have it online for my to download at will.

SO FUCK YOU RCA!!! YOUR JUST GOING TO LOSE YOUR CUSTOMER BASE!

Okay, I am calm.

I do, however, think its particularly funny that they would choose a band like DMB who built their fanbase on the greatful dead concept of touring and trading to make a case against piracy.

Now, onto a play by play of the album...

Dreamgirl:
Amazing intro, but this should not be the first song on the cd. It is too goodie goodie mixed with a little raunch. Consider the other intros: best of what's around, so much to say, pataga la what the fuck ever, etc, this is pretty weak for the intro song, but a good one to have fo sho. Still, I think you need to lead in with something a little stronger.

Old Dirt Hill (bring that beat back)-- and kill boy band melodies... Seriously, a great song is ruined by making it too radio friendly-- DAVE--you have enough people, you dont want more people on the ride man...
I am looking forward to seeing this live without the BRING THAT BEAT BACK shit.

Stand Up-The first song that is going to piss off republicans on this album. The review below this one from EW relates this to Dave's leading the choir of fans, and so be it. Its got some interesting everyday like electric hook's which is also going to piss off the fan base. Live, possibly okay.

American Baby (intro)--again, this album is not going to be on some peoples favorites politcally, but with the outstanding innovation that American Baby is getting, maybe some people are just ignoring the point behind the lyrics.

American Baby-I smile when I listen to it, but after hearing it a couple of times live, it will be the time where I am looking for the closest pisser. Great song for non Dave fans.

Smooth Rider--The verdict is still hanging in the air with this one. Again, trying to be something that is more than I think the reality is. Seems like it could catch on.

Everybody Wake Up--Yes, Yes, Yes. This is a great song and I really wish everybody would wake the fuck up. I am not a fan of the entire band signing the chorus of that song, however... but I guess it is fitting, but seriously Boyd's voice just overshadows Dave's and not in a good way. I would really love this album if it wasn't mixed so well, it just gives it a really canned feel. I can already see Boyd signing the chorus to loud live--but regardless, I hope that at least a handful of people listen to this song and realize what the band is trying to say...!

Out of MyHands: PIANO-- YES! but who is playing it? This is a good song, but totally different than what DMB normally does, but it works. This one live from Roseland is good, but you keep waiting for Carter to just let loose, but there is no where in the song to make it happen.

Hello Again--One of my favorite live songs, period. This version does not do the song the satisfaction that it needs to do. To canned in the studio, but it is growing on me, but if you have the chance to aquire the live versions, they are overflowing with the power that this band has and we have yet to really see on any release. Songs like this show the potential that the band has to really blow the lid of it's venues, but for whatever reason, they seem to shy away from the power that they have. I think they would have been smarter to keep this one as a live version, even on the album. I don't think there is anything wrong with giving a few live ones on a cd with the studio versions. I think that a number of people would understand DMB better if they included a couple live ones on a CD. The intro to Bayou, is awesome

Bayou--The first couple of times I heard this song, I didn't like it because it is obvious that it is intended for those live moments that give people a reason to yell WOO! in concert, like we all do now on Warehouse. That being said, this song is the closest to feeling like dancing around the room that this album has and it fits perfectly behind Hello Again. It is important to note that I think this is the song where the album really opens up and starts to kick like you expect this gang to do. Don't be afraid to dance, no matter how white you look. I want to see this live with Trey Anastasio playing along--it almost begs for his electric wisdom. Look for this song to be a big hit on tour this summer in the middle of their power set. With the ease of the beat, this song could go on for 15 minutes with the right intro.

Stolen Away on 55th and 3rd-- Simple Sunday morning jam. Not a bad song, but it belongs in the first 5 tracks.

You Might Die Trying--Good guitar and nice entry to being a good jam song. This song has continued to grow on me. Simple, but allows for a lot of jamming, but there is an annoying factor in the mixing of this album because you aren't going to be able to pull of some of the editing live, but minus that, I think people are going to dig it, each member of the band (sans Carter) has the chance to jam in this one.

Steady as We Go-A panty throwing song for sure. I can't think of who this reminds me of, but it aint DMB. It's too soft and I don't think we will see this live except as a solo at the end of a show, but it doesn't really live anything to think about while driving home.

Hunger for the Great Light--Did DMB want to be a part of the Travelling Wilbury's ? Where is Roy Orbinson when you need him? Then you get a little further into the song and it changes into a rocking little ditty that I love--I keep saying I like this song the most, but not as a Dave song but as an ode to the Travelling Wilbury's? It's different and I am interested to see this one live as well....

Phew, so there you go. Overall, not too bad. My buddy Matt seems to think that this album is going to rank as their highest seller, but I don't think it is going to come anywhere close to the Crash Cd. If people have not dialed into DMB by this point, they are not going to switch because of this album. There is too much of a political message for some people to swallow and I think in some ways it is in two many different directions for the simple common music listener to appreciate.

The band really likes it and the critics seem to appreciate it but the fan reaction seems to vary significantly. There is a heart sound, a folk sound and a little african, so I think that those that appreciate good music will dig it after a few opportunities to take it in, if they can get past the overall popiness of it.


Okay, I need to take a break, gotta go pick up my homies. Read more!

EW review: DMB's inspired 'Stand'
Latest disc hopscotches among a dizzying array of sounds

By Tom Sinclair
Entertainment Weekly

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 Posted: 3:31 PM EDT (1931 GMT)

-- The latest record by Dave Matthews Band is called "Stand Up," just like the second Jethro Tull album, leading some -- OK, maybe just me -- to wonder if that peremptory title is some sort of nod to a group that can be seen as the DMB's spiritual forebears.

Think I'm joking? Consider: Both Tull's Ian Anderson and Matthews are frontmen unafraid to aggressively flaunt their fey sensibilities. Both bands prominently feature instruments (flute, violin) not commonly associated with rock, which they use to propel some exceptionally freewheeling musical flights. And both make music that is patently idiosyncratic and defiantly different.

That said, it must be noted that the phrase ''stand up'' probably has more prosaic -- or is that priapic? -- implications for Matthews. ''I woke up to the angels a-singing in my head/You looked so good here next to me, the angel in my bed,'' he sings on the rousing ''Stand Up (For It),'' encapsulating his spiritual/sensual worldview in one neat couplet.

One of Matthews' gifts is that he can come on like an unrepentant lech one minute -- as on the languidly lusty ''Dreamgirl'' -- then turn around and espouse a spiritual humanism that's wholly convincing.

Such dualities remain intact, even under the guiding aegis of producer Mark Batson, who has twiddled knobs for Beyonce and Seal, not to mention Eminem and -- gulp -- 50 Cent. Hiring such an urban-associated dude to tinker with the DMB's trip might seem a dubious move, but don't worry.

"Stand Up" is no ill-advised attempt to go gangsta (although that would be something to hear). Batson has presided over the proceedings with judicious restraint, doing what the wisest producers have always done -- that is, stir a band's creative juices, inspire great songwriting, singing and playing, then get the results down while everything's fresh.

Grander-sounding and more ambitious than "Some Devil," Matthews' reflective 2003 solo effort, "Stand Up" is brimming with potential singles. The disc hopscotches among a dizzying array of sounds and approaches, ranging from the Otis Redding-in-a-mellow-mood vibe of ''Smooth Rider'' and the jambalaya-flavored funk of ''Louisiana Bayou'' to the hushed, piano-and-drums-driven resignation of ''Out of My Hands'' and the swirling, string-enhanced paranoia of ''Everybody Wake Up (Our Finest Hour Arrives).''

Sometimes, of course, the most moving songs are the simplest. ''Steady as We Go'' is a piano-propelled declaration of love that sounds like a lost Carole King ballad. It's sublime.

And hey: If the DMB are ever stuck for another record title (or source of inspiration), they might want to consider "Tapestry." After all, Jethro Tull devolved into self-parody ages ago, but in our book, even King's lesser albums still stand up. Read more!

NIN--With Teeth.

**I must also add that my buddy Rob gave a great analogy to the title...
He feels that With Teeth comes from the feeling that this is a metaphor on America-- living the American Dream is like getting a blowjob with teeth. I'll let you think about that one....


At first I thought this album bites. Now, I am just sad that it has to be on top of the Review of the Rolling Thunder Review, but that's how things happen from time to time.
With Teeth is the first album from Trent in something like 5 years and I think that if it were only a small period of time between the time that he developed this album and the last one, I wouldn't have the issues that I do with it.... However....
The last album that NIN put out was a nice little ditty called the Fragile. This album, a dual cd, is one of the best albums of all time and I would have no qualms with putting it with the Rolling Thunder, but this one seems like an idle attempt to put something out in the marketplace. Don't get me wrong, there are some good tracks in here, but for five years of hiatus, this type of art is just not acceptable. Sure, rock gods worth millions should take some time off, but I keep thinking that Trent should have just retired on top with the Fragile or taken another couple of years off before releasing an entire album.
The single, the Hand the Feeds, is good and is worth airtime and I think that leaking it as a single with about four other tracks would have been good. It's wierd, overall the album is worth having, but NIN fans who liked the Fragile will be dissapointed by this attempt at saying --Hey Fuckers, I am still here. We have been waiting too goddamn long to get this--give us more...
Which it is rumoured that he will be giving us much more.
This album is alot more introspective than the others.
For example, Only is one of the best honest songs that any muscian has ever put out. It really speaks alot about how he actually feels--- here are the lyrics...

I'm becoming less defined, as days go by
Fading away, well you might say I'm losing focus
Kinda drifting into the abstract in terms of how I see myself

Sometimes, I think I can see right through myself
Sometimes, I think I can see right through myself
Sometimes, I can see right through myself

Less concerned, about fitting into the world
Your world that is, cause it doesn't really matter anymore (no, it doesn't really matter anymore)
No, it doesn't really matter anymore
None of this sh... really matters anymore

Yes I am alone but then again I always was
As far back as I can tell, I think maybe it's because
brecause you were never really real to begin with
I just made you up, to hurt myself

I just made you up to hurt myself
Yeah, and I just made you up to hurt myself
I just made you up to hurt myself
Yeah, and I just made you up to hurt myself

And it worked
Yes it did!

There is no you, there is only me
There is no you, there is only me
There is no fucking you, there is only me
There is no fucking you, there is only me

Only
Only
Only
Only

Well the tiniest little dot caught my eye and it turned out to be a scab
And I had this funny feeling, like I just knew it's something bad

I just couldn't leave it alone
I cut off that scab
It was a doorway trying to seal itself shut
But I climbed through

Now I'm somewhere I am not supposed to be
And I can see things I know I really shouldn't see
And now I know why now, now I know why
Things aren't as pretty, on the inside

There is no you, there is only me
There is no you, there is only me
There is no fucking you, there is only me
There is no fucking you, there is only me
* * *

Anyway, as you see in the lyrics, I think he is slightly soul searching. In the nin.com arena, he actually answers questions from his fans and I think that since looking at that, it really makes me think alot more about the album and its validities, but you should be able to just listen to a cd and understand what the artists is trying to say without him having to explain what he went through to develop it--at least that is how I always feel about these kinds of things.
There is another album that is set to come out very soon.
There is a huge .pdf lyric sheet that goes in accordance with the piece, that I think would make the piece a little more stimulating....
Goddamn it, this is what I hate about this--the more you check out about this album, the cooler it fucking gets!!
I have spent too much time on it...
Tracks to download...

All The Love in the World
Love is Not Enough
Only
(if you have really good speakers) Beside you in time....

and download the fucking PDF Read more!

Rolling Thunder Review--
Life is funny sometimes.
Just when you think you have had enough of the old skool rock n' roll, someone comes into your life and introduces you to something that is far from new and fresh in the world but it is new and fresh for you.
Enter the Rolling Thunder Review.
This could be the best live CD ever made. When I say that, please consider that I am a big fan of live music, but there is something so special in this dual cd covering Dylan's crazed tour.
Here is how I percieve this tour coming together:
This was recorded in '75, Dylan had been in the business for a decade or so and from what I have gathered in the little bit of Dylanology that I have, he was already growing tired of the same old touring concept. He decided in the tour before this that the next tour needed to be a different and they came up with the concept of the Rolling Thunder Review. Some speculate that the name Rolling Thunder came from the codename used to bomb one of the many countries we decided to make conflict with at the time. This was considered widely the belief because several of the musicians in Rolling Thunder would constitantly wear t-shirts that simply said, "Guam", which was one of the areas that the fighters would actually take off from in their carpet bombing missions to free the world of communism...
sigh.
However, Dylan disputes this. He claims that the idea came from asking God what to call the tour and he heard Rolling Thunder outside the house--(which it turns out was fighter planes from the local military base, so same difference..)
Anyway, the Rolling Thunder Review was not known as the Bob Dylan show--his name was not connected with it whatsoever. Basically, they would send out people to the local colleges to handbill the college with the annoucement--

THE ROLLING THUNDER REVIEW COMING SOON!!

Then, a day or two before the show, Dylan and the rest of the gang would roll into town and go to see local entertainment, street musicans, local club talent and recruit them to partcipate in the Rolling Thunder Review. The show became a mix of vaudeville performance and zinzanni under one sometimes big-top roof. They would start with the locals, who would play and build the momentum and then Dylan and his gang, Joan Baiez, etc. would take the stage and perform some acoustics and part the stage, like a part of the act. Then, they would come back out later and perform a long set of electric with a final jam with all the musicians doing a ho-down of sorts. FUCKING AMAZING MAN.

If you don't feel the love for Dylan, I would say that you should still give this a whirl--it is Dylan the way that I think alot of the hardcore fans must remember him--his voice isnt as dense and scratchy as it is in the studio and his spirits in all of these tracks are so uplifting, it really makes a difference in his performance. This seems to be the end of a lot of things--a change in the air. This is the end of the hippy era of rock and roll, Vietnam was knocking hard on the door--the times, they were a changin'.

Tracks to download:
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Isis
Hurricane
(and my personal fav) Love Minus Zero

This is not one to download, this is one to keep. The double-cd comes with a DVD with two songs filmed from Rolling Thunder and a copy of ISIS. It is worth buying again and again. Read more!

The Interview

So, just to explain what this is: I have a degree in writing, so one of the things that I decided to do was make sure I started both journaling as well as working on some writing exercises to get me back into the craft.
These are all rough sketches based on some suggestions in a book that I am working with-- this is supposed be an exercise where you draft something based on a bad interview--
Feel free to comment---PLEASE!!

The Interview

As promised, this is the first exercise in the book....
Fiction...

As I disconnected from the conversation on my sharp new cell phone, I instantly had a tick of nervousness flow through my body like the time that I stuck the dull butter knife into the electrical socket as a young boy because I didn't want to go to school that day.
Interviews always seem to do that to me. Here I am, trembling and sweating, like I just spent time asking a girl to the prom. The reception was bad even though I just bought the thing less than 10 days ago. I felt like I needed a better communication device than a regular phone if I was looking for some kind of fancy pants job. They always ask you what your cell number is and when you tell them that you don't have a cell phone they look at you like you have some kind of problem. When you are looking for work, you don't want to seem like you have a problem. Problems are no good. They cost money, make insurance more money and cut down on production.

So, I got one of these cell phones and then I get this call on it and the whole time I feel like that stupid Elvis Costello like Verizon guy, can you hear me now??? as I am twisting around in my own house, trying to get just a few bars of service so this women's tone stops getting more and more aggressive. I want to shout into the earpiece that it her own fucking fault for scheduling this interview on my cell phone--what the hell does she think?
I almost want to be like Paulie in that film Good Fellahs-- where he doesn't even use a phone, but has people relay messages to him. That would be awesome, but it would probably freak people out more, but at least I would feel a little more respected.

By the end of the conversation, I was certain that this human resources mid-manager would thank me so much for my time and that she would never get back to me, but she didn't. She paused, made a louder sigh than I am sure she had intended and said,
"Well, I think you could be qualified for this position, but I must tell you that we are looking for a little bit of a commitment here. We want to invest in the right person."
I try to chime in with just the right tone of what these HR people like to call professionalism, which to me translates into tell them what they want to hear, so I come back with a:
"That sounds just what I am looking for-- I think with my education and experience, I could certainly perform at the level you are looking for."
She paused for a moment, a moment too long and I, in all of my wisdom, said, "Hello? Are you still there, while looking at this phone, wanting so bad to throw it hard against the wall and taking pure joy in watching it smash into however many pieces...
She doesn't respond fast enough for me to shout the dreaded-- I HATE THIS FUCKING PHONE!!
Which then catches her off guard and she manages to eek out:
"I'm sorry, I am just checking my calendar!"
I immediately jump right back into my cave of demise, my self-hating circle, thinking its all over, all the professionalism in the world is not going to help me now because I have just said FUCK to an HR lady, which is corporate America's sad equivalent to a Catholic School teacher. I imagine her checking her rulers to see which one she is going to give me on my hands, right on the knuckles for saying such evil things.
Instead, I chuckle like a madman, knowing full well that I am at the mercy of another women I have never met.
"I am new to this cell phone world, sorry." I manage to eek out.
Another pause, which feels like a test. I know she's still there.
"How about coming in for an interview? I am looking at my calendar and it seems a week from tomorrow would be a good fit for me."
A fucking week?
"Sure, that sounds great."
"Okay, wonderful. You will be meeting with myself and one of the managers, Dante. 8am. I'll email you directions. It says you have email, is that new for you as well?"
"Uh, no. Thanks for asking though."
"Well, I just wanted to prepare myself for more profanity, that's all. Anyway, look for an email from me regarding directions and such. Be sure to dress professionally and thank you for your time today. See you a week from tomorrow."
"Sounds great."

Wonderful, great. All I keep thinking in my head is fuck, why is it taking so fucking long and yet my mouth translates this into Wonderful, great. They are going to be on the lookout for sure. Like Jack Nicholson -- "wait till they get a load a me!"

No need to continue to concern myself with the phone call, truth is, the interview is set and I am now on my way to becoming involved in another job which will inadvertently lead me into another dark chapter of my life.
These kind of things, interviews, just tend to stress me out. This latest invention in the business, the phone interview, is of no exception. This is the screener where they don't even want to get to know you before they judge you. They don't want you to come down to the office and see what you have in person, but they want to see how you sound on the phone and then if you pass that, its on to the live moments with a stranger who you will more than likely never speak with again once you have the job, unless you don't do the job to someone else’s expectations, political conflicts or if you are going to change your insurance plan. These people make a career out of the stress from writing the cover letter to the offer of compensation and they don't make it easy--taking classes directly aimed at how to pull the worst out of every client that comes into their domain looking for a gig.
The worst part is the waiting, the nervousness that builds on the week. As the time rolls by, I sit, thinking for hours about what questions are going to come up in the interviewing process...

There is always the standard questions, the tell me a little about yourself, what brought you to apply for this position--I like to refer to them as the feeler questions. Then there are the scenario questions--the ones that take a long time to answer, the ones that they watch how your face looks when they ask you the questions. "Name a moment where you faced a conflict."
"Your in a management position and you discover one of your employees may be stealing. What do you do?"
Ahh, the scenerios, my personal favorite.
They always manage to throw in a couple of opposite questions as well. How do you manage? How do you like being managed?
Not to mention the all time favorite--
What is your strength? Followed by: Name your biggest challenge and how you overcame it.

All of these questions seem so simple, but I can see these HR people working with the highest level of accountants to screen and score my answers and handing them off to a team of logistical people who then take a focus group full of insurance brokers and other corporate citizens to see if my answers make me a socially acceptable person or if my resume will have rejection letter STAT stamped on it.

Or maybe not. The freaky part is that I have no idea because I couldn’t bear to ever sit through a class on any of that kind of thing in college, so now I just pontificate upon it and get night sweats thinking of what in god's name they are going to ask me next.

So, I wait the week out by applying for more jobs to more postings for things that I don't really want but that might lead to meeting the right person with the right connections to get me the dream job that only people dream of--then again, I think to myself that I should have just been like those other kids who just wanted to be a fireman and nothing else because firemen are cool.

Monday Morning 7am:

The alarm clock on my shiny new cell phone begins to play a chime that is instantly annoying as soon as it registers in my brain. At first, alerted by the new sound, I wonder in my slumber what that noise is, then it comes to me, slowly. The moment has began.
The day of the job interview and the bed feels so comforting, I do not want to get out and put on the fake plastic suit and talk about my strengths and my weaknesses, I want to stay here, nestled deeply in my pocket of the featherbed and have someone special come and deliver breakfast in bed for me, my motivation.
It's not going to happen. No one likes to snuggle with someone without a job and as this thought registers with me, I open my eyes and the day comes into focus, blurry at first glance.
I can hear the shower running in the adjunct bathroom and my housemate and I share. Since I am unemployed and no one likes to sleep with unemployed people, it must be him in the shower. It could also be his girlfriend because he is, after all, employed.
I have exactly two hours to wake up, shave, shower and put on the suit, my only suit and then sit in the traffic that this town seems to breed like rabbits at home on the prairie.
My roommate, housemate or his girlfriend or perhaps both of them are cutting into my planned, timed schedule.
I need to get up. I need to get up.
My dick is a raging hard on full of angst and urine. It is so hard from laying in slumber thinking about naked women all night that it throbs to be released, but I don't think there is time for it now, no there can't be time and I think all it really wants to do is just piss anyway. But then I started thinking about the last time I got laid and how it was so good because it wasn't supposed to happen. We were supposed to talk but the minute she saw that I bought a new bed, she was on it, just to see how comfy it was and then we sat there, talking innocently enough when her eyes dropped into the droppy bedroom eyes that I am always so attracted to and next thing I know we are tearing through each others clothes, not speaking because we know what the other person would say and then her mouth is riding my member and we have gone too far not to fuck.
Just thinking of this moment brings my hand gripping it tightly, trying to recreate the moment through memories of her mammories and before I know it, the small, watery drops of precum pump out from the dry well. I match my strokes with the thoughts of her rhythm riding me, playing with her tits, looking at me as she begins the ascent into cumming, how beautiful of a cum face she has and then...
I start to feel the familiar twitch as I am about to come and look around for something to wipe up this huge fucking mess that I am about to make. I grab something off of the ground a pair of pants, I think and boom!
I lay there, personal post-coitus, thinking about how good that was, how it is like instant energy of sorts. The water in the bathroom turns off and in a moment the bathroom will be available.

* * *

The shower does me well, as does the shave. Fresh and clean, pump primed, I am ready for this interview. The extra 15 mintues to masterbate have given me a feeling of a need to be slightly rushing things, but I am not overly concerned. I might have to cut out the usual pre-interview latte, but sex with your best friend is better than anything a grande latte with a little nutmeg can do. I change quickly, minding the time, wondering what the traffic is going to be like. I afford myself a few attempts at tying my tie to where it looks as perfectly as it needs to be. By the time that I am acutally ready to get on the road, I am more than 20 minutes behind schedule and I pray to the traffic gods that somehow, someway, this traffic is going to magically allow me to get to my destination fast enough that I don't have to engage myself on another cellular conversation with this HR professional.

As I make my way to the interview, I decide to began scanning the various radio stations to see what the oncoming traffic scenario will be like and with each press of the button, another commercial of another product, oldies and one, traffic and weather---after these messages from our sponsor. I decide to stay camped out on this station while making my way through the morning commuters, the people with established jobs. They should build another expressway for people that actually need to get to their destination on time--the ontime expressway, with the no-truck when I am trying to get somewhere option.
Finally, after about 4.5 minutes of commercials, the broadcast finally comes on to tell me that I am headed into the modern American traffic jam and the alternative route that is usually blocked is wide open, the problem here is that the turnoff for the shortcut that never works was two exits ago.
Sigh.
By the time that I actually make my way through the slight fender bender that seems to have been caused by an elderly women with those silly sunglasses that fit over regular glasses. I think they might need their own freeway space as well, which then discounts the thought that I had earlier, so now I am dually frustrated because this woman has not only slowed down my commute, but she has also crushed one of my dreams and made me late. I am now going to need to call this HR woman and to tell her that I am going to be late. I can imagine her taking my file and making a small red mark in the upper right hand corner of my paper.

tobecontinued.... Read more!

Dave At the Gorge--Count 10 rows back and thats me!!! Read more!

I guess I can only send one at a time!!! Read more!

Finally, the warehouse released my seat locations!!!
Sunday will mark my 50th DMB show (including the two shows that I saw of Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds and Dave and Friends. I feel like this is a milestone in my life. I was looking on one of the big fan sites, dancingnancies.org, and there are some people that are claiming that they are close to 1,000 DMB shows, which I find either impossible or silly--even if all the tickets were free.

But without further adue....
San Francisco SBC Park
Dave Matthews Band Aug 13 2005 SBC Park

SECTION

FLD 11
FLD 11
FLD 11
FLD 11

ROW

11
11
11
11

COMMENTS

FIELD RESERVED

The Gorge!!!!

Dave Matthews Band Aug 19 2005 Gorge Amphitheatre

SECTION

SEC A
SEC A

ROW

10
10

COMMENTS

RESERVED SEATS
inc. County Tax
Dave Matthews Band Aug 19 2005 Gorge Amphitheatre Premier Parking
Dave Matthews Band Aug 20 2005 Gorge Amphitheatre
General Admission
Dave Matthews Band Aug 21 2005 Gorge Amphitheatre

SECTION

SEC B
SEC B

ROW

34
34

COMMENTS

RESERVED SEATS
inc. County Tax
Wow, that took a lot of work...
So, there you have it, four shows in one week. Aug is going to be a good month--if only I could find the right person to go to these shows with!!!!
Read more!

www.fullcirclefarm.com Read more!

Sunday morning, wake up its storming...

In my head....
I love Sundays. I can hardly understand why the hell people get out of their comfy beds and go to church so early on Sunday--it just doesn't make any damn sense. I can understand the need to be religious, we all need something we can lean on, but there is nothing better than laying in bed and looking through a paper that manages to keep you entralled through the morning.
I, however, am no longer in bed. I am simply sitting in my chair that I have grown accostomed to sitting in as I plan to type for an extended period of time, my small tablet laptop placed accordingly.
So, as I was reviewing my blog, I noticed that I ended the last entry with the discussion of the organic farm...
The name of the place is Full Circle Farm-- and it seems like such a nice job, but I am merely keeping it in mind as a backup for this other job that I am not going to enjoy as much, but I will certainly make more. Right now, as I am getting older, the more moula, the better, sad to say.
The interview was a good one, I really felt like the guy that manages the operation and I connected on a number of levels and I need to get back into the process of knowing more people like this guy and the other people that work at the farm--real people that are doing real things with their time.
I am supposed to speak with him on Monday to schedule another interview to speak with the owner of the farm. I have to admit, I am torn about this position. If it werent such a long commute and the pay were a titch higher, I would probably take it and tell my yuppy friends that it was the best I could find in the meantime and that would be that. I can easily justify things like this to myself because I know it is doing good things for the good people on the earth and I think that is essential. We have to do as much as we can because the W's of the world are doing as much as they can to lead us ass first into a world that no one really wants.

I finally found the book that I got from a friend about writing, so I am going to begin to write a bunch of short stories and post them on here--this has been something that intially sparked my interest in these blogs in the first place. So, I am going to start with one this morning to get my creative juices flowing.... Read more!

Chicken In

Good Morning.
I am trying to keep on with this writing thing, but this week has cruised by so fast I have hardly had enough time to think, let alone transfer my thoughts to writing.
Let's see, where to begin?
Well, I am not going to be able to go into great details about much of anything right now because I have another job interview which I must prepare for-- it is in Carnation, which is about 45 minutes from where I live. The job is working on an organic farm, which seems like it would be a fun little gig, but I am a little concerned about the commute. With the price of gas and the sketchy territory that my car is in, it doesnt seem like the best idea to secure a job with a company that is in the country.... but if I like it enough, I think I am going to try it out.
I am getting a little desperate at this point.....

I am still waiting for the DMB seating to be released for the gorge and the san francisco shows--it seems like they should have posted yesterday, but it hasn't happened yet--although, I will say I am pretty confident that the seats are going to be nothing short of amazing, but I guess we will have to see...

I was going to go to Pullman this afternoon, but decided to pull out at the last minute. I need to stop going and doing all this nighttime and weekend getaways and save money that I dont have and really start applying for jobs and such. It is graduation weekend and I wanted to go for that and see Heather, but her other friends are coming into town and I would stick out like a sore thumb with the girls in their Thetaness. I would just get overly annoyed and not have as much fun. Another weekend will work out much better....

Alright, well procrastonation has taken its toll-- time to rock out with my socks out. Read more!