A Milwaukee Tarantula

...in King Arthur's pants?

Kim, Alex and I headed north and purchased a fun filled weekend get-away-deal at the Milwaukee Hilton. What was the combo special that attracted us? It wasn’t the Paris Hilton Room Service Extravaganza, that shit’s got some shit on it. We opted for the Weekend Water Park/St. Peter & the Vatican Exhibit, or as I like to call it: The Holy Water Park Package. Alex did everything that could be done at the water park (not that you sick fucks, didn’t you hear it was the holy water park package???) and I love watching that kid playing on water slides, pool basketball, you name it we dunked it.

The Legacy of the Popes exhibit was at the Milwaukee Public Museum (I’m pretty sure that’s what it was called; we were in public anyway which is always dangerous with me). Alex was mostly interested in the popes that fought wars, the conversion of Constantine, merging his standard with the flaming cross image, Pope Gregory I (I think) repelling the occasional Hun attack. Alex was incredible, such a good boy for his mom who was really excited to see the stuff on tour. Me, I gave the boy my own version of papal history as we looked at each painting:

“Alex, this was Pope Leo, he was actually a Virgo. This was Pope Urban. Of all the popes, his street cred was the greatest. Pope Innocent? Not so much. That’s how we got Pope Innocent II. Oh and look son, there was a Pope Alexander.”

Alex: “I want to be a recycling man.”

So much for my plan to retire on indulgences handed out by the boy.

While we were waiting for the Vatican exhibit to open, we decided to see what the Milwaukee Public Museum had to offer in the realm of science and nature. After seeing many a dinosaur skeleton and wondering how big their poop might have been, we ended up in the bug room. In one of my finest father and son bonding experiences we spent 15 minutes or so taunting a tarantula. Hey, if there was a ‘Please Do NOT Taunt the Tarantula’ sign, it would’ve been a completely different story. The Milwaukee Public Museum fucked up, not me. The following is pretty close to accurate.

Alex to tarantula: “Na, Na Boo Boo, you can’t get us.”
Me: “Be careful son, this might be one of them quick talking arachnids, a Quentin Tarantula-arantino .”
Kim: *audible groan*
Me: “Ok kid we better go, the dead popes are waiting. See you in hell tarantula!”
Alex: “Yeah, see you in hell tarantula.”
Kim, making the sign of the cross: “already it starts?…before we go to see the St. Peter exhibit?!?”

Thinking quickly, I began parenting…

Me: “No son, Daddy made a mistake. We shouldn’t just go around cursing and saying hell for no reason. Just saying hell isn’t so bad, but cursing and being obnoxious can lead us down a road that is bad. If Daddy keeps saying things like hell and disregarding important rules he could go to hell and I don’t want to go to hell, there are tarantulas there. And then I’d actually see the tarantulas there…in hell, without the safety glass. This whole thing is like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Alex: “Can we have McDonalds after the Vatican?”
Me: “Yes we can son. Yes we can.”

One More New Link

I was excited to add links for my Cousin Mike, Lady Di and my evil twin E-Lise.

I'm equally excited to add a link to Laura's blog. Besides being the person who (in my unaware and uneducated opinion) saved my good buddy, she's a great writer and I always smile when I read her blog. I need to say something nice anyway I spewed a bunch of bile earlier in the day. The world should be about love or some shit like that.

Visit my friend Laura and see great pictures of her and Dev's little angel:

http://www.kroushlconflict.com/blog/

The New Links Are Here

Finally. I’ve added a link to the blog of greatest guitar player ever. Sorry other guitar players. This person doesn’t need to practice. His guitar used to be in the trunk of his car. I am not showing any favoritism because this particular guitar player is related to me. I have also added links to the two great gals who are becoming real friends as a result of being e-friends. Will the wonders of the internets ever cease?

----------------------- - - - -------------------- -- - ----- - -- - - ---- --- --- - ---- --

I’ve got a feeling the WhiteSox are going to get their asses kicked by the LosAngeles Angels of Los Alamos. The SOX have always had problems on the Left Coast, they went to the Playboy Mansion last night (I hope there was no trouble involving Johnny Drama, Paul Konerko ‘n Ralph Maccccccccccio) and the Angels have plenty of bones to pick with my beloved SOX. I hope AJ strikes out and tries running down to 1st. There’s gonna be a fight. The SOX are so cool. What I say next is probably going to anger people more than the blue shit I threw in the general direction of the North Side team a few weeks ago.

I loved the ’85 Bears, but fuck the ’85 Bears. The WhiteSox and their leadership are cooler than those guys, especially if they can somehow manage to repeat. Even if they don’t repeat, fuck the ’85 Bears and the whole Characters with Character. Ditka was the biggest hypocrite, literally 5 minutes after make the speech to those guys about not wasting their time and talent on endorsements he (Da Coach) did adds for everything, he tried to rip the Isotoners from Dan Marino’s hands, he wanted to change the name of Preparation H to Preparation D, and when he returned to coaching he traded everything the Saints had (including the owner’s parasol) to draft Mr. 4:20. Yes I know my son’s birthday is 4/20 and the first bastard that gives him a grateful dead album is going to spend a month digging my foot out of their ass. Ozzie is a real baseball man and knows his shit. If he ever goes anywhere else, the SOX better hope it’s not within the division. When it came to player personnel Ditka was and is a joke. The SOX are actually playing better this year (minus Garland) than last, Ozzie is Ozzie and there is more substance in his pinky than Ditka has in his whole body (just watch him on NFL Countdown, Ozzie would never do shit like that).

Yeah, I loved the Bears when I was a kid and I’ll always love the franchise. Just the stories and what the SOX are doing with the success they earned, way cooler. If they can make it to the post season you know they will not lay the same kind of egg the Bears did the year after the Superbowl, losing in the first round to the Skins. The Joe C article on the trip to the mansion was great. And these rooks, Anderson and McCarthy thinking they have a shot with Heff’s Helpers. I guess Brian Anderson struck out more times yesterday than he has all season.

On a serious note, this trip in CA is an interesting counterpoint to the trip Kenny organized to the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame at the beginning of the season. He helped bring more heat to the boneheads who did not vote Buck O’Neil into the Hall of Fame and used the cache of the world champs to do it. Class all the way. The shots of all the young WhiteSox being in awe of meeting Mr. O’Neil and talking up their visit multiple times this year. Imagine any of the ’85 Bears and their management doing anything for someone other than their own “legends.”

Fuck ‘em.

Go SOX.

Bag

Antoine Walker is a bag.

So my sister and I are back in e-contact and I couldn’t be happier. We’ve always had a sort of weird relationship. We’re like characters on Lost. There’s some reason we were in the thing we were in together, but we can’t figure out what it is. I’m determined not to lose e-contact this time. She and her husband are doing a great job raising a wonderful kid and life seems to be treating them well.

Jason Williams is a bag. A dimebag.

Can you tell I’m watching the Bulls/Heat game while I write this post?

No Century of Progress practice tonight, but we’re getting together tomorrow. We’re all on the same page with these new songs and pretty excited about them. For all the times when it feels like we are pulling in 3.5 different directions, it’s worth it when we all seem to be on the same page…pulling the same page(?) And that’s why mixing metaphors is a bad thing.

Pat Riley is a bag. A hairbag.

More of My Less Than Popular Ramblings

This may be another entry that makes people who come here wonder why I bother to write such junk. Good question. For better or whatever, this blog replaced my stupid journal, daybook call it what you will. I write about my family and friends, stupid lists of stuff I think I need to do, I write a whole lot about baseball and sports in general, song lyrics, practical nonsense, and thoughts about religion.

Something about this weekend is bothering me. I had a swell time with my friends out at the Annex and even the aftershock at Twins on the next day. However, in the course of all the fun, I engaged in some gossip and telling mean stories all (or mostly) for the sake of some yuks. By the way, I’m pretty sure I was the only person doing this. Many of the stories I tell revolve around embarrassing events or things said and done that are less than flattering. I feel sort of bad. Now somewhere behind the back of my mind I think, ‘well I make myself look stupid so it’s ok to do what I do’ – but the other people that get splattered in the stories, they didn’t ask to be a part of the folly did they?

Please don’t mistake this for Catholic guilt or anything like that. I really did say some bad junk, and I think anyone in my shoes might step back and wonder (a few days later) ‘should I have really said some of that crap.’ I believe all that stuff that people call Catholic guilt, when people just beat themselves up mercilessly for doing something wrong – I don’t think that’s Catholicism properly understood. Catholicism is about forgiveness, repentance (in the original sense of changing one’s mind). That other shit, when people beat themselves up and say I’ve sinned, I’m a dirty sinner, I’m not worthy of God’s love or anybody’s love for that matter, that seems to me to be the work of the Devil (feel free to tune me out here, I’m saying some pretty unbelievable and definitely un-provable stuff).

I get some of my friends who refer to themselves as “recovering Catholics” mad at me when they talk about Catholic guilt and I say, “What is that? I don’t recognize that.” Maybe this is silly naïve ed talking, but I think any priest that plays the guilt card and constantly reminds their flock that they are fallen, isn’t worth a damn – and by the way all the good priests I know (and I’ve gotten to know many in recent years) do not teach that, or that is not the core of their teaching. Forget any realities that may or may not be associated with the church and just think of it from the point of view of telling a story. If you want to drive people away from doing the right thing, tell them they are crap, they are not worthy of love and they’ll quickly come to the conclusion, “Why should I give a fuck?”

Anyway, when I talk about things I do wrong or things that I am ashamed of (let’s not have the same conversation about the importance of overcoming my shame, save it for fucking Dr. Phil), when I write about this stuff here….

…I feel better.

Ahhh…

Thanks friends.

Serious?

I’m not talking all that seriously about getting serious. But I seriously need to think about getting more serious about things that need my attention.

1.) centuryOf Progress needs to practice on Thursday. I had to move stuff around last week (for good reasons) – but we need to finish two new things: The End of Everything, and The String. These have been a long time coming but I think we’re close.
2.) I need to make those changes to the breather cover so I can send the new review copies out (not to be confused with the New Zoo Review copies, that Hippo hates everything).
3.) Work more on getting the free site up for the breather record – something pretty easy for me to use so when I have tracks for the next record I want to preview for people – I can put them up there.
4.) Go golfing with Cousin Mike so we can golf…and figure out how or what we want to do floatingBasement wise. I really love getting these discs out to people. The looks on their faces are priceless (again, literally worth nothing). I can only imagine the horror (not to be confused with The Horror The Horror) on their faces when the get a disc of new mayhem.
5.) I need to talk to the Century of Progress guys about possible running orders for the record we’ve been making. We’re not quite at the ‘we’re finished’ stage yet, but I want to make sure we don’t waste time trying to finish things that just won’t make the final cut.

That’s a bunch of stuff, and I’ve been pretty bad lately with my music project organization stuff – but that’s because I’ve been writing (new songs, the dis, the No Trick Pony thing), I’ve been doing family/friends stuff – see last several entries, and teaching has been kicking my ass. All these things are great, time to get a little more focused on my other projects. Death is coming soon.

Note to Potential Despots

A large part of the evidence against SadMan in his trial are signed documents, presidential decrees calling for the elimination of large groups of people. This should be a lesson to present and future butchers of people everywhere. STOP SIGNING SHIT! Before you eliminate a political rival, a group of people planning your assassination, or you just want to engage in some good ole ethnic cleansing think before you act. The next tribunal could be yours. Remember, if you have already subdued a nation you no longer have to follow bureaucratic procedure. You have become the procedure. Did you spend all those years in evil medical school and learn nothing?

See, that’s the problem isn’t it? There is no real, professional educational institution for the bloodthirsty rulers of tomorrow. In the absence of such a place let me suggest you read three books. Xenophon’s Cyropaedia (The Education of Cyrus), Machiavelli’s The Prince (and the Discourses there’s some horrific shit in there too), and portions of Aristotle’s Politics. All three offer advice to tyrants potential or actual. Obtain these three books and be on your way to be the best usurper you can possibly be.

But for God’s sake, please don’t check them out with your library card.

Great Weekend So Far

It’s been too much damn fun around here. Alex’s kid party was a blast yesterday. Kim had a treasure hunt for the kids. We wore pirate hats. The Old Dog looked especially fetching in his. I already hate myself for saying that. All children survived the trampoline experience. Old Dog and PDawg survived the trampoline experienced. It should come as no surprised that they were my greatest worry.

I got to see our friend from the nation’s capitol on Fri and Sat. Making a very, very special guest appearance at the Annex on Friday were Jeanz and Auftn. I had to bee kind of a puss on Friday and stop drinking at 1am so I could head home by 1:30. I had to get up a 6:30, help Kim a little and then go to work before the kid party on Sat.

The SOX won both games against the Twinkies so far and here’s hoping for a sweep.

Sorry fans of D-Lee, and I mean it because I am one of them. He plays good defense, has a great swing and a good head on his shoulders. I respect that no matter what team a guy plays for.

By the way, when did Scott Eyre become the body double for the Smashmouth guy?

Lookee Here Ma, We Got Us a Tram-POline

You could hear property values dropping in our neighborhood as Kim and I finished putting Alex’s trampoline together last night. My neighbors already know I am a scumbag so what’s one more trampoline?

Ooooh, two trampolines might be double the fun.

Alex had a blast jumping on the tramp and staying up past his bedtime. You don’t get a bedtime on your birthday. Hell, we’re pretty bad about sticking to a usual bedtime anyway.

We let Alex pick the place for his birthday dinner with mom and dad. He chose the McDonald’s Oasis. That kid loves I-88. Kim won a stuffed saber tooth tiger. She has mad ninja skills with those claw game things. Hey, that gives me an idea.

Sorry ladies.

Saw PDawg this morning and it looks like he is up for our little get together tonight which I have tentatively dubbed “Drinks Across America”. I think there may even be a Jeanz/auftn appearance if I have interpreted all the comments correctly. That would be so cool. Normally I would tell all out of town visitors that my house is open for crashing. Sat morning I have to work and Kim has to get ready for Alex’s kid pirate party on her own – but fear not, I will help find people coming in a place to crash if they need it. By the way, to the DC Liar (or anyone one else), if you come back for the pirate party on Sat, feel free to crash at our place Sat night because we just have the grown-ups coming on Sunday. We don’t care about them.

Sorry grown-ups.

Thanks to all who posted the kind words and birthday wishes for our son. I’ve read them to the boy and he says thank you. Anyone who knows me knows I’ve had some adventures in my life (the “mis” is silent, but it probably shouldn’t be). The past five years have been the most fun yet. I can only imagine what the next five will bring.

I Love The Horror The Horror

...thanks Di.

I knew I was going to like this band because of the name anyway. Raise your hand, who doesn't think I'm going to go out like Brando as Kurtz, all fat and bald and shit saying, "...the horror, the horror."?

Come on, show of hands now. Who doesn't think this is my fate?

Anyone?

No?

Good.

Alexander the Greatest

5 years ago today my kid was born. Sorry I can’t make practice tonight Century of Progress guys. We’ll get back on the stick next week. I’ve got some stuff to say about the record we’re doing, I think I finally have some sense of what songs might go together. I’ll either put them up here or on the Century of Progress blog.

The day before Alex was born, I wrote him a letter in my journal. I read it every year on his birthday, at least to myself. I don’t have too many important thoughts, but this letter contains things I need to remember:


Thursday April 19, 2001

Alex, we’re waiting for you little buddy. I pray that your mom is healthy and will make it through this experience, and I pray the same for you. I pray that I will always remember the love and concern I have for your well-being as long as I know you. Son, I’m sure we’re going to have our problems as all families do. It’s my great hope that if and when I get angry with you that my anger will be tempered by the love and concern I feel for you now when you are so fragile. I also hope that when you are angry and frustrated with me, you know that your father is and will always be a man who loves you and cares for your well-being and humanity.

Your mother and I love you deeply son. Be safe, be healthy, be Alex.

Not Guilty....uh, did we say not guilty because we meant GUILTY!

…and in a bitter twist of irony, former Governor Ryan was convicted on so many counts of corruption, he received the death penalty.

By the way, does this mean I have to give my truck license back?

Pipe burst in our basement. Pictures of me and Alex on cleanup duty are coming. As far as burst pipes go this one was not so bad. There was some flooding but no water in my office, no water on some of the old guitars and musical crap, and the water stopped just short of the kids’ pirate costumes we bought for Alex’s birthday. Last night after dinner, I told the kid he could have extra TV time because daddy was going to watch the SOX downstairs and clean up the basement. It was a yucky job and he didn’t have to do it after being at school all day.

Alex said: “But dad, this is my house too.”

We ended up having lots of fun. Every time we took a break and went in my office to check on the SOX, something good happened. Not that superstition is an important part of baseball, but DAMMIT MR. JERRY R. – PLEASE DON’T MAKE JOE CREDE GET A HAIRCUT!

I picked up a blender that got a bit of a soaking. We made a whole bunch of Brandy A’s with that thing. I looked at the waterlogged blender and said: “A thousand hangovers down the drain.”

Alex: “What did you say daddy?”
Me: “Nothing kid, it’s something that Dean Martin said once.”
Me again: “Don’t grow up to be like Dean Martin.”

FICA You

The DC Liar wanted me to get e-pissy. Here we go.

I’ve been in and out of this semi-heated conversation on ChrisB’s most righteous blog on the flat tax. Old Dog, Chris and the DC Liar really pushed my buttons with this stuff so everyone seems to be doing their job. ChrisB got me all lit up (apologies to the National) after I suggested that as appealing as any argument for tax reform sounds, the history of these things is they have been put forth by liars (not the DC Liar), thieves, schnooks or incompetent boobs. Consider what I thought to be a decent response to Chris’ question about the flat tax. I said:

“Here's the thing I would caution ChrisB or anyone about...a large part of politics is about winning the argument. I've won a helluva lot of arguments in my time, and there is no proof that I've been right on all or half of them.The art of rhetoric (this does not have to be a pejorative) suggests that in order to persuade someone to do an action that you want them to do, you want to first make that action/thing seem (or sound) possible. Again, this isn't an argument against the flat tax per se but just a call to be wary of arguments you like.A lot of people thought the 16th Amendment would level the economic playing field between rich and poor in America, create a greater, more responsive democracy at the national level...they thought it sounded like it made good sense. It was fair, it sounded like a way to redistribute wealth (when these words sounded better to American ears)...If they put the income tax amendment to a vote today - would we the great grandchildren of the we the people who sort of said it sounded like a good idea happily rally around this tax reform? Are we all ready to stand up and re-ratify it?”

So I thought this was a decent reminder that politics, public debate, even from former presidential hopefuls is about image and winning the argument, support etc…and the better or more equitable an argument sounds, the more suspicious I am of it. I am a pretender at this philosophy bullshit, I know even less about my faith (I usually defer on serious faith questions to my wife, she’s the smart one). But I think I actually have some common sense. This was my common sense response to someone who argues, to solve a complex problem we have to get back to basics, try something simple. All I did was tip my toe in, but Chris (being my brother from another mother) got me revved up. He responded:

“Ed, I hear you. I was persuaded and I'm looking for the counterpoint - still haven't heard one.”

Grrrrrr, I love ChrisB, but Grrrrrrrr!

I’m too damned competitive to be a good Christian.

Now at a certain point, the conversation got so out of hand that Devin and I found we were in agreement on the way the duplicitous fucks that wear the blue ties and call themselves Christians usurp Scripture for the sake of their dastardly political agenda. Yes, things have gotten out of hand when Devin and I are in agreement about such things.

But there were a variety of opinions that flew in from all corners. I kept jumping back in because I was caught up in the frenzy. I forgot my original reservations about the whole subject – I DON’T KNOW SHIT ABOUT THE FLAT TAX. Old Dog sort of invited me in to the whole thing (he’d probably invite Dracula to a Longerburger BasketBall Party too)…he said:

“EdP has told me why he thinks a flat tax is a bad idea, but I can't remember it exactly. So, I'm hoping that he jumps in here very soon.”

Now that I think about it, in the only discussion I remember having with the Old Dog about the flat tax I said something similar to the argument above: ‘If it sounds like a great idea, fair to everyone, I’d be careful that some snaky shit is going on’

Again, not my brightest moment (drawing a big green penis on Bill Garver’s chest at the Metro, that was pretty good). So now I’m knee deep into this great conversation Chris’ instigated we’re talking about economic justice, wealth, meritocracy, the way the world ought to work vs. the way the world should work, the promise of hard work vs the realities of working for a living and trying to retire…all the usual suspects weighed in and put forth some good arguments.

Trendite even played the Paul Tsongas card. (Tsongas by the way, in my spell-check)

So now I’ve been tweaked by some comments and I’m in there swinging away like the dumb ass that I am. We’ve been arguing back and forth about this shit since band practice last week. I thought, ‘I’ll break my 10 minute rule, go back and read Chris’ initial post.’ After a second, somewhat more careful reading I remember what bugged me initially. I quickly forgot it as I threw myself into the argument. This was Chris’ initial presentation of the Forbes flat tax proposal:

“The general notion would be to abolish the IRS as it is and simplify the tax code so that you'd only need to fill out a simple questionaire to do your taxes each year. His proposal is to tax everyone exactly 17% if they make $46,000 or more in a year. I'm struggling to find out what the down side is to this plan. If anyone can enlighten me, I'd appreciate it.”

See what Chris did? Any of the regular readers work on one or both of the Forbes’ campaigns recognize the error here? No? Me neither. It sounds in the paragraph above that Forbes is proposing a tax based on income where everyone who made $46,000 or more a year would pay an INCOME TAX of 17%. If I wasn’t such a dork and didn’t want to dive in and argue this shit on my own terms, I would’ve remembered what I think I knew at some point (probably from the Forbes ’96 failed bid for the R nomination). The Forbes flat tax proposal was not an income tax proposal. It was meant to replace the income tax, it was something like this:

“Under Steve Forbes’ plan for his 1996 and 2000 presidential campaign, income tax would be replaced by a consumption tax. That is, there would be a tax on spending only (income minus savings). A family of four would pay no tax on the first $42,000 dollars spent. Spending above that amount would be taxed at a flat rate of 17% (if the tax is included as part of the tax base) or 20.5% (if the tax is on top of the base), so that a family of four that spends $43,000 dollars would forfeit $205 to the government.”

Most of the readers and bloggers seem to like the wiki, we need some common sources to carry on some of these conversations. I don’t have the haughty nose up in the air attitude toward the wiki – if you want to double check my shit on the Forbes flat tax proposal help yourself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_tax

If the wiki can be believed (and I see no reason to doubt it on something like this…the wiki’s got to know more about this than all our dumb asses put together) we can all see that whatever the virtues or defects of the flat CONSUMPTION TAX proposal, there’s no way this shit can pay for all the other things govt does including Medicare and Social Security. That’s why when Forbes ran in 2000 and earlier, he put his tax reform proposal in along side of SS reform and radical Medicare reform.

This is not an attack on the initial post or how informed my dear friend ChrisB is. I missed it and argued along with everyone else. Just a reminder that my original warning is a good one. Things are never as simple as 17% on $46,000 (or $43,000) or more per year.

Maddux just duked Furcal with an inside move. I’ll add MadDog (still don’t know why they call him that) to the list of things I don’t hate about the Cubs.

Oh, back to this tax shit. The more I read the wiki, the more I thought, wait, I remember something different re Forbes and his simple flat tax plan. Maybe Steener and others who stick it to the wiki (that just sounds dirty, sorry Steener) are right. I forget when this was said:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/congress/forbes_flat_tax.html

So here it’s $36,000 and it is an INCOME TAX – 17%, but only for income after $36,000.

Maddog just got an RBI single, I’ve really made a joke of my ten minute rule for the blogs, but I don’t care. Now I’m having fun.

Maybe Chris’ initial formulation is as good as any of the ones Steve Forbes has put out. Get it? The error wasn’t Chris’. There are five or six different versions of the flat tax proposal but forth by FORBES himself, or his people. So let’s go with what Chris said:

"His proposal is to tax everyone exactly 17% if they make $46,000 or more in a year. I'm struggling to find out what the down side is to this plan. If anyone can enlighten me, I'd appreciate it.”

Simple. How does Forbes or the mysterious people who will replace the IRS (by the way getting rid of the IRS sounds like a good idea – but who are going to collect the taxes? Not to mention the lost job...let’s not forget the entire industry dedicated to dealing with taxes, accountants, lawyers, officers of the court, bank officers Am I defending the IRS, tax attorneys, and H&R Block? Man, I’m crazier than I thought.

Oh, the “simple” I forgot to answer. How does Forbes calculate, or maybe more to the point – define income? Here’s why the tax code became so unwieldy, as the SC Liar (SC Liar, who the hell is that? Steve Spurrier???) – the DC Liar put it, those with greater income have the resources to manipulate the tax code. Apparently with great power comes great responsibility, but with greater income – not so much. If they could do it to create greater deductions under the old scheme, who’s to say they can’t do it to redefine income under the Forbes plan (unless he plans to abolish lawyers at the same time he gets rid of the IRS). But there is shit that is debatable in this portion of my response.

FICA is the FUCKA here. DC Liar was right at the end of Chris’ comment field:

“Only on a blog comment field could a discussion on a tax proposal turn into a culture war with religious overtones.”

Yeah, we started talking about all this other shit (me included, but ChrisB and Old Dog started it…ChrisB bashing the religious right in America, then seeming to paint all Christians with a broad brush, Old Dog defending some of those who call themselves Christian conservatives, and for all the reasons I will go into later, they do not deserve his noble defense on Chris’ blog or anywhere) oh, because we (me is part of that we) are in over our heads and might not be capable of making common sense out of this tax legerdemain, which was part of my initial common sense remarks. We can’t really begin a conversation about tax reform (simple or otherwise) without talking about what is to become of FICA. I raised some questions on Chris’ blog about payroll taxes, but only after I had spewed all this other gobbledeeegookk again, a sure sign that I did not know what I was talking about.

FICA taxes pay for all sorts of things that government needs and shows no signs of not needing now or any time in the near future. FICA taxes begin with dollar one. FICA taxes top out at $90,000 and you can make a whole different set of arguments here – I’ve heard Devin make some good ones in the past. Geez, things are getting goofy when Devin and I are agreeing on more junk.

The point is, the first thing I should’ve said to Chris is what about FICA? What does Forbes do with FICA. Instead the argument dribbled in at the end. By the way, Josh is probably the only other person who will recognize that I have stolen some of the articles in this blog entry from Mike Kinsley (not the guy with the sexy report). He’s a columnist from the Washington Post and I hope nobody else here will claim to be regular readers of the Post. C’mon people, you’re better than that.

You know what, I’m gonna really break my 10 minute rule, go back and read the comments from Chris’ blog just to make sure that no one brought up FICA.

And Chris, if you post a comment here that you still haven’t heard a counterpoint, my head is going to explode.

Lordy, These Guys Got Me Started

.ChrisB instigated a fascinating discussion of the flat tax over the weekend. Please jump in here:

http://fledglingtimes.blogspot.com/

I’m sure everyone will have something more intelligent to say about the flat tax than me. I was more interested in the arguments surrounding the flat tax.

There was a tangential discussion between the Old Dog and ChrisB that really got me going. ChrisB attacked the hypocrisy of Christian conservatives in America while Old Dog defended the intent of Christian conservatives. e-Prick that I am, I found myself blasting away at both of them. They were both able to push my buttons on this stuff.
I think I will return to both of these topics here later, but for today until noon I’ll be taking care of my beautiful, sick kid.

Rock on everyone.

Amateur

Trendite, Ms. Kaka and Bob, Ladi Di – breather CDs are on their way out to you folks next. Sorry I’m being so slow with this. I appreciate the interest as well as the kind notes from everyone. I will also post links to some of the other reviews, or copy them here as they are issued. Sometimes I close my eyes and pretend that I am not an amateur.

A 37 year old amateur!

On an unrelated topic, Ms. Laura K-LeG caught a foul ball at the big gum shoe. Congrats to her and I am very jealous. Hey, she had good seats, she brought her mitt and was f'in ready when the ball came her way. That's all any of us can ask in this life.

Spiderman and His Amazing Friendz

I love my friends.

There is more.

My friends are always more interesting to me than say, my students. I hope none of my students are lurking on this blog. Sorry students. My friends always find new ways to surprise me. There’s been a discussion about the Immigrant Song at the Old Dirty Dog’s page. Check it out:

http://thenewolddogblog.blogspot.com/

The Old Dog was talking about the need for all Americans new and old to recognize the importance of love of country. Me being the prick that I am said: “What’s there to love?” – not in the sense that America sucks ass – or you can’t be serious that being a citizen requires love of country!! – but I meant, sincerely “What is there to love? Where is the love in what might be called American political thought?” I thought about other countries in the history of the world. They love their ancient religion, their mythical brothers one who killed the other and founded their city. I thought about the Romans’ love of their Republic – but there is historical evidence that some of the most sophisticated Roman republicans believed that love of their city was a religious obligation…a connection (not necessarily with the supernatural gods…but principles that were sort of otherworldly) and the very least they loved Rome because it was full of Romans – we’re Roman and the rest of the world can bite our asses…or people have loved their land because it was a beautiful piece of earth between River X and the Mountains of Y…or the people loved the land because it was the motherland of their race or creed or whatever…

….but how could those traditional notions of love of country ever be associated with something like the good ole USA??? Like the lost little sheep I am, I picked my favorite expert – as the situation dictates. In this case I picked Lincoln and the famous cocktail napkin speech, you know the one. America is new in the history of the world, admitted by the founders (whoever those guys were) and reinforced by Lincoln. The chief source of this newness was a recognition that this country was dedicated to a proposition, that being an American meant you understood the proposition and, I guess, believed it. So I threw this shit against the wall of the Old Dog’s blog and suddenly there was a discussion about what the proposition meant, translation: now we’ve hit on it we need to think of this problem in terms of the principle of equality.

Right? The famous proposition Lincoln was referring to was of course this business about all men being created equal by nature, nature’s God or some such thing. Jefferson was a frisky little puppy. I’ve got a feeling that whatever he was talking about, wherever that equality comes from for Jefferson – it wasn’t a god that serious believers (or delusional god seekers, depending on your perspective) would recognize.

But that wasn’t my point. I didn’t really care who was on the right side of the equality question with respect to the Immigrant Song (that’s how this whole thing got started). I only wanted to ask ‘What’s there to love about a proposition?’ – Yet what followed was a discussion from two people, who always seem to take opposite sides on things like this, both claiming equality as their principle or as being on their side. Consider:

Michael said: “Also, does the proposition that all men are created equal only apply to those born on American soil or those from countries from which it is easier to immigrate? To be certain, not all immigration laws are created equal.”

In other words, this is probably the proposition. This is the guide. If we want to know what American principles are – we should see, if it is living up to the principle of equality when it comes to immigration. Mike’s position above is clearly informed by or appealing to the idea of equality. Maybe he would go further. If we want to know what good government in general looks like, we should turn and see how it fairs on this equality business. The Old Dog responds:

"As for michael's last comment: No, I don't think that only Americans are created equal. My God tells me that, not my country. My country can express that sentiment, but I know that it will not always do that. I especially know that I cannot count on other countries to express that."

So the Old Dog begins by basically agreeing with his mortal foe: ‘I know that equality is the highest good’ but reveals the source of equality (for Old Dog at least). He rejects part of Michael’s argument, that we cannot rely on immigration laws, or even American policy to ensure equality. But Old Dog too, knows whether or not justice is met because of the principle of equality. I wonder what it means that two guys who always take opposing sides of most arguments, both seem to claim the same principle. Maybe I lobbed the shit against the blogosphere incorrectly. Remember, I wanted to ask the Old Dog: ‘You want people to love America? What’s there to love in a proposition?’

Maybe it’s only natural that when one proposes a proposition the proponents and opponents of the presented positions prefer to posit pensive ponderings on the proposed proposition. Or not. It’s got me thinking about equality, where it comes from, how it fits into American political theory and why everyone is lining up to claim it.

Please don’t confuse this as my clever way of saying I don’t support this dearly held belief re: human equality or there are some secret shenanigans going on here. When two guys who always stake out opposing positions claim the same principles as theirs, I tend to prick up my ears.

Honorable mention goes to the Sultan of Swaff who said:

"The first priority of any government is to secure your borders."

I’ve heard this before and I’d like to think about it…maybe write something later.

Speaking of securing our borders, a certain DC Liar is coming to DeKalb Rock City one week from Friday. The beginning of the end will begin at the Annex on Friday at 9pm. Prairie Dawg must attend or he will be forced to change his e-name to Deputy Dawg.

Part Devin, Part Chimp and My Last Post on Baseball for a While (I Sort of Promise)

In the midst of all my blue-hate ugliness, Dev offered comments about hope and the things that are good about baseball. Here’s two bright spots for the local baseball squadrons (sorry Apoo) - -
55 Brandon McCarthy

and

19 Matt Murton

as well as

Juan Pierre.

Ok technically that’s three – g’wan ahead with your: "White Sox fan can’t count" joke – or "White Sox fan can only count to 11 if he takes off his pants" joke – or whatever. BM is in because I just head a great interview with him today. He said all the right things including: "I don’t pretend I know anything when I’m warming up in the bullpen. Am I starting, am I relieving? I’m just preparing to throw Strike One." Priceless, great smart/dumb, say-nothing baseball talk. He could be Buhrle Jr.

Matt Murton, after starting off great guns has had a few pitfalls recently. But he’s having some smart at-bats, doing good work in the field – and more importantly he stood up to Carlos fucking Zambrano. Word is, he took CZ aside and told him he didn’t appreciate being stared down by the "stable one." To those who say: "Who is Matt Murton to do that?" I say: "Who is Carlos Zambrano? When he wins 20 he can show up his outfielders."

…but here’s a hint, if he’s winning 20, he will probably no longer act like he’s got heavy iodine shoved up his ass.

Why did I add Juan Pierre as a positive part of the future of Chicago baseball? The Blue team might not resign him – nor do they think they should. If he has the season I think he’s going to have at the Big GumDrop, he’s not going to be worth the money that he will command from the RedSox, theYankees (don’t be surprised if they convert Johnny Damon to something else next year if he sucks this year) or someone even dumber than those guys.

But what Pierre will do is help Murton learn how to be a professional baseball player. The story on JP is no one works harder than he does. Hopefully that’ll rub off on the talented young left fielder. At the very least, Pierre might help MM eliminate some of the boneheaded base running.

- - - - - - - - - ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - --------------- -------- - - - - - - - - -

In an unrelated story, poor Alex has had some really bad diarrhea this week.
He needed something from Sullivan’s. Happily, I left my Religion and the Constitution papers and told Kim, "Don’t worry honey, I’ll go get the…"(I forget now what it was).
Came back from the store and Kim said, "Thanks honey you’re always there for us."
Alex lifted his head up from the couch and said, "Yeah Dad. You’re like Superman."

- - - - - --------------------------------------------- -- - - - - - - -------------------------- ---

Oh, why did I mention Part Chimp? That's just a great band name.

Elise is Back

…she’s gonna save my reputation. My crazy friend Elise has returned to the blogosphere, and if it’s gonna be that kind of party I’m…

uh, nevermind.

Elise and I are twins separated at birth and it is clearly a sign that the aliens who have brought us to your weird little planet knew what they were doing. No one family could bear the existential weirdness that has followed us like the freaky cosmic ice tagging along behind Haley’s you know what for all those years. Though we are evil, extraterrestrial twins, we do not share the exact same attributes. Her wisdom far outstretches mine. Example, after the Abbey’s Pub show (I think) all those years ago she told me:

“Ed, schweetie, bubbula – you’re pretty good at what you do. I bet deep down you even think you’re a better writer than you probably are. But if you keep playing shows like that, you’re going to end up being known as the pukey guy.”

She has just posted about a wonderful sport known as Peep Jousting.

I hope they don’t drug test in Peep Jousting.

Go get yourselves some.

http://elisenator.blogspot.com/

The permanent link to the world of the E-Dog will be added tomorrow.

5th of July

I forgot how great this song was. BobS was the real thing and Virgo Snakes was a great band. Thank you so much Drummin’ Bob and Ms. Kaka. A breather CD is on its way back to you – but you need a bit more. Maybe some margaritas, dinner and good times with our families when y’all make it out to DK Rock City….

In my favorite DK rock moments, I should’ve included the VS CD release show at Otto’s where the show ended (I think) with a pretty raunchy version of Bowie’s HEROES. VS played every song they knew but we wanted more. They gave us one more.

To quote the character on TV these days that is most like me: “Great fuckin’ night.”

I am a Johnny Drama wannabe.

Truly pathetic.

Time to Come Clean About My BiSoxuality

I can’t do it. The season is less than one week old and I can’t do it. I can’t like both Chicago baseball clubs. It is impossible. The Sox and Bulls lost yesterday but the Cubs won. Sorry to my friends who are fans the N. Side team, but that bugged me. I can honestly say that I will always cheer for the Cardinals or the Brewers before those blue pieces of poo. Is it just a coincidence that blue and poo rhyme? Yeah, I’m so mature.

Someone told me to cheer for the Cubs I had to buy a blue hat…

Fuck that, I can’t bring myself to do it.

I don’t think I could even get one of the old Ray Raynor(sp?) dealies.

Believe me there are actually things on that ball club I like. BUT here’s what I can’t stand about the Cubs:

1. Ron Santo. Insert your joke about the legs, or insert legs or whatever you want. I hate his ASS because he is such a home-er. “OHHHHH, he dropped the ball! No!” (yes I hate the Hawk for the same reason but he is in touch, in some fleeting way with reality in that – he’s heard of some of the guys playing for the other team) Here’s the thing, nobody really likes the Hawk, but Santo is Lionized (wait, no one is lionized on the Cubs) his home-er-ness endears him and makes him oh so cute to the boobs that love all that is cute about their Cubbies. Maybe that’s why some – SOME - Cub fans who don’t give a shit about baseball love stupid Santo – he’s as oblivious to the rest of the baseball world as they are.

2. The term “Cubbies.” What other team in the world of sports has a dumber “ies” after their name? I should nuke this blog but I can’t help myself.

3. Dusty Baker. He appeared at a wine tasting last summer with a line on the advertisement saying that “Dusty will not be taking baseball questions.” DUSTY WILL NOT BE TAKING BASEBALL QUESTIONS?!?!?!? Sure, he’s spent a lot of his life in northern California but what is he, Francis Ford Coppola now? Even Francis Ford Coppola doesn’t go places saying “No questions about Godfather III.” What the hell am I supposed to ask Dusty about wine? "Hey Dusty, what wine goes the best with toothpicks you fat prick?!?"

shit, Michael Barret(sp? I don’t care how to spell the Cubs’ catcher’s name!) just hit a grand salami. I’m gonna have to hear people tomorrow (mostly on campus) talk about how Dusty out-managed TLaR. I’ll save them all the trouble: “Guys, it was me who told MB to hit the home run, ok?”

4. My students who talk about going to Wrigley Ville for the hook up. No, it’s not because I am jealous. It’s just annoying like all the things I hate about this f’d up situation.

5. The legend of Sammie – big ass fucking phony!…but he’s getting smaller.

6. Kid K – he’s going to retire in another team’s uniform and he has the back of Septuagenarian K – which I hope he injured when he took the baseball bat to Sammie’s boom box and is still too gutless to admit what he did. And I know the Cub fans I respect (who may be pissed at me for some of this crap) will "back" me when I say: Wood and Prior have a long way to go before either one becomes the pitcher that 56 Mark Buehrle is. They both folded like cheap hookers who were punched in the stomach (thank you Joey from Friends – I’m such a tool) on the biggest stage. Buehrle showed up down the stretch last year, in the playoffs and in the WS including a save in the 14 inning marathon. Now this isn’t to say Wood and Prior are failures, they are good pitchers but the stuff from last year – and just the everyday experience of a Mark Buehrle pitched game…he is a real, old school and then some baseball player – no bullshit – he gets up on the rubber and deals. Both of those guys could learn about the game from watching Number 56 from St. Charles, MO and that’s it. By the way, Buehrle stopped the Sox four game losing streak today because that’s what he does.

Feel free to abuse me because I deserve it. I have become everything I chastised Sox fans for last year. On the verge of the WS and so many of them were sticking it to Cubs fans. I said: “You dorks are just making the case that the Cubs are the more popular team in town.” My hatred for the Cubs was truly gone last year in the sense that I didn’t give two bleeps about them (now I bleep myself). They were irrelevant because the team I loved was having the season I never dreamed they would – led the thing wire to wire and won the WS. I still can’t believe it. I fear I will become one of the beer swilling, gut protruding Bears Superfanz…but that’s ok, I love pork chops.

Having spewed all that unnecessary bile let me say what I do love about that blue team. DLee is a full grown man. Todd Walker, not the all around talent that DLee is, but he’s just so friggin cool. You can ask him any question, he won’t back down – he’ll answer honestly and oh by the way – hit .300 and put up with all the unnecessary BS about his fielding. Jim H is a good general manager and I think he talks straight for the most part.

I also love my Cubs fan friends who were so nice last year – I have evidence of a certain DC Liar putting nice notes on this blog (not switching sides, but just offering congratulations like a good sport…something that I clearly know nothing about). Waitaminute, he has Liar in his name. Maybe he was lying to me the whole time. Naw. No one has ever lied on the internets, the computers won’t allow it. Also much love to Santi the Cub fan who started his baseball blog. He will always know more about baseball than me. The full respect for that - What am I, Little Nicky DeCesere’s Grandpa? Finally, the love is overflowing for my favorite true blue Cub fan – Devin. No BS. He bleeds the blue stuff (I can’t say Cubbie Blue)…DAMMIT! But Devin is a true Cub fan, he loves everything good and bad, knows more than the average Cub fan about baseball, and most importantly had his heart broken as a Cub fan. He was at the Bartman game wearing an Alou jersey for cryin’ out loud. Devin keeps coming back (as his bride has mentioned a few posts back). I don’t bring this up to rub it in. The Bartman game was the most “epically disastrous” thing I ever saw at a sporting event. I bring it up because so many of us have had our hearts broken by baseball. Knowing that Devin has had his heart broken by baseball is one of the reasons I love him. I’ve had my heart broken by baseball. I still remember being in a pickup game with Mike S. when Ron C. came back to visit Lockport. Ron C was already in the minors (I think for the Twins but I could be wrong). I realized my friend Mike S. and the local baseball god Ron C were playing a different game than I was. I played with Mike S. forever, since we were like 8 or 9. He would go to Iowa and I would have another beer.

Last summer, two things helped me forget the baseball heartaches of summers past. The Sox won the WS and I was part of something like perfection. Who can ever forget the 0-13 showing of the hhe squad in the park district’s lowest level, slow-pitch coed softball league? We managed to finish two games without the slaughter rule being invoked.

Sorry to those of you who read this thing but hate when I talk baseball. I am grateful for those who come by and am not trying to drive anyone away. I love baseball like some love reality TV. I will promise not to make fun of anyone who talks about ‘My Big Fat DNA Test Results.’

Uh, I guess I broke that promise already.

The female version of me started a new blog. She’s one of the people who got me going with this blog junk. I’ll put up a link so you can tell her: “Thanks a fucking lot.”

Sorry about all the cussin’ on this post. Damn stupid S. Side, no class baseball fan.

I’m Straight Outta Lockport, I’m not even really from anywhere what am I doing talkin’ South Side-North Sinde junk.

I’m in the home stretch grading the Religion and the Constitution papers.

Hi to Mrs. MeatHead – sorry I didn’t answer your husband’s question. Thanks for reading the blog and having a husband who served our country. Good luck doctorin’ and what can you do about getting me a prescription pad?

Poor Bob, and Guitar Heroism I'd Like to Share

Chris B has been writing about the sounds and parts of rock at his super secret blog. It’s been pretty interesting. You can read all his stuff here:

http://fledglingtimes.blogspot.com/

I posted the following comments about the guitar:

“I’ve been lurking on (is it on?) the past few musical posts and found them to be interesting. I am sure that Chris has spent far more time thinking about, discovering and enjoying the sounds of these instruments than I have…I’ve said somewhere before that I’m a bad music fan and have always sort of relied on the kindness of friends and strangers to introduce me to cool things.

I will say something about guitars. Playing the guitar never brought me the things I thought I wanted. # or relationships ruined by the guitar is more than…let’s say more than what playing guitar is supposed to get you. Playing guitar never made me one of the cool kids. Playing guitar never brought me riches, or fame or the praises of critics good or bad. I am not a particularly interesting guitar player sonically or technique-wise. I could have probably written more (numerically) and more interesting songs had I stuck with writing them on my first instrument (piano, or some sort of keyboardy thingy).

But I love the guitar. It is my friend. It is my therapy. I’ve been lucky and had a relatively easy time of it in this life (37 years flood and famine free, knock on wood)…but in those few times when shit was coming down all around me (esp. when I was younger) nothing has helped/got me into more trouble more than having a guitar in my hand. My Ric and Fender rig seem like a pretty awkward combination – that’s why they suit me so well. Kim once told me after a show, “I know why you love doing this. There is this big sound coming from the stage and you guys are making it.”

The other thing about me and the guitar is it’s better for me to play it with someone else. I’ve been lucky to have played with two very different guitar gurus who have sort of led the way for me – Cousin Mike and Devin. I feel honored to have written and thrown down some of the background against which they shared their shit with an audience.

Kim asks me why I don’t necessarily like doing “couple things,” (dinner parties with one or more other married couples) and if I do, I prefer to do it in the company of musicians, especially those I have played with. It is not because I am a snob. I know my shit stinks believe me. I also know that much of what I say in a social setting might not be of much interest to polite company. Believe it or not, it is hard for me to communicate honestly with people sometimes. The guitar is my go-between. It’s like Wonder Woman’s magic lasso wrapped around me. I can’t lie to you when I’m playing it.”

OK, I’ve quoted myself which is almost as bad as going 3rd person. edP shouldn’t do that. edP gonna end up like Ricky Henderson/Karl Malone. All this started me thinking about by favorite guitar things. Here they are, and in the spirit of the Fledgling Times – “in no particular order”:

LOU REED AND STERLING MORRISON on I HEARD HER CALL MAY NAME – Cousin Mike played me this track when I was like 11 or something, and my mind split open.

HUM DOWNWARD IS HEAVeNWARD (all guitars there) – this was like hearing WHO’S NEXT for the first time. The difference is I was like 10 when I heard W’sN…and anything can blow you away when you’re 10. I was in my late 20’s (I think) hearing that HUM record for the first time. Pretty impressive.

KEITH RICHARDS IN THE JUMPIN’ JACK FLASH VIDEO – I’m not ashamed to admit that part of what drew me to playing guitar was the image. Having said that, I know I’m not that cool when I’m up there failing about, but when I was a kid I saw this video on FMTV (an old WFLD show), there was the disheveled looking guy playing a Les Paul with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, blissfully unaware if the long trail of ash would be the death of him…and Sweet Fancy Moses, I think I can see needle marks on TV. Now that’s some good watchin’ for a 12 year old. I looked as this piece of shit and thought: ‘I could do that.’

DOUG M, THE BUILT TO SPILL GUY – who doesn’t love the guitar on those records? Pick your record, pick your song – the guitar is perfect…which brings me to my next entries…

JIMI HENDRIX – everything; FRANK ZAPPA – everything.

SCOTTIE MOORE & JAMES BURTON – I know most people that come here think Elvis is shit. For me, Elvis is the shit. Those records are a formative part of my youth. I love the guitar on skinny Elvis studio recordings and fat Elvis live stuff. If you don’t, move on to the next guitar entry here.

DAVE EDMUNDS & LOVE SCULPTURE – Sabre Dance, Cousin Mike played this for me over 20 years ago. I think I’ve heard it once since – and it’s still stuck in my brain. I’d buy the record myself but believe me; I think CM has the only existing copy.

KEITH RICHARDS AND MICK TAYLOR CAN’T YOU HEAR ME KNOCKIN’ – ok so the human riff makes my list twice. Again, those who know me know I don’t give two hoots in hell about my street cred..I like what I like and the guitar sound of this song is pretty much my favorite guitar sound of all time. Too band the end of the song sucks.

KURDT FOR THE LOVE BUZZ WIND UP THINGY – it’s a cover, I know. I think it’s even something that the bass player picked. When Bleach came out it was (at first) the only track I liked – it’s the only one I ever bothered to play at KDI. I still get excited when I hear it now.

SYD B AND THE FIRST PINK FLOYD RECORD – no one has ever made a guitar sound like that on record, and good Lord willing, no one ever will again.

SMOKIN’ (AND DRINKIN’) BOB STINSON – at least for SORRY MA and STINK. It’s just like he would plug in and start killin’ shit all over the place.

MAGIC SAM & MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, WEST SIDE SOUL – makes me feel so good I wanna boogie. Nothing funny or fancy here, just a great raunchy blues record. Electric blues can be so fucking fucking boring when it is uninspired, but when the band gets it right – step back. I’ll never forget my friend Jerry. He turned me on to some great music. I think of him every time I listen to West Side Soul…and Magic Sam is wearing the coolest shirt on the cover. Get yourself some of this.

THE GUITAR EFFORT ON DIONSAUR JR’S GREEN MIND – I’ve ripped off so many song ideas from that record. Thanks again to Cousin Mike for buying me that for my birthday. Wore that fucker out – and it was a CD!

DUANE DENISON JESUS LIZARD AND THE FIRST TOMAHAWK RECORD – this may just be a my generation thing, but when I stole Devin’s copy of show and found out that that guy could play guitar like that live…forgetttaboutit!

PRINCE LIVE SOMETIME IN THE EARLY ‘80’S – I took a girl to see the show. The evening ended and the only thing I got was my mind blown by Prince playing his guitar live. Was a lot of it excessive, over compressed masturbation? Sure, but this is the modern world.

PAUL W. AND THE JAM – more evidence that my taste(?) is dated. But these records changed my life – maybe my life needs to be changed again. How the hell should I know?

ROBERT JOHNSON – I don’t know if he made a deal with Satan or an octopus. Listen to the records. Motherfucker sounds like he’s got 8 hands all playing at once.

TODD ALBERT RITTMAN AND MARK DOUGLAS SHIPPY – for all the reasons Chris posted on my US Maple vs. Shorty blog post. There is no distortion, the records sound disturbed and in your face – and they basically play the records live. By the way, I am not trying to get in with the cool kids here, to quote Bob Dylan “I don’t know them and they don’t know me.” I’m a fan.

…like I ever had a chance to be one of the cool kids when I put James Burton on the list. I’m not even sure how to spell that cat’s name.

Alright, I’ve emptied my brain on this subject. I’m sort of proud of this list. You do not have to be a guitar freak to own or have heard most of the junk I’ve listed. They’re pretty popular with a few exceptions.

Aw jeeze, I’m listening to the Mats 1st album on my computer and JOHNNY’S GONNA DIE is playing now.

Poor Bob.

Not All That Washed Up

Thanks for everyone who showed interest in the breather record. I was happy to see all the messages in my Gmail box. CDs will start going out on Monday. Also, to people like Jeanz who a send a copy of the fB’s second record – NOTHING AND THEN SOME to…I’ll send ya a copy of the 1st disc, 1991’s GOITER. The post-Moderns say that meta-narratives are impossible…so you deserve to have Chapter One of that impossibility. GOITER is the one record I have been involved with that all these years later, I still feel like we got everything right…

…in that we got all the right things…

…wrong.

breather

Anyone interested in getting a pre-review copy of the record I made last year at Smart, e-mail me your snail mail address:

floatingbasemented@gmail.com

and I will send you a copy no questions asked. I have 15 or so left. The info and artwork on the disc will be changing before the next pressing so the one I have is obsolete. You can feel free to post any comments on the record here, e-mail ‘em to me or say nothing. I loved making this record although it was so weird having no collaborators other than a pretty kick ass engineer who thought I was a freak.

No one to blame but me.

Nobody’s fault but mine.

What am I? Pa Staples?

I wish.

edP

We Better Move On (for now)

Cheers to everyone that has been posting over the past few days. I’m not going to say too much about the last two remarks put forth by MeatHead and Jeanz. I’ll sort of let Jeanz have the last word for now – especially since it was her initial question that started this stuff in the first place. I’ll continue to wonder about the phenomena described by MeatHead as the “evolution of consciousness” and if I come up with something worthwhile to say I’ll post it here.

Jeanz last word on the ‘Life as Overcoming Obstacle A, B, C” – seems to be that the only tangible lesson one can learn (from say a natural disaster and the attendant suffering) is don’t build there again. This is a fine thing. And remember, I was careful to note that there are limits to my experiential knowledge of suffering. For me, the story doesn’t end with the new settlement, moving away from the coastline, whatever – that should sort of be common sense…and ironically, how often does it actually happen? Aren’t we Americans always in the business of building and rebuilding on flood plains? Aren’t we currently embarking on a mission to revive a decimated city in the exact same spot without any sign of new and improved safeguards? We have not even begun to exhibit the realistic “wisdom” put forth in Jeanz last example. But that is not my point.

My point, or my interest re: suffering and Jeanz disaster example is: Imagine the mother who loses her husband and all her children in the disaster. Again, to CM and others who seemed resistant to my earlier discussion of suffering: I AM NOT SAYING THAT FOR OUR LIVES TO HAVE MEANING WE HAVE TO EXPERIENCE THESE SAME THINGS – OR SAY IT IS A BLESSING TO HAVE SUFFERING IN THIS LIFE – but rather, the mother who is faced with this horrific turn of events, if she doesn’t just curse god (or her gods) and die (sorry Job…or is it Gob?) – if she doesn’t do that, if she carries on, what makes her do that? If she makes her life one of service to others and the community, what the fuck is she thinking? She just lost everything. Why doesn’t she just quit, or try to mindlessly carry on…? I can see her survival and her story, possibly, connected with grace or a strength that I do not have, and something that seems to be super human, or something that points beyond our miserable condition – whether that miserable condition is being Joe Hunger or the daily, boring existential ennui that comes from working a crappy job and living in the suburbs – praying for the tsunami to come and wipe this crap away - - - - including the Pier 1.

By the way, regarding Jeanz Joe Hunger example, our friend Randy (aka Randy) has decided to take it up in his blog:

http://thenewolddogblog.blogspot.com/

I’m not sure I agree with his response but I’ll leave it to those who want to continue that strain of the conversation to sort out. My last thoughts about the Joe Hunger example are the following:

1. Yes, philosophy is a luxury for those who can afford the bag of rice – Thank you Uncle Ben!
2. But are any of us convinced that even the poor soul in Jeanz Joe Hunger example is so degraded that longing ceases to exist within them? To the extent that Joe Hunger is not delusional from hunger (and I will admit that is a real possibility) they will desire relief from their miserable condition and also wonder why they can’t be the king with all the food, and may even wonder why god or the gods have forsaken them….
3. And that’s why I gave the Aristotelian account in the previous blog – because the teleological phil of Aristotle – which does include material (aka external) goods as part of our happiness – goes further, building on our desires or longings. We are more complex than all the other social/political animals (for Aristotle). He knows this because we have complex speech, and complex desires that extend beyond safety from flood and famine. He builds on these complex desires and says they point in a direction beyond merely removing physical threats, slaking our thirst or eating a bag of Uncle Ben’s.

Finally, why does Aristotle do this? I think this is what makes the philosophy of the Greeks, and even part of the teachings of my beloved RC theologians more realistic than the modern philosophers: the moderns build on the acquisition and maintenance of physical/political security and material goods only. To do this becomes the end of government or, to use Hobbes’ language – Why men submit to government.

Now who has built their house on sand, the moderns or the telos crowd? You can say the blood drinkers and flesh eaters are fools because there is no empirical evidence to support the everlasting life that accompanies such barbaric sounding activities. I’ll accept that. But let’s go Aristotle vs. Hobbes:

Hobbes (and later Locke) says we can ensure all we can in terms of material goods and secure borders (although for the reasons I mentioned earlier, even this is security) – Will we say these guys have fulfilled human longings adequately? We live in a state that owes much to the thought of Hobbes and Locke – and what have we done? Have we swallowed their doctrine and been satisfied in the joyless quest for joy – or has the past century been spent taking modernity apart, finding it’s ass and ultimately dismissing philosophy all together?????

More to my point re: happiness and my BS notion of realism: Will we ever say the happy man is the guy who has achieved some degree of material success and claims is country is secure?

AGAIN I AM NOT SAYING MATERIAL GOODS ARE BAD, I THINK THEY ARE NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR PART OF WHAT ARISTOTLE THINKS IS THE HIGHEST TYPE OF HAPPINESS – I’M JUST SAYING THIS GUY CAN HAVE IS SOURCE OF HAPPINESS REMOVED EASILY

But I draw your attention again to Aristotle. He thinks if we can call anything happiness, it needs to endure, become associated with activities of the soul (psyche for the Greeks – not in the cocaine addled Fraudian sense spelling intentional) – and happiness (for A) seems to have a sort of permanence, or it can’t be so fleeting as to be undone by losing your ass in the stock market, or even by a tsunami. There is nothing in Aristotle that says (on p. 38) “…and here is how you do that.”

That’s why his teaching is so real. The forests that have been razed for these crappy books that tell us the meaning of life is on page 38 have got it half right. We are all looking for that answer – but there’s no way we can get it from one page written by someone who wants us to have good self-esteem. Aristotle opens us up to the possibility that happiness is not dependent on the flux we find in the material world where we need shit and security.

Is anyone living here in the heart of the new and “improved” target-rich Roman Empire in 2006 so convinced we can get and hold in our mitts all the things that can make us happy, or even make us human?

Just this week, our friend Tom from the Mass was attacked by MP3bots for crisssakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck to us all.

Carry Over from the Comments

Jeanz got us going yesterday. You folks gave me a lot to think about yesterday and for that I thank you. Did I mention I love blogger?

I think I responded to most of the comments except Jeanz long response, and the last contribution by Meat Head. I want to say something about these final remarks because it will help me sketch out my orientation in these matters, and maybe the limits of my position.

Part of Jeanz response was something like: ‘what if the reality of human life is we simply overcome Obstacle A, Obstacle B and so on until the end’ which I think we all agree that there is an end for the body’s life on this earth. She offers a plausible scenario – and I recognize it as such. My initial discussion of suffering and the “reality” of what I have called RC theory and classical philosophy is based on the notion that our desires point us in a particular direction. They have a purpose and they help illustrate our purpose. While this sounds like Aquinas, Aquinas lifts it from the teleological philosophy of Aristotle. Consider:

Now if of things we do there is an end which we wish for its own sake whereas the other things we wish for the sake of this end, and if we do not choose everything for the sake of something else (for in this manner the process will go on to infinity and our desires will be empty and in vain), then clearly this end would be the good and the highest good. Will not knowledge of it, then, have a great influence on our way of life, and would we not [as a consequence] be more likely to attain the desired end, like archers who have a mark to aim at?

Aristotle’s position here (and elsewhere) in the NICOMACHEAN ETHICS begins with the notion that there is a reason why we pursue activities, overcome Obstacles A, B, C…and that it is possible to find or consider a highest possible good, a thing we seek for it’s own sake. I think I’ve talked about this portion of the ETHICS previously in the blog (or something from a coupla pages later)…but it’s some powerful shit. See (or should I say “Look” PDawg?), A’s statement here discusses the purpose of our arts, inquiries and activities in the context of human beings having a purpose and/or the highest possible good…but he is perfectly willing to include Jeanz’ critique right after those claims in a single sentence. Maybe we seek everything for the sake of something else, but if that is the case, well you can read it in the stupid block quote.

My point then about the meaning of suffering and the reality of classical Greek phil and RC theory was juxtaposed against that of the modern philosophers…in my opinion the only contenders here on the basis of what we can call rationalism. And to respond to Meat Head’s nice (in the older sense of the word) question re: ‘why to we have to separate or compartmentalize these things’ – those are the words of a reasonable man. I separate modern phil from that of the RC church or the classical phils because the moderns separate and distinguish themselves. They make no bones about it. Guys like Machiavelli, Bacon, Hobbes and Locke tell us why the philosophies of the past were failures:

“The politics of failure have failed. It is time to make them work again.”

Was that Kang or Kodos?

Hobbes calls my beloved church the “Kingdom of Darknesse” to which I respond: “Get a spell-check motherfucker.” He also says Plato builds regimes in the sky to which I respond that Hobbes’ regimes come out of his ass. Sorry, no need to get personal here. Hobbes has enough problems, not the least of which is he has been dead for over 400 years. We all know how Hobbes describes life in the state of nature (pre-political man) as nasty, brutish and short. If you’ve ever seen an image of Hobbes, the same three adjectives can be applied to the man himself. Now that’s downright mean, uncharitable and certainly not Christian.

But Meat Head, THEY separate themselves, and the modern perspective is a fundamentally different strain of thought than that of the Doctors of the Church and maybe more importantly all previous philosophers (especially the ancients – Plato, Xenophon and Aristotle). The moderns tell us that all that is real is matter and call that realism. The moderns think if you address the problems presented by nature and politics in terms of materialism then they can be solved. Now that's some utopian shit! Maybe I can now address both of the thoughtful points (Jeanz and Meat Head’s) here and to the end of this thing, all the while sketching out or reminding all y’all the limits of the modern position and mine.

See I can’t absolutely refute the contention of modern materialism. But I can reject it on the basis of where the philosophy leads. Hobbes and Locke think that if we found our commonwealths on “right reason” building on the proper fears and understandings of matter and the nature of human beings we can at least build cities that never die. But the critical reader of LEVIATHAN (a lesser known association of Hobbes’ use of the name is “king of the proud”, Meat Head may be on to something) or Locke’s 2nd T ON GOVT quickly sees that if citizens properly understand themselves within these governments – they can never be defended. For Hobbes we are dragged kicking and screaming into the bonds and “chaynes” (spell-check again dickhole) of “civill society”. Why do men submit to government, for Hobbes? A: To preserve our miserable lives. Now anyone who has been to Normandy or Gettysburg knows that sometimes the regime calls on those to die in its defense. Who is going to fight for a Hobbesian govt? The minute it asks me to forfeit, or even risk my life, it ceases to serve its only purpose – protecting my miserable ass.

Maybe we can overcome the problem of war or citizen armies and rely on mercenaries or some shit like that. If we consider life in the more commodious Lockean schema we find that we (on the basis of Locke’s modern phil, emphasis on material goods and self-preservation) are to embark on civil peace and the final end (not the right term) is the joyless quest for joy.

Whooooopie.

I can also reject the modern contention on the definition of matter on the basis of evidence from the sciences (don’t worry it isn’t intelligent design or any shit like that) – I mean physics and evolutionary biology. The definition of matter we get from the early progenitors of the modern scientific method and the modern philosophers is changing as theoretical physicists investigate matter in extreme or foreign circumstances (black holes and the conic sections dreamed up by MC Hawkman, traveling close to the speed of light – see the Lorenz transoformation) and also the return of a notion of telos in the realm of evolutionary biology. From the Aristotelian perspective you want to understand anything, you must explore its nature, its function, its power, its purpose. There is something of this (without the old school deductive reasoning) in evolutionary theory. No one even has to claim a prime mover or intelligible light put in any sort of purpose. All it suggests is purpose can be a part of such investigation.

Again, and especially in response to Jeanz’ comments, just because I say that a preponderance of the evidence suggests to me that the world is more knowable in terms of purpose than thinking we go through experience or Obstacle A, B, C etc…that does not spirit away the possibility of the scenario you describe. I readily admit that there is no absolute proof that I can present to reject your proposal. But human desires suggest a longing that goes beyond overcoming these obstacles. Maybe those are merely the dreams of Christian warlocks and bad philosophers. But life makes more sense in the context of understanding a thing in terms of its function or purpose. I do not mean this in the post-modern relativistic sense “I understand it that way so its good because it is mine” – the evidence I have explored points in this direction. The fact that you seem to want to have this conversation with me points in this direction. Jeanz, you said at the beginning of this whole mess, you wanted to know what I thought the "meaning" of suffering was. I assume it was not a rhetorical question. I assume you think that it is possible that our having this conversation can shed some light on these things for both of us (or at least that possibility exists). I assume that you understand what I understand that neither of us can, or ever will have perfect knowledge on this score, especially in such weighty matters. This may be what Aristotle means in the METAPHYSICS when he says "All men seek to know." (trans. me and you and everyone we know lack perfect knowledge). It is an interesting dilemma because on the basis of my own skepticism (on Aristotelian grounds), and what it means to have proof I still admit the limitations of my own position and accept the possibility of the endless obstacles presented by Jeanz.

Finally (and not really, finally) I do not know how to respond to Meat Head’s comment about the “evolution of consciousness”. I’m pretty sure that the moderns would reject it in the context he put forth originally (for the reasons I mentioned above). I don’t mean this as a put down, but I struggle when my students accept as a fact that thought, human consciousness and morality evolve over time. Along with moral, cultural and historical relativism – these things seem to be the default position of our times. Your usage in the last substantive comment though interests me. I am usually so quick to dismiss phrases like “evolution of consciousness” as more mythical and irrational than eating the flesh and drinking the blood of God’s only begotten son. However, in my response to Jeanz I said evolutionary biology helps me understand purpose (or the possible place of purpose, not to say alliteration) in the natural world. If I am so ready to admit the possibility of evolution in terms of leaves, tails, lobes of the brain and hair on my nuts – then why do I stop at evolution in terms of consciousness?

Was it W Wittttttman who said: “If I am incoherent, then I am incoherent.” ? ? ?

Was it Emerson who said: “Inconsistency is the hobgoblin of simple minds.” ? ? ?

Was it Lake?

Was it Palmer?

Was it Simple Minds?

Someone please kill me.

Jeanz….

anyone….

One Year Ago

Thank you John Paul II for showing me how a man can live, the meaning of suffering, and reminding me that in Christ Jesus we are not defeated.