Boo!

Happy Halloween. Even though it's mostly over, and I've spent the better part of it lying on the couch watching football on TV. (You know, the Great American Pastime.) Anyway, the Eagles ground out another win and are now 7-0 going to Pittsburgh next week, who have slain the giant, New England, and their 21 game winning streak. Doubtless they'll be aiming to do it again this coming Sunday. We'll shall see. I'm most concerned about January and February and as long as the Eagles win all their playoff games, I'm not too particularly concerned about going undefeated in the regular season.
About last night: a bit of a letdown really, we played a decent show, not our best, and the crowd wasn't as into it as they were at Matty's, and it wasn't as packed as it was last year.
We had a religious theme of sorts last night. Shawn came dressed as Jesus; Al, our sound man dressed as a sheperd, so we called him John the Baptist; Jeff dressed in a monk's robe, so we called him Paul; Tom was dressed in weird amalgam of peasant and noble garb, but for many reasons he was Judas ;). Nick was dressed as a Roman noble, though with his beard, he clearly resembled his ancient Greek Ancestors, so he was Pontius Pilate. Me? Well, my original idea was to come as a centurion and I would be Longinus, who, it is rumored, was the centurion who speared Jesus's side to confirm that he was indeed dead. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a centurion outfit in time, so I went with the "Caesar" outfit, and decided to be Caesar Augustus who was Caesar during Christ's life. So, not a specifically mentioned Biblical figure, but close enough. (And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's -- Luke 20:25) There are pictures floating around somewhere, and as soon as I get them or they're posted up somewhere I throw a link up.
Highlights included the birthday girl, I'll call her Missy, flashing the band, and the drummer from Mr. Greengenes giving us a thumbs up. I'm not too sure, but I believe they started life as one of the top Philly area cover bands and are now touring the country with their original music, so maybe there's still hope for my rock star dreams. ;) The final highlight has to be the entertaining antics of the SO of a band member and her friend. If it were anime, I'd call it fanservice, and that's pretty much what it was. For the record Caesar approves. :-D

Allan's Jacket at Casey's Tomorrow Night

So, in what will eventually become tradition, my band Allan's Jacket will be performing at Casey's on Saturday, October 30th for Halloween. Last year was a blast and, in a what was obviously a stretch, I went as Typical Goth Boy. Unfortunately, no pictures exist of my wonderfully sublime costume.
This year the band is attempting a theme of sorts, and the only hint I'll give you is that it's blasphemous. And most of you know how much I love blasphemy. :-D Hopefully, this year there will be the same size crowd,(packed) and the same amount of Catholic School Girls (lots) Since, most of my friends will have other plans, I will take solace in watching the CSGs and their lithe, nubile bodies bounce and dance. < sigh >

Hey Dude, Wanna Grab A Beer?

Ultimately, it is the cold, unforgiving light of history who shall determine this President's legacy. All the shrieking, radical left wingers who see this video will immediately seize upon this as more evidence of Dubya's failings as a President. But, it made me laugh, and he looks like the type of person who might be fun to hang out with at a bar, and who probably made his frat a cool place to hang. Unfortunately, I can't imagine any of my drinking buddies being President, and I think that's the bottom line.

Red Sox Win the World Series! What's Next? Peace In The Middle East?

Now far be it for an upstanding Christian man to revel in the misery of others, but since I'm not an upstanding Christian man, this makes me very hopeful for the future.
As it is my belief that Arafat has been an obstacle to peace for many, many years, his passing will set the stage for what might actually be real progress and a real solution to the Palestinian question.

Genius, I Tell You.

South Park is pure genius. Satire is not dead, after all, even if it isn't subtle. When PETA intimidates South Park to change their school mascot from the Cows, their choices are a giant douche or a turd sandwich. Stan doesn't see the point of voting if those are his choices. Gods, I love this show.

What Science Hath Wrought

Hypo-Allergenic Cats. I haven't really thought through the ethical and moral implications of this development, but I'm pretty sure this will become more and more common, despite Bush Administration efforts to curb this type of federally funded research.

The Stakes Have Risen

So, in these days of hyperbolic rhetoric of life and death emanating from both camps, this story just adds fuel to the fire. I'm pretty certain Rehnquist will announce his retirement shortly, and they'll add "Strict Constructionist*" and "Litmus Tests*" and "Activist Judges*" to barrage of talking points and ad hominem attacks. (I mean, when did liberal and conservative become dirty words?)
Frankly, I don't think it's anything to be too worried about, unless you live in dire fear of President Kerry appointing a left leaning judge. (Which I obviously don't, frankly as long as a judge interprets to allow more individual freedom, and less government oversight, they're usually OK by me.) A right leaning judge, will only preserve the status quo, and really it's not as bad as people think it is. (I thought the court ruled correctly in the 2000 election dispute and the Texas Sodomy Law. I'm pretty sure we won't see a Dredd Scott like decision again in my lifetime.) Especially, as Sandra Day O'Connor tends to be the swing voter. Though it'd be interesting to see who the new Chief Justice will be. I think O'Connor, Antonin Scalia and David Souter are the most senior members of the Court after Rehnquist, so it could be either one of them.
Stay tuned.

*Definitions for your edification.

Strict Constructionist: A Judge who will interpret the Constitution to mean all the rights plainly stated in the Constitution, no more, no less. A strict constructionist would have voted against Miranda and against Roe, since the Founding Father's didn't foresee the need to address the rights of suspected criminals at the time of their arrest or fetuses/pregnant mothers.

Litmust Test: Code for how a judge would have voted on Roe vs. Wade. Which we all know is the defining standard for how a judge will decide any future cases. < rolls eyes >

Activist Judge: Usually used as an epithet to condemn judges who voted against your position. For example, in 2000, Liberals cried "Activist Judges" when the court voted to stopped the Florida recount. And Conservatives have been crying "Activst Judges" when the Supreme Court declared that Texas' gay only sodomy law was unconstitutional and the Massachusett's court voted that barring gays and lesbians from marrying was unconstiutional, according to their state constitution.

I Feel Like a High School Girl. . . .

You remember back in high school, when the girls would all talk about who they liked and then one might approach you to say that either she or "her friend" was interested in your friend? Still happens. So much for that maxim that high school doesn't reflect real life; well, not usually, but obviously some things you just can't get away from.
Anyway, the point of this is that through no fault of my own, I find myself the intermediary between a fan and Shawn. At first it was pretty innocuous, said fan didn't have any way to contact Shawn except through me and Tom, since we have working email addresses on the band site. Tom being occupied with DNS issues on his servers at work, let it slide, so I answered and she made it very clear that she's very interested in Shawn. (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, knowwattamean knowwattamean)
So, we're now at the point where I need to pass this onto Shawn and wash my hands of the whole matter, because beyond this point the danger potential is pretty high. And having been in a similar situation before, I can safely say, "Fuck dat noiz."
So that's basically it, except for the part where I sigh and wonder why doesn't this ever happen to me, especially when I was single. Is it too much to ask to have random hot girls prostrate before me in obsessive worship and adulation? I don't think so. ;)

Why Jon Stewart is a God

Jon Stewart takes Crossfire to task for "hurting America." You've got to see this!

EDIT: 10/25/04: Corrected spelling. Took the "h" out Jon's first name.

More to Come

Just as an aside to nobody in particular, except you my faithful, yet fictitious readers, that I have a couple long posts coming up detailing what I've been up to recently for those you who didn't already know and what I've been watching, also for those of you who didn't know. Really, the last one is just an excuse to talk about anime and I have a lot to talk about there, so stay tuned, there might be something you might be interested in.

Baby Steps

So, roughly 16 years after the first time I got one, I now have my Learner's Permit. Why so long? It was the combination of laziness and no pressing need. Since I lived in Jenkintown as a kid, Philly was just a 20 minute train ride away. And then I moved downtown for college and since everything was either within walking, taxi or SEPTA distance away. Longer journeys were always taken with friends, good friends,(I love you all and will be reciprocating as soon as I am able. :-D) willing to schlepp our lazy asses anywhere, usually. It wasn't until we moved to Glenside that the pressure started to mount, and even then it wasn't until this year that I felt that I was burdening people a little too much. So, thus the permit. Next up: driving lessons.

You Missed A Damn Good Show

Friday night at Matty's Place was the best show we've done in a while. The crowd was really into us and we were really into the crowd. Very few mistakes on our part, got girls up and dancing, and that's our bottom line. ;) All around a good show. I'm still getting used to the volume pedal function on my effects processor. Shawn kept hitting it, since we were cramped together, but other than those times, it wasn't the technical fiasco that the Top Five was last week. We had Shawn's friend Chuck make our set lists, and they were pretty spot on. Fun to play, and the crowd dug it. It's nights like Matty's that remind me why I like playing in front of an audience.
Also, there was a good turnout of hot ladies, which is always a plus. Rachel turned up for her first show in a couple of months and I like having her there, because she's someone I play my "rockstar" silliness to, and her reactions keep me going. Her friend Lauren was also fun. ;) Personal groupies have still been elusive, however, and that's probably due to my patented "taken vibe" as Rachel calls it. Ah well, not like I have any use for groupies other than to satisfy my vanity and ego.
Matty's is a good spot, even though it's small, if we keep getting crowds like that, I won't mind playing there every month.

Allan's Jacket at Matty's tonight

So my band, Allan's Jacket, will be playing at Matty's tonight I'm not sure of the starting time, I think they want us to go on a 9:30pm instead of our usual 10pm time. Check out the Calendar section, and click on the "Matty's Place" link for address.
I'll be playing tonight with a different amp, as I shipped mine off to California this week, to upgrade to a new one. Seemed like a good deal, $250 to get the latest and greatest. Anyway, I've got to pick up my rental amp this afternoon. I'm sure this amp will be less powerful, than mine, (200-300 watts) instead of my beefy 600W amp, but that should be OK, as Matty's is a small place and we're supposed to keep the volume low. So I probably won't be overdriving my Hartke 4X10 cabinet tonight. Hope to see some people out there tonight, though that's probably not likely, as I'm still beta-testing this blog and still haven't told more than two people about it.

The Lesser of Two Evils.

So, the last Presidential debate ended a while ago, and I have to say, that I'm frustrated and disappointed to have to choose between two unremarkable candidates for President. I guess as I've gotten older my political sensibilities have become too refined, or something, because I long for the halcyon days of my youth when Republicans were the bad guys and Democrats were the good guys. It was easier back then, because I didn't know any better. *sigh*
I think this one was a draw. There's no use judging this debate on substance, since they both eschewed any real policy details, and both were equally guilty of distortions, some more noticeable than others. I can't imagine that any undecided voter who watched any of these debates came out more informed about the issues. All I heard were the same recycled talking points I keep hearing in all their ads and campaign appearances. I guess it's really all flash and substance now. And, the format of the debate wasn't really conducive to tracking points like I used to do back when I was judging High School and College debates, because then you could actually discern a winner, and that'd cause some minor problems for the spinmeisters. (I'd kill to see them do a real Lincoln-Douglass style or Cross Examination style debate though. Ah, pipe dreams. . . .)
So all we're left with is style. Kerry has a very polished speaking style, which makes his false starts and pauses stand out all that much more, but that's about it, there was no force of personality, no charm, nothing about him that inspires me, or reassures me that we are better off with him.
W., well, he's not a natural public speaker, duh. So, as his campaign keeps pointing out, that he was able to hold his on, against "Master Debater" Kerry is a victory in of itself. Way to manage expectations guys. Bush's performance tonight is leagues beyond his performance in the first one-- "The work we do in Iraq, will be hard, because it's hard work. It's hard"--but really that's not saying a lot. And that makes me uncomfortable with Bush, the fact that he can't articulate his thoughts clearly does not inspire my confidence in him. Bush has a certain arrogant charm that I don't mind in certain situations, and that plenty of people find folksy and regular and obviously identify with, but, I don't find it reassurring. If think if you combined Bush and Kerry, you'd either get Joe Lieberman or John McCain (or maybe Tony Blair) and I'd rather vote for either one of them in a heartbeat.
So, for those of you who are wondering, I used to be a liberal, but I've been shifting right the last 5 years, right now, I'd call myself a liberterian, since current liberalism is mostly shrieky and alien to me. I don't think I'll ever be a conservative, though, as I'm too pro-hedonism for that crowd. ;) If you want to read someone who articulates my current political struggle better than I could ever hope to, read Andrew Sullivan. I find I generally agree with him about a wide range of issues and subjects, except his belief that Dick Cheney is sexy, and his disdain for Queer Eye, then not so much. ;)
I guess right now I'm leaning toward Kerry, only because Bush has a long way to go to convince me that he deserves another four years. And I don't know who the Liberterian candidate is, and Nader has ruined 3rd party viability in this country for at least 10 years. So, at this point, I'll be holding my nose when I walk into the voting booth next month. Here's hoping we get somebody worth voting for in 2008.

Joining the Bandwagon

So, yes, I'm jumping on the blog bandwagon, because all the cool kids are doing it, and I don't want to be left behind. ;)
Mike O'Hara is the catalyst for this bandwagon jump, we hung out last Tuesday and saw Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, and he mentioned that he had a LiveJournal --which he still hasn't given me the address for. :(-- and he was encouraging his friends to get one, and to keep tabs on each other's lives that way, since we all seem to have scattered across the country in the intervening years since B4Dawn ended.
Anyway, this blog, as the title might suggest will be the place where I will write down things that come out of my head. However, since I do an enormous amount of self-editing between my head and my hands it won't be stream of consciousness, and might actually be coherent and rational at times. So, I guess, it's not a complete accurate description, but it's my blog, dammit! I'll write the way I always write. There probably won't be a whole lot of things that I won't talk about, and I probably won't have a lot of stuff here at first, but that's OK, since I'm probably going to wait to a bit before I tell anyone I've started this. ;)
So stay tuned.