Phil Traynor's Bombastic Blog-O-Matic

CD REVIEW - Ken Navarro – Dreaming of Trains

2010-03-11T22:06:00.001-05:00

Ken Navarro – Dreaming of Trains
Reviewed by Phil Traynor
http://www.philtraynor.com/

The new CD “Dreaming of Trains” by Ken Navarro (releasing nationally on March 16th 2010) is a dazzling display of multiple talents by the versatile guitarist. Navarro’s 19th release in a prolific and acclaimed career sparkles with innovation and delight at every turn.

What struck me almost immediately, and kept on striking me throughout the disc, is a fearless sense of movement. Navarro leaps from tone center to tone center with joyous abandon, changes meter with deft ebullience, changes tempo midstream, shuffles mode at will. What might seem to the casual listener to be an overly cerebral, self-absorbed tactic, it is really nothing of the sort; to me, it is a gleeful statement of personal ideas that invites you to follow along; and rewards your tenacity with dimension, harmonic complexity, and textured nuance.

The title cut is a tension-filled, ethereal piece, that demonstrates not only Navarro’s micrometered set of chops, but also showcases his deft arranging sense and atmospheric production sensibilities. I’m thrilled to hear such incredible attention to detail in the drum and percussion tracks; so often neglected on albums by solo instrument artists. The sound field is deep, wide, and focused, with a clarity that will startle you. Drummer Joel Rosenblatt (Manhattan Transfer, Spyro Gyra) is a true craftsman, and his work on this disc crackles with energy, and yet is settled, effortless, and compelling; while Navarro’s presentation of the percussion is upfront, deliberate, and meticulous.

Navarro’s signature smoothness and even-handed playing is a joy to behold throughout the disc. His versatility in migrating from clean nylon string work to funky distortion and back in “The Buzz” is especially noteworthy. “Brazilian-phase” Metheny-esque influences can be heard in “Dream So Real”, but Navarro makes it his own with chordal movement and arranging density that creates a lush and precipitating atmosphere. The gentle giddiness of “Self Propelled” is leavened by a wonderful, modal planing eleventh/dominant harmonic sensibility that makes the resolutions truly satisfying. True Stories is a multi-movement tour de force with a riveting doubled melody and global feel that once again harkens the best of Metheny/Mays. “Shared Air” has a relentless throb, a fascinating counterpoint to the gentility of the melody. The subtlety of the drummer is brought into focus again on this piece. “Everything Being is Dancing” just flat boogies. A little clav feel, laid-back and funky drums, suddenly ornamented with a dense harmonic palette, with nuanced and sensitive bass work by Tom Kennedy (Al DiMeola, Dave Weckl), and perhaps the most spirited and inspired Navarro soloing on the disc. Breathless work. “The Stars, The Snow, The Fire” makes beautiful use of odd-meter’s levitating effects on a groove. Seamless transitions into swing and then into 4/4, then back punctuate the symphonic nature of the song. Keyboardist Jay Rowe (Special EFX, Marion Meadows) is particularly mesmerizing in this piece. The closer, Erik Satie’s “Gymnopedie No. 1” is an interesting counterpoint to the rest of the CD. While it is flawlessly executed, expressive, and interesting, I couldn’t help but wonder if the continuity of the album wasn’t compromised just a tad by this piece’s inclusion. I wasn’t bothered by it, but I did notice. A minor blemish at most (and I really had to nitpick to find this fault) on what is a genuinely riveting CD. If this is not up for Grammy® consideration, I shall be truly astounded. Get it. Now.

Review ©2010 Philip G. Traynor

KEN NAVARRO – DREAMING OF TRAINS
Released on Positive Music Records

Has it really been a year and a half??

2010-02-23T18:32:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I guess it has. Wow. Sorry about that, if you're a reader of my blog. (I'm sure both of you stopped trying months ago). I've been on Facebook all this time. And doing a CD. And a bunch of other, perhaps more trivial things. I'll try to do better, I promise.

Rays are shining!

2008-08-22T23:51:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm on the record in an earlier post prior to the start of the season that my Rays would be 83-79 and in 3rd place. Well, as I write this, the Rays sit at 78-49, a .614 winning percentage, tracking to win 100 games, and be the only representative from the AL East in the playoffs. They have the BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL (assuming Minnesota holds off the Angels, they are winning 5-0), and it's almost SEPTEMBER!!! The Rays' magic number is smaller than the number of games they have left to play!

Take THAT, RedSox Nation!

My quick takes on the All Star game...

2008-07-16T18:39:00.005-04:00

1) Papelbon was a tool for saying on the record that he thought he should get the close. It was Rivera's game to close, Papelbon knew it, Francona knew it, only Francona actually handled it correctly.
2) YankeeFan was way past toolness in the way they treated the Red Sox players and families in the parade. Crass, unacceptable, and vomitous.
3) Terry Francona was a class act, stem to stern. From the way he took Jeter and A-Rod out in the middle of innings so they could take a bow, to the way he put Rivera in mid-inning so he could walk in to his music (though that one bit him hard, because it turned out he needed more work from F. Rodriguez…), to the way he very respectfully and gingerly handled the starting pitcher from a heated division rival that had just thrown 104 pitches just 2 days earlier) and limited him to 14 pitches…
4) Dioner Navarro almost had a disaster of a game, with 2 Ks and a wild throw into center trying to gun down a baserunner, but redeemed himself with a GREAT throwout of another for the 3rd out in the 9th off the strikeout from Rivera, and the walk, and the clutch base hit in the 15th.
5) Longoria looked like the little kid he is, having a great time. It was great to see him, on the slo-mo replay of the double, crack into a smile before the ball passed 3rd base… He's gonna be a great player for a long time. He had volunteered to go in and pitch for Kaz, if Kaz needed relief, he pitched in high school.
6) How about JD Drew, man? Monster game… He also volunteered to pitch.
7) Pittsburgh's center fielder had a monster game too… (He gunned Navi down at the plate, though Navi had just barely beaten the tag on the replay…. )
8) Roy Halladay was completely unhittable.
9) Josh Hamilton had an All-Star experience for the ages… How many people have EVER hit the back wall of the bleachers at Yankee Stadium? I bet less than five.
10) Dan Uggla has got to be in a very deep cavern somewhere in the Everglades right now; very VERY drunk. That was one of the most pathetic performances I've ever seen in a baseball game...
11) Youkilis looked good, should have been in the game longer.
12) Zambrano's loopy slow curveball at ManRam was really funny; wish I knew the history.
13) Was the most intense, well-played all star game I've ever seen.
14) Softball game with legends and celebs on Monday was a hoot. Even with Kenny Mayne.

So, Red Sox Nation...

2008-05-13T23:11:00.004-04:00

Go ahead, return the sweep favor… so what… Check your mirrors… who's that behind you? Hmm, let's see.

Orioles? Check.

Yankees? Check.

Jays? Check.

Rays?

Uh… Hmm. Where are those forlorn, permanent basement dwelling Rays?

Better check ahead there, skipper.

(click for larger image)

Rays division record? 17-11. Sox? Oooh, not so much, 8-10.

Who has the best record in the American league and tied for 2nd best in baseball (and only 1/2 game behind that best record)??

Yep, the "It's only April, uh, oops, MAY" Tampa Bay Rays!

11 straight at home.

6 straight overall.

3-0 in extra innings.

Edwin Jackson, 15 consecutive shutout innings.

Take THAT!! :)

Economic Recovery - a quick Q&A

2008-05-02T09:41:00.007-04:00

(5/2/08) In my opinion, we're about 3 months from the start of a noticeable recovery.

Here's my theory:

What the heck is causing gas to be so expensive?
Nope, it's not Exxon and Shell raping us with insane profit margins. Yes, the profit dollar numbers are huge, but it represents only 7.5%-9% of their revenue. 9% net profit is not at all excessive. Compare it to Microsoft's if you don't believe me.

So if it's not them, who is it? Is it the Arabs withholding supply?
Nope. Of our imported oil, only one of the top 5 countries is Arab; Saudi Arabia at #2. Canada is #1, and Mexico, Nigeria, and Venezuela round out the top 5; which account for 70% or so of our total imports. It's not a supply issue.

Is it a rising demand issue?
Nope. 9 straight months of diminishing demand. Are YOU doing more driving now that gas is $3.60?

So what is it?
Well, a small part is that we're stockpiling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, buying about 700 million barrels to top it off, and building more. This is good long term thinking. But the big offender?

THE OIL COMMODITIES MARKET.

It's speculators, who are buying up oil futures as a hedge against inflation.

Where does the inflation come from?
A weakened dollar.

Why is the dollar weak?
Because the Fed has been cutting the Federal Funds rate steadily since June of 2006.

Why would they do that when they know it weakens the dollar and causes inflation?
To strengthen the lending market, which collapsed in the sub-par lending bust last year. (Yep; it's those idiots that gave HUGE mortgages to people who couldn't afford it, and it's the brokerage houses that packaged a ton of subprime mortgages into securities that tanked when everyone stopped paying their mortgage.)

What makes you think this is a bubble that can burst suddenly?
Well, look at basic economics. Plenty of supply, 9 months of diminishing demand. This scenario should in and of itself lower prices. The math just doesn't work. The demand curve doesn't nearly support these exhorbitant price levels. Nor does surrent supply, seasonal variation, or any other factor. It's an artificial floor; JUST LIKE INTERNET STOCKS WERE EXPERIENCING IN THE LATE 90s.

And you know what happened there. *pop*

It's a house of cards, waiting for a catalyst.

So, what's gonna fix it?
The Fed has had enough. This last Federal funds rate cut is the last one you're gonna see. They are going to start raising interest rates. That will cause the dollar to strengthen in global markets. And when that happens, the guys currently going long in sweet crude futures are gonna jump ship like rats, which will cause oil futures to plummet, which will in turn cause pump prices to follow suit 30-45 days later. I suspect a price point as low as $55-60 a barrel is what the market *should* be supporting, which translates to roughly $1.85 gas. If that happens, and gas is cheap again, Exxon's not going out of business, they are still gonna pull their 9%; just on lower revenue.

The rest of us will love it though. When gas is cheap, people buy stuff. Consumer confidence and consumer spending are THE ENGINE that drives the bus. When Joe Six Pack is comfortable spending money, and also BORROWING money, then everything will snap into shape. Once the dollar gets stronger, the credit market will loosen. When the credit market loosens, the housing market will EXPLODE. There is a ton of pent-up demand for housing, but people won't pull the trigger because nobody is lending unless you have an 800 Beacon score, and the sub-pars are under a lot more scrutiny now. (As well they should be since this whole thing is their fault!) When housing picks up, the market for everything that houses need picks up too.

Look for a nice Christmas season.

Need a laugh? Everyone does.

2008-04-21T22:52:00.005-04:00

OK, here's your chance to just sit there and try not to laugh. I dare ya. Go ahead. Try to not laugh. This is my little girl Abby (see the top right of this blog for what she looks like now... She was about 8-1/2 months old when this video was shot... )

See? Told you you couldn't keep a straight face... :)

The Newport at Miami Beach Guitar Festival

2008-04-18T21:28:00.010-04:00

Or: "What I Did With My Long Weekend Before Jury Duty..."

I spent the weekend of April 11th at The Newport at Miami Beach Guitar Festival http://www.newportguitarfestivalmiamibeach.com/homepage.html

I shot a ton of video! Below is a link to my playlist, there's about ten videos there now, and it will grow pretty much daily as I get them processed. Paul Asbell and Al Petteway are both current/former Swannanoa Gathering (http://www.swangathering.com) instructors, for those of you familiar with the "Gathering" that I go to every year (Al Petteway is the Guitar Week coordinator).

PLAYLIST
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=1167F746185EC689

Least expensive of the custom luthier guitars: $3400
Most expensive: a Benedetto archtop - $40,000
Most expensive one I played: $33,000 (Ryan Dragonfly with custom Deco period inlay - video forthcoming)
Personal Favorites:
Oriskany's parlor model, Sugita Kenji, Kevin Ryan, Erich Solomon, Schenk, Charis (looks, not sound), Benedetto, Linda Manzer (Pat Metheney's luthier), MacPherson, and Brunner Guitars (check out their Outdoor line; it comes apart at the neck to go into a REALLY teeny case, goes back together, and doesn't go out of tune significantly! http://www.brunner-guitars.com/flash/) and they sound great! They are $800-$2000, but aren't really "custom handbuilts", they are more factory-oriented, though you can custom order one. A bit pricey for the sound, but unmatchable utility!

The average guitars in the custom luthier area ran between $8,000 and $12,000. There were some $2700-$3500 S-series Breedloves that were every bit as nice as the five-figure custom stuff.

Why does a luthier charge $6000 for a custom guitar? Well, *some* of it is materials; for example it costs a luthier about $3000 to buy enough Brazilian Rosewood to do a bookmatched back and sides. There were no guitars with Brazilian that were under about $8,000. On average, from the folks I talked to about it, a $4000 guitar is about a grand in materials, and the rest is labor; they literally can take months to complete, and hundreds of man-hours. A luthier turning out 12 guitars a year (like Oriskany Guitars,

http://www.oriskanyguitars.com) will usually have 3-4 guitars going at a time; in various stages of completion.

A luthier turning out 12 guitars a year and selling them for $4,000 - $6,000 is not by any financial definition a wealthy person. Johanna and Curtis of Oriskany Guitars live on Curtis' parents property, in an apartment above their 600 sq. foot workshop. But their guitars are simple, elegant, and spectacular; in fact thier 50th guitar, a small parlor model (http://www.oriskanyguitars.com/photos/sale/parlor/detail.JPG) was my absolute favorite of the custom models to play, and it was somewhere about $4300. (A relative bargain, right?)

Fun stuff!!

Rays Excitement!

2008-03-26T18:22:00.005-04:00

(3/26/08) I gotta tell you, I'm geeked for the Rays this year. I have to go on record before Opening Day with my predictions. So, I'm being bold this year:

Record: 83-79 (.512)
Place: 3rd, 16 games out of first, and 11 games behind the 2nd place Yankees.

I've seen predictions as high as 88 wins, which is not unthinkable; but it would mean that Kaz would have to be healthy all year, and Rocco Baldelli would also have to have a great year, and that the top 3 in the rotation (Kazmir, Shields, Garza) would all have to win more than 15 games. I think Troy Percival is good for 8-12 wins and 45 saves, Reyes is good for 5 wins and 10-15 saves in a long-close and setup role, E-J will probably win 8-12, and if Sonnanstine, Howell, and Hammel can combine for 10-15 wins, we're there. I think CC is a safe bet for .290, 40-55 steals; I think Evan Longoria should have made the starting Opening Day roster. He's only going to be down in Durham long enough so that his arbitration and free agent eligibility clock doesn't start this year. A CRIME, I tell you. Bonehead move, coach, you probably cost him Rookie of the Year...

The Rays have the biggest impact on the AL East of any team. Why? 23.4% of their games are against the Yankees and the Red Sox. Well, guess what? Our record against the Yanks in the last 40 games? 20-20. They fear our bats, and they don't have the pitching they had last year. The Sox are a powerhouse for sure, but I ain't afraid of no Yankees...

Give it up, Hillary...

2008-03-26T18:14:00.004-04:00

So here's the thing... The latest polling out today shows McCain vs Obama is a 51-41 victory for Obama, and McCain vs Clinton is a 50-30 victory for McCain. PLUS; today's Gallup poll shows that if Clinton somehow back-doors the nomination (super delegate persuasion or whatever), that the Obama supporters will go not to Hillary, but to McCain, especially in the black community.

This debacle could well be the end of the Democratic party as we know it.

Just give it up, Hillary. Go get your divorce, get a less cynical campaign staff, and get a less "good ole boy", politics-as-usual attitude, be a good Senator for 4 more years, you're practically undefeatable in the People's Republic of New York; and try again in 2012.

Repentance...

2008-01-02T23:49:00.000-05:00

Wow. I haven't blogged since April of 2007?? Crap. Sorry. Well, you all left, so never mind. Anyway, I resolve to blog more this year.

I just don't get it...

2007-04-24T12:15:00.000-04:00

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays took it to the New York Yankees last night by the score of 10-8; by scattering 15 hits, including two home runs, but is the Rays' sudden fearsom offense this season the story? No. A-Rod is the story. Yeah, sure, he jacked two home runs. the 2nd one in the 9th inning was a monster. But it wasn't enough. The Rays won. Nobody mentions how Shawn Camp came in to pitch the 7th inning; an event that has usually spelled the Rays' downfall this year (opponents hitting .385 against him), and got Jeter to hit into a double play, and fanned A-Rod to end the inning! Nobody mentions how Rocco Baldelli stole a base right under the pitcher's nose while he was walking behind the mound in the 7th. Nobody mentions the Howitzer arm of Elijah Dukes, who had gunned down two runners easily, but got bad calls both times. Nobody mentions Al Reyes going to 7 for 7 in save opportunities this season. Nobody mentions that the hapless Rays just flat whooped up on the Yankees. The game was not as close as the score.

Some things to note when comparing the $200 million plus payroll Yankees to the lowly $25 million Rays:

Team batting average: Rays .272 (3rd in AL), Yankees .286 (1st in AL)
Home Runs: Rays 25 (2nd in AL), Yankees 26 (1st in AL)
Runs Scored: Rays 102 (2nd in AL), Yankees 116 (1st in AL)
Slugging Percentage: Rays .453 (2nd in AL), Yankees .454 (1st in AL)

The Rays are a #2 starter and one intimidating setup reliever from being a very scary team. They are among the league's best in most offensive categories, with a very young and talented core nucleus of players.

So, OK, props to A-Rod for the great April. Big whoop. He's not even gonna be a Yankee next year, so who really cares? Don't deny the boys from the 'Trop our day in the sun. Go home, Yankeefan!!!

WHAT?!?!?!

2007-04-03T12:08:00.000-04:00

From British newspaper TimesOnline (UK):

Teachers are dropping controversial subjects such as the Holocaust and the Crusades from history lessons because they do not want to cause offence to children from certain races or religions, a report claims.

A lack of factual knowledge among some teachers, particularly in primary schools, is also leading to “shallow” lessons on emotive and difficult subjects, according to the study by the Historical Association.

The report, produced with funding from the Department for Education, said that where teachers and staff avoided emotive and controversial history, their motives were generally well intentioned.

“Staff may wish to avoid causing offence or appearing insensitive to individuals or groups in their classes. In particular settings, teachers of history are unwilling to challenge highly contentious or charged versions of history in which pupils are steeped at home, in their community or in a place of worship,” it concluded.

However, it was concerned that this could lead to divisions within school, and that it might also put pupils off history.

OK, it's really getting out of hand now. They don't want to teach the Holocaust because it might offend some Moslem children, who are taught Holocaust denial. Never happened. Those ovens and railroad tracks at Auschwitz? Just a movie set, a stage for the perpetration of lies against Allah. That goes for the Crusades too.

I have never seen such a lack of backbone in my life. Don't teach kids about events that REALLY HAPPENED, becuase it might offend them! If we are going to insulate our children from our history, then we are truly doomed to repeat it. How will we prepare our kids for the harsh reality of what's happening TODAY, if we can't even prepare them to accept what happened in the past?

Man, I long for the days of old, when we could safely offend people because we had the truth on our side. Better still, I long for the days of older, when people weren't offended by the truth.

Britian, where are your balls? I guess Margaret Thatcher took them with her when she left office. Sheesh!!

Gore To Receive Emmy. Sheesh.

2007-03-29T10:45:00.000-04:00

From WENN News:

Former US Vice President Al Gore to set to receive an honorary International Emmy Award for his contribution to television. Gore, 58, whose documentary An Inconvenient Truth won two Oscars last month <despite being loaded with bad science - PT>, will accept the Founders Award at a ceremony in New York City in November. The organization's president Bruce Paisner says, "We in the media industry are honored that one of the world's leading political figures has joined our global community of broadcasters."

One is forced to wonder if he will also receive a "Webby" award; having invented the thing, after all...

What should the NFL do?

2007-03-26T12:25:00.003-04:00

(3/26/07) Roger Goodell, the rookie NFL commish, is about to announce a new conduct code for NFL players. Personally, I think that no matter how harsh it is; it's not harsh enough.

Playing in the NFL is a privilege reserved for only the most elite athletes in the world. With it come the trappings of fame and wealth, and also the burden of responsibility to the team and the community. You look at the Tank Johnson case; he's in jail now for violating probation on a weapons charge, and Pacman Jones; who is a walking example of why the overhaul is needed, with TEN run-ins with the law, and you can understand the odd separation here. I'll get right out with it, here's what I think it should be for arrests:

Strike one: 4 game ban. Everyone makes mistakes, but you shouldn't at this level. You should know better. If your culture somehow demands that you spend every night till 4AM in a nightclub, you can damned well behave yourself.

Strike two: 1 year ban. Your salary cap hit for the year comes off your team's responsibility, so they can sign someone to replace your thug ass for the year, or permanently, should they so desire.

Strike three: Lifetime ban. You're done. No more clubs, no more dubbed Hummers. Your team gains your entire contract's cap hit number back, and they are entitled to your entire signing bonus back.

Why just arrests, and not convictions? Why no waiting for due process? Here's why. People rarely, if ever, get arrested for NO REASON. If you get arrested, you did something to make the officer consider your conduct suspect. Even if you didn't commit a crime, your punk ass was sitting there mouthing off, or your posse was causing trouble. Either way, it's on you. And in any event, being there in the first place is probably a violation of your contract's code of conduct.

I don't think pro athletes deserve any better than I would get on my job; if I got arrested, I'd be fired before it went to trial. So would you, probably.

Playing in the NFL is a privilege, not an entitlement; and they should take back the luster and prestige the league used to command. No team should put up with those who would tarnish the league's image. Like it or not, kids use NFL players as role models. The league used to hace a code of conduct that demanded that those in the fraternity earn it through their good conduct as well as their play. If teams stopped taking risks on conduct problem children, and pushed the message down into the college ranks that it's no longer tolerated, then maybe people will start behaving better from the beginning.

Swannanoa is coming!

2007-03-24T22:16:00.000-04:00

So, it's getting to be Swannanoa time. The posse is growing this year with three rookies; my good friend Jim is going, my brother in law Bobby is going, and my father-in-law has a friend that is coming!

What? I didn't tell you about Swannanoa? Well, OK. It's a folk-arts camp that takes over Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC every summer. (Swannaona is just NE of Asheville). Here's the Gathering website. What's it like there? Well, it moved me to write a song, called God Is Here, that explains a lot. another outstanding accounting is from my friend Mark Easley, who I met my first year there. This is his diary of one day at Swannanoa:

My Swannanoa Diary 2006

We always have some incredible days up at Swannanoa. Some people asked
me to write down the description of a particular day I was talking about
so they could review it again. Here it is.

Thursday August 3rd, 2006
Started at 9:00am Thursday, finished at 4:00am Friday.
1) Ray Chesna taught me how to play the guitar in A#.
2) Brooks Williams and my friends created an environment in his class where I could sing a new song and find out just how deep that song
really was for me.
3) I had lunch with a bunch of good friends I only see once a year, and I realized that Swannanoa is like a high school reunion where the assholes don't show up.
4) Muriel Anderson gave me a songwriting tip, and fifteen minutes later I had an outline for a new song called "I Don't Want to Know", and it is going to be a good one.
5) Muriel Anderson became the first person to sign my guitar, followed shortly by Al Petteway and Eric Garrison. (Doug Orr signed it the next day.
6) I learned "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" banjo style on the guitar.
7) I had dinner with a person I had traded emails with but never met in person. John Tosco is a Beatle freak just like me, and I look forward to many jams with him.
8) At that same dinner, as so often happens here, I made a new friend. Tom is a Hoosier who teaches at Rose Hulman institute.
9) At the open mic, my brother Steve and his friend Paddy wrote and sang me a love song.
10) My brother said "I made you cry in front of all your friends." I said, That's okay, you made all my friends cry in front of me."
11) Joanne and I sang my song "Wasn't Meant to Be" out in front of the beer tent. For the pure joy of it, we sang it again, each time joined by more of our friends, 5 times in a row. The last time, our new friend Brooks Williams joined us on the guitar. He ran to get his guitar so fast we decided he was a new breed, "guitar retriever".
12) My friend Jeff asked me to play one of my songs I did last year, called "The Broken Record Song", and he knew all the words.
13) I joined one of the wonderful song circles <This is Mark with me and my posse!! - PT> and listened to all of our talented songwriters, and I was especially pleased to see my old friend Eric Garrison break out his guitar.
14) The Baughman Factor kicked in, so Steve and I and a bunch of other people screamed Beatles tunes till we dropped at around 4:00am. We came up with an alternative to the circle of 5ths. We call it a fifth in the circle.

If any one of these things happened on a normal day, I would consider it a pretty good day, wouldn't you? Thanks to everybody who helped make it happen.
Best regards,
Mark Easley
www.goldhat.net

As you can see, it's an important place, and a very healing thing for everyone who attends. It's a week of peace, stress relief, music, love, and fellowship. I encourage you to visit Marks site, he has a massive photo and video gallery about the Gathering...

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

:)

Some people must be REALLY stupid...

2007-02-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

...to make this necessary. This is a picture of one of the automatic sprinkler heads on the ceiling in my hotel room!!! (click it; it grows.)

In other words, DON'T HANG STUFF HERE, YOU IDIOTS; THERE'S A CLOSET LESS THAN 10 FEET FROM YOU!

Sheesh. I mean, really. Think of all the money they must have had to spend to make signs for the entire hotel chain because some goober in Oklahoma or somewhere tried to hang their clothes from the sprinkler head (which is 9 feet of the floor, by the way!!) and soaked a whole hotel down.

Here's your sign. Literally.

Houston trip, Part II

2007-02-19T20:54:00.000-05:00

So, here's my cute lil' hotel room! I'm in a Towne Place Suites, directly across from the HP campus in Houston. It's cozy and clean, and I'm really quite pleased with it!

Dude, it has a kitchen! How cool is that? Ever stayed in a hotel, and you had to trod down to the ice machine, and pay $1.50 out of a machine for a coke? Well, $2.99 for a 12 pack of diet Sunkist at Target, and it's in the FRIDGE along with a nice hunk of extra sharp cheddar if I want a snack. With the big tub o' ice in the FREEZER.

Life is good.

Houston trip, Part I

2007-02-19T10:22:00.000-05:00

So, this is pretty cool. I never blogged from an airport before, so I thought I would try it. I'm on my way to Houston for some ProLiant c-class blade training. Should be a fun time. Y'all be cool, OK? I'll be checking in a lot this week...

The scariest poll I've read in an LONG time!

2007-01-13T15:30:00.000-05:00

Only 32% of the 1089 polled in a recent CNN survey are in favor of sending more troops to Iraq.
Only 31% of those polled in the same survey say that they think sending more troops to Iraq will help the situation.

PDF of poll data

What does that mean?

It means that 1% of those polled FAVOR SENDING TROOPS EVEN THOUGH THEY BELIEVE IT WON'T HELP!!!!!!

Who are these 12 people, and how can I stay away from them?

Holy mother of God, how stupid can some people be?

It’s Christmastime...

2006-12-22T14:34:00.000-05:00

...And I want everyone who reads this blog (yes, both of you) to stop for a moment. Think about the people in your life that you love, and that love you. Have you told them today that you love them? No? What’s stopping you?

When my best friend Mikey died 7 years ago, our parting words the last time I saw him, some 1.5 hours before he died, were “I’ll talk to you tomorrow”. Well, tomorrow never came. But, Mikey and I knew how each felt about the other. When my dad died last March, I was at peace, because I made sure he knew I loved him, and I knew he loved me. His last words to me were “Don’t smoke. I’m not kidding, either, this shit is for real.”, but we’d grown closer in his last 2 years than we ever had, and we were able to express our love for each other openly. I’ve been very lucky; everyone I lost knew how much I loved them.

Can you say that?

Are you pissed at your brother for putting a cigarette hole in your couch, or holding a grudge against an in-law for some horrific flatware misalignment incident from Thanksgiving in 1967? There are a lot of you out there who are not talking to someone important for something really stupid. Fix it. Life is too short.

Besides, it’s much easier on the soul to forgive, to love, to smile, and to give than it is to fester and burn. It’s OK to rant about stuff, as you may have read here in posts past. But, when it counts, you need to love. So do it. You know you can.

And even for the mundane stuff, you’re too busy, you’re uncomfortable saying it, you’re too reserved, well put your man pants on, and say it. Let’s practice.

I love you.

There, now, was that so hard?

It’s Christmas, so it’s the easiest time of year to do this sort of thing; you can break it in with everyone else on the emotional bunny slope. But do it.

Tomorrow might not come.

May you all have a joyous, merry, and healthy Christmas. And if you’re Jewish, then a blessed and joyously happy Chanukah to you! Let the depths of your love demonstrate to everyone who you really are.

What’s Bugging Me at the Moment...

2006-12-18T12:18:00.000-05:00

So, here’s my random list of annoyances for the day:

“Happy Holidays” – I’m telling ya; this PC crap is gonna put me on the roof with a Magnum... “Happy Holidays”. How about Merry Christmas? And if you’re not a practicing Christian, and you’re offended by that; I’m more than happy to wish you a happy whatever applied. Happy Chanukah, a Kwazy Kwanzaa (which isn’t even remotely a religious holiday), or whatever sacred or secular holiday you’re celebrating at the moment. But don’t sanitize my season be distilling and homogenizing it into “Happy Holidays”. Peh. In your efforts to not offend anyone, you’ve offended me, and probably hundreds of thousands of traditional holiday-celebrating folk like me. I certainly think Chanukah deserves its due alongside Christmas, as they are both very significant religious holidays, but not at the expense of their individuality.
City Codes Enforcement – A neighbor of mine is going through a ridiculous battle with the city Codes Enforcement bureau, because of his fence. He lives on the corner of a cul-de-sac, and his house faces the inside of the cul-de-sac, not the street, like my house does. So, tactically, the side of his house faces the street. He erected a gorgeous (and expensive) white 8’ fence that goes all around his side and back yards, and the bulk of it borders my property. I liked it so much I paid for the materials for the portion of the fence that borders me. Anyway, Codes Enforcement decided that the part of his house that faces the same way my house faces is the front of his house, rather than the side; and code prohibits and 8’ fence in your front yard that is in front of the house-line. So, he had to remove a good portion of it, and he’s in a big battle with them, even though he’ also received tickets for having things in his *actual* front yard, so they can’t make up their mind about what is front and what is side. Ultimately, he’ll probably get a variance, but he’ll have to shell out several hundred dollars for the privilege. Which is what they want anyway, I suppose.

Overlooked TV Catchphrases

2006-12-14T11:57:00.000-05:00

TV Land, the cable network, decided to compile a list of the 100 greatest TV quotes and catchphrases in history, and I’m here to fill in the gaps. Their list was OK, but by NO means was it accurate or comprehensive.

“That’s Hot.” – Paris Hilton.

Yeah, THAT’S the stuff of enduring history. Why anyone pays attention to that “carney” convention with a SAG card is utterly beyond me. But I digress. On to the catchphrases!

Remember, these DIDN’T make it.

“ALVIN!!!” – David, Alvin & the Chipmunks

“And now, for something completely different...” – Monty Python’s Flying Circus

“And that’s the truth, thpppttth...” – Edith Ann (Lily Tomlin), Laugh-In

“As always, thanks for your support.” – Ed, Bartyles & James wine coolers pitchman

“Ay, Caramba, man!” Bart Simpson, The Simpsons

“Beep beep!” – The Roadrunner

“By the power of Greyskull!” – Prince Adam, He-Man & the Master of the Universe

“Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams!” – Robin Leach, Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous

“Cowabunga!” Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

“Crikey!” – Steve Irwin, The Crocodle Hunter

“Did I do that?” – Steve Urkel, Family Matters

“Ehhhhhhh What’s up, Doc?” – Bugs Bunny, The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner show.

“Excuuuuuuuse MEEE!!!” – Steve Martin, SNL

“Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound..." - Announcer, Superman

“I’m Mr Roarke, and welcome to Fantasy Island!” – Mr Roarke, Fantasy Island

“Ha! I kill me...” – Alf

“He Likes it! Hey, Mikey!” – Unidentified kid, Life cereal commercial

“Hello, you are on ze air!” – Dr. Ruth Westheimer

“Hi-Yo Silver Away!" – The Lone Ranger

“I found my thrill.. ” – Richie Cunningham, Happy Days

“I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” LifeMed commercial

“I know you are, but what am I??” – Pee Wee Herman

“I love this razor so much, I bought the company!” – Victor Kiam, Remington shaver company

“I pity the fool!” Mr. T, The A-Team

“Kiss my grits!!” – Florence Jean “Flo” Castleberry from Mel’s Diner, Alice

“Know what I mean, Vern?” – Ernest P. Worrell, various commercials and PSAs

“Make it so!” – Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation

“Nanu-nanu!”- Mork, Mork & Mindy

“O-Tay!” - Eddie Murphy as Buckwheat, SNL

“Resistance is futile.” – The Borg, Star Trek: The Next Generation

“Rut Roh, Rhaggy!” – Scooby-Doo

“Say Goodnight, Dick.” – Dan Rowan, Laugh-In

“Shazbot!” - Mork, Mork & Mindy

“Survey says...” Richard Dawson, Family Feud

“Tea, Earl Grey, hot!” – Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation

“The Password is...” – Announcer, Password

“To boldly go where no man has gone before!” – Capt. James T. Kirk, Star Trek

“Wonder Twin powers, ACTIVATE!” – The Wonder Twins

“You’re despicable!” – Daffy Duck – The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner show

That’s all I can think of now. If you think of any more, comment on it!

Lunchtime Challenge #1

2006-12-01T13:34:00.000-05:00

I asked one of my colleagues to issue me a topic to rant on, and he chose sportscasters and how they change their opinions. So, here goes:

Sportscasters Gone Bad – or - Waffle House
So, how about it? Ever notice that some sportscasters are like weather vanes? Whichever way the wind blows, so does their educated opinion. Most of your mainstream local media guys just flipflop with the popular tide. A great example is Terrell Owens. When he’s not producing, he’s a cancer to the NFL and sports, and role models anywhere. When he’s producing, he’s “mercurial”, and he’s “unique”, or “a strong personality who brings energy and vitality to the game”.... Excuse me while I gag for a moment.

But some guys stick to their guns. In this area, I think the best example is Steve Duemig, AKA “The Big Dog”. I’ve been listening to him on 620WDAE for a long time now, and when he’s come out for or against something or someone, I’ve never heard him waver on it down the road. It’s a tightrope for him, because he’s been vocally against a lot of Jon Gruden’s actions as head coach of the Bucs, and he’s gotten on several of the players from time to time, yet he hosts many of the athlete and coach talk shows, and has to maintain a good relationship with them in the wake of criticizing them, and he does it. He’s respected by them, and can be candid with them without them getting defensive.

On the other side of the equation is Joe Theismann on Monday Night Football. Man, he is the lamest color guy I’ve ever heard. He changes directions more than Jean-Claude Killy being chased downhill by the paper boy in Better Off Dead. A couple of examples: He gets on Brad Johnson of the Vikings in week 1 when he said Johnson was luck the ball he threw into triple coverage wasn’t picked off, then one series later, he lauds Johnson for “not making a bad decision all night”. Then in the Arizona-Chicago game, he jumped on coach Dennis Green because several passes dropped incomplete; only to praise how much they were throwing the ball just moments later.

I could rant on Theismann for a long time, but he’s the best example. Whatta goon.

BLEAAAAAARRRRUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!

2006-11-30T14:13:00.000-05:00

Tension breaker. Had to be done.

FULL METAL SNEER!

2006-11-16T11:52:00.000-05:00

So, my best fiend Jimmy is an outstanding rock guitarist. He would argue that he isn't, but I now have undisputable evidence to the contrary. Here he is, goofing around, playing at random, working through all the rock guitar god faces you have to make to have street cred...

His days of trying to say he sucks are now in the past. Go, Jimmy!!!

I have seen the Studio 60 Pilot...

2006-09-06T22:36:00.000-04:00

And it is BRILLIANT. Aaron Sorkin, creator of the landmark television series The West Wing, and the acclaimed Sports Night, as well as A Few Good Men and The American President, has struck gold again with his new behind-the-scenes drama to be aired Monday nights at 10PM on NBC.

SPOILER ALERT - If you don't want to know what happens, stop reading now.

The show is set behind the scenes at the mythical Saturday Night Live-esque show called, oddly enough, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip". It stars Bradley Whitford (a West Wing alum) as Danny Tripp, and former Friends star Matthew Perry as Matt Albie. Both were senior writers on the show, until an executive canned Albie, and Tripp followed him out in protest. In the intervening two years, the show has steadily tanked, and when Executive Producer Wes Mendell (in an Emmy®-caliber cameo by Judd Hirsch) melts down on the air, ala Howard Beale in Network, the brass need to do something to save he show and themselves. Newly hired network president Jordan McDeere (the surprisingly lovely and spark-filled Amanda Peet) demands that Tripp and Albie be rehired to run the show, by the very slimeball exec that fired them, Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber).

Some of the back stories include that Albie just broke up with one of the "Big Three" stars of the "show-within-the-show"; Tripp is a recovering cocaine addict, McDeere is on her first day on the job, and there is a lot of sexual tension between McDeere, Albie, and Tripp.

The writing is prototypical Sorkin, with Gatling gun speed, Ginsu-sharp wit, and Gucci style. Critics of Sorkin oppose the high intelligence with which he writes, claiming he makes all the characters too smart for regular people. Well, I'd rather be challenged, thanks.

Anyway, a great big huge Dating Game kiss to NBC and Netflix, who partnered to make the pilot available on DVD to Netflix subscribers a full six weeks before the premiere. I'm salivating waiting for this show, DVR at the ready. You West Wing fans will not be disappointed, don't worry. Danny Tripp is not Josh Lyman. He has the Josh swagger, but is far more grounded a human. You'll like him, you'll love Matt Albie, and you'll rejoice in hearing Sorkin's magic once again on the airwaves.

A Tribute to a Great Man

2006-08-28T21:45:00.000-04:00

Today is a very sad day for me. I learned last night that Charles Bartlett passed away on Saturday, August 26th. Who is Charles Bartlett? Well, he is the father of my first really serious girlfriend Debbie, with whom I had a relationship when I was a senior in high school. WAYYY back. (OK, fine, 1982, shut up. :) )

Anyway, Debbie and I went out for two wonderful years, and I got to know her family very well. Debbie is a free spirit, an untamable soul, adventursome and brilliant. She was, at the time, a nearly world-class flautist; she could sight-read anything you threw in front of her. We had a great time with my friend Jon all trying out for theme park bands with the Claude Bolling Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio. She was a terrific softball player too, and went at everything she tried with passion and ferocity. Her impish laugh stays with me to this day.

For a while, I became a fixture around the Bartlett house; like that annoying brother-in-law famed in song and story who won't leave when he comes to visit. The times I spent at the Bartlett house were among the finest of my life. It was the kind of house that quintessentially defined "family"; full of love, laughs, devotion, concerned and skilled parenting, and the kind of invisible guidance-by-example that stays with you for the rest of your life whether you are one of their kids or not. Donna, Debbie's mother, is a delightful soul, whip-smart and genial, with a wicked sense of humor and a great sense of justice and love. Donna and I played a lot of late night backgammon over cheese and cranberry juice; and she was more than my match. Debbie's younger brothers Mike and Charlie were fun and interesting and smart; we played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons together. I grew to love that whole family very much indeed. That house is a "safe spot" in my heart.

Charles and I were kindred spirits in a lot of ways; at the time we had a shared affinity for fine stereo equipment; I remember the joy in his eyes and his heart when he brought home his first set of Boston Acoustics bookshelf speakers and a nice Yamaha amp, the kind with the really warm preamps. Of course, the speakers grew over time. He had a great sense of humor as well, he and I would swap bawdy jokes on a regular basis. Donna and Charles maintained an engaging friendship with my mother even to this day, some 22 years after Debbie and I stopped going out. The Bartletts are that caliber of people.

And now, he's gone. I cannot fathom the unimaginable pain that the Bartlett family is enduring right now; the close-knit nature of the family is one that doubtless makes the pain of separation infinitely more anguishing. I grieve deeply with them, my understanding limited to my memories of them, and the feelings revisited from my own father's passing this past March.

To the Bartlett family, I can only offer my sincerest condolences. I can only tell you that Charles' influence on me lingers to this day; the standard he set as a role model and father figure are ones I strive to emulate in my own household. I think of him often as I react to my daughter Abby, and I only hope that I can make a home that is as stable, happy, and full of love and honor as Charles Bartlett's house.

I cannot be at the funeral services, nor can I enjoy the company at the Euclid, but I can send along my love, my comfort, and my shared grief to the Bartlett family. May the Lord's peace shelter and enfold you, guiding you to the enduring peace and love that has always existed in all of your hearts.

With love,
Phil

Well, I called it...

2006-08-28T21:11:00.000-04:00

That ubërcreep John Mark Carr (incidentally, why do we insisit on dignifying these idiots with their full name in the media?) is walking. As usual, the Boulder PD is right on the job. I called it. There was no way this guy did it. This was just an exit strategy for Thailand. Think about it; life in a U.S. country club, or 15-20 years of being caned and squat-humped for what they were holding him for in Thailand. He confessed to a crime he most obviously didn't commit, so that we would extradite him from the hellhole he was about to endure over there.

But the DNA didn't match. Did any of you really think it would? Come on. So, now, the charges are dropped. His public defender, one Seth Temin, is having a career day in the media; I'm certain he feels that he himself has personally vindicated the honoable Mr. Karr. Experience now with me his overwhelming emotional conviction on the matter:

We're deeply distressed by the fact they took this man, dragged him back here from Bangkok, Thailand, with no forensic evidence confirming the allegations against him and no independent factors leading to a presumption that he did anything wrong," Temin said.

"We're deeply distressed"??? Who you mean 'we'? Seth, the only thing distressed in your life right now is the seams of your underwear from the chub you're sporting about the assistant DA gig you think is in your near future. Get a grip. Go pick out your 3-series Beemer and shut the hell up.

Back to Karr. What to do now? Personally, I say send this creep's ass right back to Thailand to face charges there. It is so blatantly obvious that this man is a deviant and psychopath, and deserves to be in prison for apparent past crimes against children, things he was under investigation in Thailand for already (Five visits in two years? Come on, it's the sexual tourism capital of the world!); just not for this particular crime. But he'll walk unless there's something else to hold him on. How about making a false report for starters? How about awaiting extradition to Thailand?

Bryant Gumbel: Asinine or Accurate?

2006-08-28T21:03:00.000-04:00

So, Bryan Gumbel stuck his foot in his mouth. Or did he?

In his Real Sports interview with incoming NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Gumbel concluded the interview with the following:

"Before he cleans out his office have Paul Tagliabue show you where he keeps Gene Upshaw's leash. By making the docile head of the players union his personal pet, your predecessor has kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch."

Incendiary? Sure. Out of line? Well, I don’t know. Does it pass the true-or-false test? Yeah, I think it does. I think Upshaw has been Tagliabue’s Chihuahua as long as he’s been the union president. Upshaw’s pension negotiations have always seemed to favor the higher end players, and disregarding those who need the help the most; the guys who have a 2 year career as a special teams backup.

And now some people are actually playing the racist card on Gumbel! Yep, the same Gumbel who has won the Frederick D. Patterson from the United Negro College Fund, the Martin Luther King award from the Congress of Racial Equality, Three NAACP Image Awards, the Africa’s Future Award from UNICEF, and who has reportedly raised more than $8 million for the aforementioned United Negro College Fund.

Upshaw has had no comment. The truth hurts, I suppose. Tags tried to laugh it off, calling the remarks called Gumbel’s comments ‘uninformed and quite inexcusable.’ but they were unquestionably on the money, in my opinion. Make no mistake, I think Bryant Gumbel is an arrogant, egomaniacal blowhard; and his comments were, for someone about to start a gig calling NFL games for the NFL network, completely moronic.

But they were 100% on the money.

Hello from Swannanoa!!

2006-07-30T16:30:00.000-04:00

Well, we made it! Two days of driving and I'm unpacked and registered at The Swannanoa Gathering! Just have dinner and orientation tonight, classes start tomorrow morning..

I put in a picture of my dorm room, it's cozy, and set up for multitrack recording! This is gonna be a GREAT week!!! I'll try to post as much as possible...

I'm taking a Swing Guitar Rhythms class with Mike Dowling, two different songwriting classes, and an ear training and harmony class! Too cool!!

Today's Rant About Priorities

2006-07-19T16:30:00.000-04:00

I have this acronym that I really hate. It brings out the absolute worst in me. It is “ASAP”. When people use it, they lose sight of what it means. As Soon As Possible. What it does not mean is “Drop what you’re doing and move *my* little problem to the top of your list, disregarding any other probably more substantial problems that you are already dealing with”.

For example, when someone sends me an email and says “I need this ASAP”, it gets treated with the same level of urgency that it would have had they not uttered the not-so-magic phrase. I deal with the other 43 things that came first, and then I deal with their thing.

The funny part is that the person invariably acts surprised and upset when they did not get within-the-minute response from me, and they say “I needed that ‘As Soon As Possible’, and you took 45 minutes to respond!” What you WANT to say is: “I had 43 other pressing requirements, all of which came to me before yours, and all with equally urgent needs; so the only variable left to sort by is chronological. You got handled after the ones who came before you, first in, first out. That is “As Soon As it was Possible” for me to handle it. If, in the future, you need something done with a higher level of prioritization, please give me some substantive reason to justify bumping the 42 people in front of you who were just as lazy and haphazard in managing their day as you. Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” I say it like that, only nicer.

Mean spirited? Moi? Surely, you jest. I just know how to manage my time, and I know how to manage access to my personal resources.

Thus endeth the daily rant.

Philosphical question of the day...

2006-07-13T12:58:00.000-04:00

If a man is alone in a forest, and he says something; but there is no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?

If a tree fell on a florist...

2006-07-09T22:56:00.000-04:00

Would he make a sound?

Happy Birthday to my pastor, my friend, and one of my spiritual mentors, Mike Davis.

I Miss My Dad.

2006-07-08T21:35:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to mention that.

Why?

2006-06-17T18:02:00.000-04:00

I’m tired today.. I slept for a long time, but I think I have about 35 years of sleep to catch up on. Ever have one of those nights where you just can’t get comfortable? Man, I hate that. I also hate that we spent $1800 on a bed that sucks a few years ago, and we’re going to have to spend $3300 to get one that works. (Tempurpedic, for those of you scoring at home.) You spend a third of your life in bed (or about 20%, if you’re me…) so I guess your bed should be a good place to spend time. If you take a $3300 mattress and figure out that over its 20-year warranty period, that’s about $0.45 a night, I guess that’s pretty good.

But I still hate the bedding industry.

Some questions I’ve been asking myself lately…

Why is all the food that tastes good so bad for you?
Why do people think that when they are in their car; they are in their own invisible world and they don’t have to interact with the rest of the planet?
Why did the Lone Star up by my work close down?
Why do I only have the capacity to remember 12 things on any given morning, so if I have 14 things to do that morning, two of them are not happening?
Why do people who run churches so clearly not understand what churches are supposed to be about?
Why did I get blessed with the best daughter on the planet?
Why isn’t there any chocolate in my immediate vicinity?
Why hasn’t Donald Fagen released the sheet music to Morph the Cat yet?

Bulletins as they happen…

What I Believe (The Nature of God Version) PART I

2006-06-16T15:15:00.000-04:00

With the breakup of my church family recently, (and also with the work I’ve doing on my next CD, called Heaven), I’ve been pondering the larger spiritual questions as they run through me, and I decided I’d better put it down on paper before I forget, or it changes, whichever comes first. I’ll try to summarize it for an easier read… Some of it is uncertain, some bits are actually contradictory, but it’s where I am right now. I struggle with it daily, and I think that’s the way it should be with people; it’s far too much for mere mortals to comprehend. If your belief differs from mine, and you can give me a good enough argument to help me shape my beliefs, then please by all means do so. I will listen, and I will respect what you truly believe, even if I don’t agree with it.

(HINT: “Because The Bible Says So” is not a good enough starting point, however, and if you use that lame premise I will mock you openly for being a sheep and an unquestioning dimwit, and I’ll show you several hundred places where the Bible contradicts itself. Citing a work that has at least 51 distinct modern translations with massively varying levels of semantic meaning is essentially valueless to me, no matter how divinely inspired the original work may have been. More on that later.)

The Nature of Deity
I believe that there is a God, and He sits in a dimension that we cannot begin to fathom. Let’s call it Heaven for the moment. I believe that He is in all of us, and He is on Earth in many forms; some easily distinguishable, others less apparent. I believe that each person’s experience with God is a unique and deeply personal thing; to be revered and respected, since nobody else is able to understand that unique perception.

Supreme Incarnations
I believe that God has been with us in many forms, and I believe in the notion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three manifestations of the same Supreme Being. I believe we are the children of God, as are the animals, and all life forms wherever they may exist in the universe. (Surely, I am not so arrogant to think that humans are the only life, and the Earth is the only habitable planet in the universe.) I believe that He came to Earth in human form, Jesus Christ. In the same thought, I believe that Jesus was the Son of God; mostly because I believe that God is so powerful that petty concerns like paradoxes of physics, biology and temporal mechanics are meaningless in the face of His power. God can pretty much do what He wants, how He wants, and we are not equipped to describe or understand it at a meaningful enough level to debate it with one another.

The Origin of Things
I think that God created the heavens and the Earth, but I believe that He did it through the auspices of what we would deem natural physics. The whole “creation vs. evolution” bitter arguments just make me laugh: I’m fine with the notion of “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” to mean that God initiated what science knows as the Big Bang. And six days? Who are we to know what a “day” is or was back then? The Old Testament is full of guys that lived 900 years. Was that solar years, or metaphorical? And I believe that God, in the process of creating the universe, had to set up its physical laws. And since those laws didn’t exist until he created them, He could do with matter and energy whatever he needed to make creation work.

SUGGESTED READING: The Wounded Sky, by Diane Duane. Yeah, it’s a Star Trek novel, but it deals intimately and profoundly with the concepts of creation of time/space and a thoughtful set of riffs on the subject of supreme being(s). Fascinating, to coin a phrase.

Our Existence on Earth
Here’s the bit about evil, suffering, and how we deal with one another. Is there evil? Yes, I believe that. I think that Entropy has many faces. I have seen a lot of them, most are so subtle that you wouldn’t recognize it. “Ol’ Nick”, as my mother sometimes refers to him, is an insidious force in the world. I do believe that story of Satan being cast out of Heaven for being a turncoat while watching the store (Ezekiel 28), or tracking mud on the furniture, or whatever it was, and I am certain that evil exists at his sinister hand. Why does God permit evil to exist? Because without evil, there is no good; no point of reference for morality, and love. No context for establishing a personal code of conduct among men. (Oh, get a GRIP, will you? By “men”, I mean “mankind”, or “humans”, OK? Can the PC crap, if you will.) Can we avoid evil? Of course. But in everybody’s lives; evil makes its presence known in routine ways. Mostly it takes the form of temptation. That’s the test. Can you avoid the temptations life presents you? Sometimes we can, sometimes we can’t.

Why does God permit suffering and pain and death? I think this one is simple. Man as a species requires challenges to succeed and excel. Think about it. If you had no challenges in life, what would motivate you? If you think there’s a noble answer, I submit that you should examine the state of the celebrity in the US. Rich, well fed, unchallenged, unmotivated people end up any combination of rude, fat, corrupt, dishonest, egomaniacal, depressed, stupid, inconsiderate, vapid, and sometimes President. So, a little suffering may in fact be good for the soul. Also consider life and death in this equation. Why? Well, I think we are here to learn stuff. The old adage is that lessons are presented to you in various forms until you learn them. Sometimes, it’s a twig, sometimes it’s a 2x4 upside your head, sometimes it’s a sequoia tree. So, that we do.

MORE COMING... (I just didn't want this to be a entire novel, only an essay)

CD Review: Donald Fagen – Morph the Cat

2006-06-15T17:04:00.000-04:00

Finally! We waited 13 years (well, 25, really) for another blistering dose of hipster jazz-influenced pop rock from Donald Fagen. For those with heads buried hopelessly in the sand, Donald Fagen is half of the duo known to us as Steely Dan. Once in a great while, Fagen steps away from the Dan and lets fly with an introspective and personal work; this time called Morph the Cat. Fagen’s first solo work, 1982’s The Nightfly, was a groundbreaking, genre-defining piece of artistry. It was written through the eyes of a youngster growing up in the late 1950s, and presented many different musical styles, all infused with Fagen’s trademark wry, sardonic lyric style and layered, precision arranging. His 1991 follow-up effort, Kamakiriad, had much of that, but lacked the soul and uniform coolness of Nightfly. It was a bit more sterile, and less melodically focused. (Hence my mention of the 25 year wait; I am loathe to admit I was not a huge fan of Kamakiriad...)

Morph the Cat recovers the cool, and takes it to a deeper level. This CD combines what would normally seem to be juxtaposed premises; slick, focused, micrometered arranging and playing; but coupled with an organic, retro feel. Guitarist Dean Parks, who worked on many past Steely Dan CDs, describes working with Fagen/Steely Dan as practicing until its perfect, then practicing it further until it transcends perfect, attaining a looseness, a familiarity, a second nature. So tight that it’s loose. Further, that looseness allows a freedom of expression that can musically speak of and to different eras. This is evidenced most notably in “What I Do”; a tune in which a younger Fagen is talking to the ghost of Ray Charles. The arrangement is staid, subtle; some might stay stiff. However, the musicianship creates a smooth, inexorable, dark groove, and pays homage to Charles’ sublime style with a touching simplicity.

One thing this CD has in spades is groove. If you look up "groove" in the Funk & Wagnall's (yes, I get it, that was funny) audio dictionary, well, you will hear "Brite Nightgown". The straight-up open funk beat complemented by amazing tic-tac guitar work and a bass pocket a mile deep will have you oozing to the beat whether you want to or not. Give up, and give in.

Lyrically, this CD is an exploration of the end of life. Normally, CDs with a body count are encountered only within the realm of gangsta rap, not jazz-pop. Indeed, Morph has three confirmed deaths (in “Brite Nightgown”), a possible suicide (“The Night Belongs to Mona”), and the title cut basically involves citywide rapture along with a portent of utter extinction. One cut (“H Gang”) relates the death of a band and a dream, another (“Mary Shut The Garden Door”) deals with totalitarian government control and corruption, another (“The Great Pagoda Of Funn”) deals with a couple isolating themselves from life. The only upbeat lyric involves a man finding love at the airport security checkpoint (“Security Joan”). In all, you’d think this is pretty dark territory, and in some ways, it is; but it is leavened by an organic warmth of arrangement and tone that wiggles its way under your skin, gets comfortable, and disables your remote control.

I’m finding that this CD in many ways surpasses the greatness of The Nightfly, which I though was heretofore impossible. Morph the Cat is utterly devoid of the pretense of youth; it is a mature and nuanced work, with repeated listens rewarding the listener with increasingly layered comprehension, and a deepening respect for the craft and the mad genius of Donald Fagen.

***** 5 stars out of 4.

Urinal Etiquette

2006-05-24T16:53:00.000-04:00

CAUTION: This post rated PG-13. I'm pissed off, so I'm ranting about it, and I may say something unsavory. If you have small children reading this, please cover their eyes now.

I went into the men's room at work today and you know what; I just don't understand how people are raised. When you step up to the urinal and have to take an abrupt step back because of the sheer nastiness with which your visual and olfactory senses are being assaulted, it just makes you want to gag. And this is in a big corporation, where people are supposed to have a little culture! So now, I'm off on a rant about urinal etiquette. You ladies, this is a good insight into some of your men, and what loathsome beasts they can be.

Don’t spit your freaking gum in here. It doesn’t flush.
Don’t pick your nose and flick boogers in here or on the barrier walls. (on the BARRIER WALLS, for crying out loud!! I mean, really!!)
Same with a big fat loogey. Save that for the stalls, you hopeless ingrate.
If you can’t control your loose pubic hairs, then you need to shower more often, you foul, hirsute bastard. Nasty.
Don’t pee on the rim, the floor, the walls, or your shoes.
Or the ceiling. Kee-rist! You vomitous troll.
FLUSH!!! Nobody coming in here after you cares how dehydrated you are, or if you had enough vitamin C, or if you ate asparagus last night, or if you have a really horrible degenerative and oozing social disease, you festering maggot!
Are you done now? No, you’re not, idiot; Go wash your hands. With soap. For 20 seconds. You have to shake someone's hand in a couple of minutes! Were you born in a barn???
It is absolutely appalling that this needs to be explained to some of you.

There. I feel better now. Stall Etiquette is coming.

I put in a new sink...

2006-05-22T11:39:00.000-04:00

'Twas gonna be like buttah, too. Really. I did everything the right way; I emptied the stuff from under the sink, drained the reverse osmosis filter, killed the water, drained the plumbing, unhooked the old sink, pulled it all out... I assembled the new faucet according to the instructions (Yes, real men read the instructions and follow them to the letter so it comes out right the first time...), and prepped the new sink according to the manual, too. It was all assembled and ready to go.

Now the fun part. AFTER I caulked the granite counters and aligned the clips on the sink bottom and attempted to drop the new sink in; well, that's when I found out that the new sink's retaining channels were set differently (read: wider) than the old sink; and also the granite boys had cut the opening to exremely close tolerances on the old sink; meaning I was just over 1/16" too shallow on the front to back dimension, and was so close on the side-to-side dimension that the sink would not drop in at all. Caulk everywhere, EXACTLY what I was trying to avoid. [There are two home improvement skills that I both loathe and suck at; paint and caulk - I am far too messy with them both.]

So, out comes the sink, and I had to improvise to make it work; in the form of physically bending the retaining channels just a bit, enough to allow the sink to slide (with some forceful prodding) into the opening. However, it would NOT fit with the retaining clips, nor would they install from the bottom, as I'd compressed them together and the clips would no longer go into the channels. The good news there is that the sink is now essentially wedged in; so between that, the plumber's putty, and the layer of caulk that will go in from the bottom, it won't go anywhere, and the sink/counter seal will still be watertight. But, I did mar the finish a little by getting caulk everywhere, and there is slight evidence of my metal shaping ministrations on the rear deck.

Where did I go wrong? Well, I was right by the book except for one critical misstep; I did not dry-fit the sink before applying caulk. That was pretty stupid. But, you figure the old sink and new sink are the same size, so if the old one fits, the new one will too. See what I get for figuring and not checking?

Anyway, the conversion from a double-bowl to a single large bowl is striking. It required a complete re-plumb of the drainage system, which was no problem, I actually had the stuff I needed in stock to do that job. The side benefits of this are multiple; There's more room under the sink, the garbage disposal is now no longer encumbered by a very restrictive T-joint (it is a full 1HP unit and it used to clog up on any carrot or potato peels; they'd jam at the T-joint.), and the new, more efficiently laid out plumbing run will flow better and allow less drain smell to waft backwards into the kitchen.

Plus, you can practically wash a Great Dane in the thing now. Abby could do laps in it. And it makes that side of the kitchen look a lot bigger, for some reason.

The End of an Era

2006-05-14T22:56:00.000-04:00

Well, The West Wing came to a close tonight after a seven year run, and I sit here with an achy, hollow, mournful feeling. I’ve never been attached to a TV show like this, save for Star Trek and M*A*S*H in my youth. I didn’t even start watching West Wing till about a year ago. When it started, I knew that it would be my favorite show if I watched it (The American President is my favorite movie); but I didn’t want to commit to a series, since I watched next to no television. My first actual exposure to the show was the episode that came immediately following the events of 9/11/2001. The show was called “Isaac and Ishmael”, and of all Wing episodes, it is most universally reviled. It fell outside the timeline of the series’ universe; and was probably not the best introduction to the characters, though I still loved it. Nevertheless, I did not start watching. No, I waited till 2005, and I started watching at the behest of a few co-workers, and my father.

From the first 10 minutes, I developed a great affection for the characters, and the universe. It is idealism at it’s most noble, it’s most altruistic. And while I didn’t always agree with the politics, I always admired the Bartlet administration and their devotion to country, to their President, and to the greater good. I grew to love the closeness of the people, the incredible selfless friendships; most notably between President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and his Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (the late John Spencer), and also between Bartlet and his personal aide Charlie Young (Dulé Hill). The dynamics of this fictitious White House was the stuff of dreams; they were the leaders we wish we could have. They guided the nation in their universe with unswerving courage, and with unmitigated human frailty. They made many mistakes, and shared equal triumphs, but the show was about what could be, and my breath is taken away at the thought that if we could only just…

Favorite moments? Wow, too many to list. But here are a few shining times…

Pilot episode – President Bartlet dresses down the radical religious right in defense of Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford).
The State Dinner – President Bartlet stays with the radio operator of a tender ship about to be lost at sea in a hurricane.
In Excelsis Deo – Communications Director Toby Ziegler arranges for the funeral of a homeless Korean War veteran who died of exposure on the Mall.
In The Shadow of Two Gunmen – The Bartlet White House deals with an assassination attempt.
In This White House – Bartlet insists on hiring Ainsley Hayes, a Republican counsel after seeing her best the brilliant Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn on one of the "Meet the Press" type Sunday morning news shows. She learns about the Bartlet administration, and about herself. Great quote:
“I said don't say that. Say they're smug and superior; say their approach to public policy makes you want to tear your hair out. Say they like high taxes and spending your money. Say they want to take your guns and open your borders, but don't call them worthless. At least don't do it in front of me. The people that I have met have been extraordinarily qualified, their intent is good. Their commitment is true, they are righteous, and they are patriots. [after a moment, with tears in her eyes] And I'm their lawyer.
Shibboleth – Bartlet bestows upon Charlie Young a special knife in honor of his friendship and loyalty. A VERY special knife.
Bad Moon Rising – White House Counsel Oliver Babish’s conversation with the President in the teaser is absolute GOLD.
Two Cathedrals – Bartlet confronts God in the National Cathedral. Perhaps one of the most powerful two-minute monologues in the history of television.
Bartlet For America – The President gives Leo a very intimate gift, a memento from the early campaign.
Posse Comitatus – Press Secretary CJ Cregg deals with the murder of her Secret Service bodyguard.
Inauguration: Over There – Bartlet’s speech to the staff in hiring new Deputy Communications Director Will Bailey.
Shutdown – the showdown between Bartlet and smarmy Speaker of the House Haffley.

Anyway, thanks to the cast and crew of The West Wing for making my life a more enjoyable place. I enjoyed visiting your world, and I’ll be back often. Oh, and Leo? Say Hi to my Dad for me, OK? I hope you two enjoyed the finale. *sniff* :(

10th Anniversary Blog

2006-05-04T13:20:00.000-04:00

Today is my 10th wedding anniversary! Wow. Never thought I’d ever see that! Mostly because I never figured to find anyone who could put up with me for that long! But, she does. My wife Bonnie (here is her blog) is the greatest. We met where I work, and she hated me. But, with cunning and guile, I finally wooed her successfully. She is a stay at home Mommy; and I think that’s the hardest job in the world. Those of you spending your day in an office or something, you think you have it bad? Try being a full time Mom. Beyond the mundane things like constant attention being paid to the little one, no break unless the little one naps, (and even then you’re using the time to play catch up), keeping the house together, dealing with boo-boos, doctors, being the Entertainment Committee, teacher, nurse, bodyguard, counselor, zoo master, and sometimes out and out ringleader, there is the pressure of the awesome responsibility you face as a parent, to make sure your little one is the best person he or she can be. It’s up to you to determine where that little person ends up, you shape what they believe, what they think, and what they like and dislike.. And to make matters worse? It’s a 24-7 job. I have a hard, demanding job, and I come home tired, but the simple truth is that I get to divert my brain elsewhere for 8 hours. I do my part when I get home, to be sure, but Mom’s day is never really over. And rarely do Moms get the recognition and respect they so richly deserve.

That’s just one reason why my wife is the best. She also encourages all my nutty hobbies, and gives me the space to do them. She serves as confidant, critic, manager, co-producer, creative consultant, chief butt kicker, and appreciative audience.

She’s a killer cook, and an exceptional creative mind; she makes beautiful jewelry, and does all manner of arts and crafts both for herself and with our daughter.

Best of all? She loves me. And that takes some doing.

So, Bug, thanks for the best 10 years of my life, and here’s to 50 more!

So, my Dad died...

2006-04-26T20:45:00.000-04:00

...back on March 18th, and it got me thinking a lot. And talking a bit with my wife. She and I; we're very different on the subject of grief, and it's hard for each of us to understand the other's positions. She's more in the traditional camp, with more pronounced emotional responses, and with an extreme sense of loss. But I'm somehow different.

I've been through several of these things now; my maternal grandfather, my mother's 2nd husband Mike, my best friend Mike (who died WAY too early at 34 of a heart attack), both grandmothers, and now my father. And with the exception of one time with Mikey, right after we found him, and I was trying to restrain my wife so she wouldn't see him, we cried as I held her back. But I didn't cry on any of the others. This is not to say that I didn't or don't grieve. Quite the contrary. And nor is it some half-assed attempt at strength. I'm not sure I can explain it. Call me stoic, if you will. But I think what it's about is that on one hand I'm a realist, and on the other, my faith foundation tells me some things with what I'm able to consider profound certainty.

First, we're all going to die. It's part of life, and I think Americans fear it too much. We fear that which we do not understand, or so it is said. Well, I guess I don't fear it as much as some; at least as it applies to others. I have most of the same fears as the next guy relating to my own mortality, certainly more so now that I have both a wife and a daughter to care for. Anyway. When the people I mentioned died; It was a foregone conclusion for all but one; and more than one had outlived medical expectations. So, it wasn't dealing with a surprise, it was processing the inevitable. And in Mikey's case, he hadn't been to a doctor in six years leading up to his death; and had he done so, even a GP would have picked up the irregularities in his heart (it ended up being 50% enlarged, I'd speculate his cholesterol was near four digits.) and he may have avoided it. in any case; nothing I could have done for him, or for any of the others. So, in my mind, there's nothing to emotionally disintegrate about there. Now, on to the spiritual...

My belief in God (see an upcoming blog for the nature of that) tells me with certainty that the souls of those I loved and lost are safe with Him. And it really doesn't have to go a lot farther than that in most cases. So, there's something to actually lift my spirits. I'm comforted. I remember Revelation 21:4 in my mind:

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Out of context, to be certain. But, at the end of my life, and at the end of all our lives, we're all going to be together. So, I'm OK with that.

Lastly, my father and I went through an 8-year estrangement, because at the time I had elected to no longer participate in, and be a victim of, the extraordinarily abusive co-dependent relationship he was mired in with a disgusting, dysfunctional, festering, crackhead wandering shred of human debris. He had also made some horrible ethical and moral choices then and prior that severely hurt some other people that I care a lot about, and I cannot abide that under any circumstances. So, at the time, he was already dead to me, and I mourned him then, over the course of 8 years. I never didn't love him, but I'd lost all respect for him. That to me was worse, because it was his stock in trade, a virtue he valued above almost all other. We reconciled a little while after my daughter was born, because there was no way I was going to deny him the joy of a relationship with a granddaughter he never figured he'd even have, much less see. And, I discovered after years of thought, that the choices he made in his own life were his problem, and I also learned that if people he hurt forgave him; I no longer had any reason to hold a grudge on their behalf.

So, I let it go. And I found a man who had softened considerably; 2 years of kind, gentle, funny times; the best times together we ever had. He knew that I loved him, he knew that his granddaughter loved him, and he got to watch her grow. We enjoyed sports, a mutual obsession with The West Wing, and his granddaughter. So, the 8 years of silence served to help me to find the real father that I loved. His health had declined significantly, and I knew he didn't have long, and he exasperated the hell out of me because with emphysema, asthma, a quad bypass and a half-dozen strokes; the man still smoked. But I cherish the times we had at the end, and I cherish the man he was, and honor greatly the man he wanted to be.

So, in closing, death is just another step. That's why I don't freak out.

DISCLAIMER: They also say that when a man loses his mother, his wife, or his child, all bets are off, so who knows how I'll be if any of those things happen.

My first blog...

2006-04-20T11:30:00.000-04:00

Didn't even hurt much.

So, hopefully, I'll do more. I'm sure all three of you out there will be interested. :)