Compassionate Conservatism

Yes I know the war is still not going well (understatement of the decade) but I have actually been rather impressed with President Bush in the past two months. The first term of office was clearly a victory for the far right wing. He put two conservative judges on the supreme court, started a war, fought the EPA, et cetera et cetera et cetera. But the last two months, Bush hasn't been half bad. He has pushed for harder global emission standards by late 2008, he has blasted the Sudanese leaders for their attrocities and pushed for global economic sanctions, he has done more to fight AIDS in Africa then any other president, and might I add that despite still being firm on Iraq, the war has at least made him a bit more modest and cooled his somewhat enormous ego. I'm not one of those liberals who pushes for Bush to do terrible so the Democrats will do better in the next election. I'm an American first and a progressive second. Mr. Bush, keep it going.

crazy two weeks

When I look back at the past 14 days, it's hard to comprehend what whirlwind it has been. First, Josh Koo bussed from Chi-Town to Minnesnowta and tomfoolery ensued. We laughed at the Improv group Comedy Sportz and cried while moving ridiculously heavy furniture into my new apartment and cursed the air as Josh and I attempted to golf. We had a great time and I am really bummed that a lot of what made that week fun wil be gone. Josh will be traveling the seven seas and visiting several continents in the next few months, Aaron is going back to Ames for more learning, Anay will be traveling, and Mr. Brand will be putting on his Polo shirts and ironing his Dockers and getting ready for his internship in Missouri. On another note, I had not taken a day of vacation since December. It was time. I spent the past five days in beautiful Lake Buena Vista, Florida with my family (and Elyse). I don't want to bore you with all of the details but I had a great time. My favorite part of the trip was swimming with dolphins and manta rays at Discovery Cove. I'll never forget that. I also liked seeing the manatees at Sea World and riding the roller coasters at MGM Studios and Universal Studios. It really was a great trip but all good things had to end sometime and I'm back in my office, fully refreshed and stress free, my apartment is big and gorgeous and I'm ready to get back to work.

Welcome to Paradise

I'm back from Florida...

Deep Thoughts

"If you saw two guys named Hambone and Flippy, which one would you think liked dolphins most? I'd say Flippy, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong though. It's Hambone."

"I believe in making the world safe for our children, but not our children's children, because I don't think children should be having sex."

"Contrary to what most people think, the most dangerous animal is not a tiger or a bear or a lion. It’s a shark riding on an elephant’s back, just trampling and eating everything it sees."

"If you're in a war, instead of throwing a hand grenade at the enemy, throw one of those small pumpkins. Maybe it'll make everyone think how stupid war is, and while they are thinking, you can throw a real grenade at them."

"It's fascinating to think that all around us there's an invisible world we can't even see. I'm speaking, of course, of the World of the Invisible Scary Skeletons."

"If I ever opened a trampoline store, I don't think I'd call it Trampo-Land, because you might think it was a store for tramps, which is not the impression we are trying to convey with our store. On the other hand, we would not prohibit tramps from browsing, or testing the trampolines, unless a tramp's gyrations seemed to be getting out of control."

"I was taking my little nephew to Disney Land when I decided to pull a funny trick. Instead of Disney Land, I pulled up to an old, burned down warehouse. "Oh no," I said. "Disney Land burned down." When he started crying I thought I should tell him but it was getting late."

"Mom always to me I could be anything I wanted within reason. When I asked what ‘within reason’ meant, she said I asked a lot of questions for a garbage man."

it's time again

July 9th, 2007, Varsity Theater

Ozma will be playing in Minneapolis on their summer tour.

Will anybody be joining me?

I me mine

Obviously to me and literally billions of others worldwide consider The Beatles to be the greatest band of all time. I'd say they have the respect and admiration of every music critic and get the proper respect they deserve. However, one member does not and that is Mr. George Harrison. Obviously Paul and John were the leaders of the band and I get that. But I understand why George was the one to really cause the band to break up when he left first (and not because of Yoko). Not even his own band members gave him the respect he deserved. It's a Friday afternoon and I'm bored at work and I decided to make a top twenty five Beatles songs that I love and I am just blown away by how many of them are Harrison songs. Here are just some of the brilliant songs written by Harrison:

1. I Me Mine
2. My Sweet Lord
3. Here Comes the Sun
4. Something
5. You Like Me Too Much

And there are dozens of other brilliant songs. It's time to posthumously pay some respect to George Harrison.

Sing me a song you're the piano man

It has been a while since I have seen a good concert. I say "good" because in the past month I have seen Saliva and Mike Jones on back to back nights... Anyway, last night at the Xcel Energy Center I saw Billy Joel. I can now successfully cross him off the list. I have seen some real legends at Xcel (Clapton, Paul McCartney, et cetera) but I don't know if any of them put on a show like The Piano Man. For two emotional hours, Mr. Joel sang his heart and played classic after classic. We cried with him during Captain Jack, laughed with him when he did really funny AC/DC and Bob Dylan covers, and screamed our little hearts out with him when the first few chords of Uptown Girl began to play. Billy Joel said the first time he toured in Minnesota was thirty-six years ago!! Joel is a man who has gone from the high of being married to supermodel Christie Brinkley and winning numerous awards to as low as when he checked into the Betty Ford clinic after several DUI's and being the butt of numerous jokes on the late night comedy programs. But he's back ladies and gentlemen. And today we salute you Billy Joel.

stoning? 2007?

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=3142288&page=1

It is stories like this that really make me think hard about exactly what America's future should be in the country of Iraq. A 17 year old girl was stoned to death for the audacity of falling in love with a man and converting to his religion. Can you believe it? Stoned to death in 2007. Again, what do we do in Iraq? I honestly don't know. We can either A, leave now and let the country be ravished by crooks, thieves, and probably go back to a dictatorship similar to the one under Saddam Hussein. Or we stay for an unknown amount of time, spend trillions of dollars, see scores more of our bravest men and women come back in body bags, and completely tarnish our reputation. Is there an option C? Let's say Kerry would have won and let's say he completely removes our troops. Can you imagine what a victory that would be for terrorism world wide. We can't afford but on the other hand, what is it going to take for us to win (if we even can). I am really stuck.

Foofaraw

Is this not the best and funniest word you have heard in a while:

Foofaraw:

1.
a great fuss or disturbance about something very insignificant.
2.
an excessive amount of decoration or ornamentation, as on a piece of clothing, a building, etc.

Look for me to use this word quite often in the next few weeks.

WSJ

Rupert Murdoch, the outrageously conservative billionaire and media mogul is at it again. First, he is working on a new TV station aptly named, "Money". He says that CNBC is not "pro-business" enough for him. Basically, the business station is not conservative enough which is a load of shit. Now Murdoch has bid 5 BILLION dollars to buy the Wall Street Journal. Now the WSJ already leans to the right but if they accept it, and they should, 5 bill is a ridiculously generous offer, yet another beacon of classic journalism will be eaten by that pig and his Fox Inc. Industry. I hope WSJ turns him down but I doubt it. We're talking about 5 bill here. Any idiot who still talks about how 100% of the media is liberal should see that the number one rated news program is Fox News (conservative) and the number one rated radio program is Rush Limbaugh (conservative). Damn that Murdoch.

The council of Sheldon Avenue...

I'm going to be honest here. I'm pretty f'ing geeked out about the happenings on Apartment #1 on Sheldon Avenue in Ames, IA. After some blog entries by Rhythem of One and phone conversations with Nimit Pathak I have learned about Singida Records. Singida is an impoverished city in Tanzania. I would assume Singida Records' creators were inspired by the hope, determiniation, and fortitude of the people of this Tanzanian community. Fuck corporate America! Make music, start a label, and enjoy your life. I am officially Singida's number one fan and support all of its endeavors. Whatever I can do to help let me know; I'm in. I can't wait to hear some of the music. Good luck!