Beatle Bob

I meant to blog on this subject earlier this week . I got distracted. But I met Beatle Bob at the International Folk Alliance Music and Dance Conferencelast Thursday. Who is Beatle Bob? I didn't know a whole lot about him except that he is the ultimate music fan, the Super Fan! He is supposed to have been out every night (except maybe one) for the last twenty five to thirty years checking out bands and musicians. He could turn up anywhere in the world. The legend is if he shows up at your show and stays and does his dance and has a good time, that is the Beatle bob seal of approval. You are going to be famous.
My friend Judy and I were walking around the Convention Center trying to decide who to go hear. All of a sudden she said, "Oh, there's Beatle Bob, have you ever met him?". Well, I had not so we went over and I was introduced. I don't know how old he is (I don't think anyone does) but he looks very young, maybe late 30's, early 40's. But he has got to be older since he has been doing this so long. He was wearing a sixties looking jacket and some sort of tie or bolero, I can't remember. And of course, there was the Beatle haircut. He was very sweet but seemed a bit spastic, like he wanted to be every where at once. We talked to him for a few minutes and Judy told him Chad and Jermey (Google them) were supposed to be there. He got very excited about that. Unfortunately they did not show up that night.
We decided lated to go and hear Dan Montgomery and his Trio. We walked in and there was Beatle Bob dancing away all by himself. Dan and the Trio were very pleased they had Beatle Bob's approval. I have included a video teaser of "Beatle Bob Superfan" to introduce you. He is much calmer acting in this video than he was when I met him at the Folk Alliance Conference.
So, if you are out one night and see this strange man who looks like he stepped out the 60's over in the corner or near the stage dancing by himself. Well, you are probably going to be entertained that night, so stick around. It will be fun!

Wevl Spring Concert

Ok, I am promoting a fundraiser now. If you like Modern/Alternative/Punk rock, you might enjoy this show at the Young Avenue Deli, Saturday night starting at 10 PM. It is the Spring concert for WEVL 89.9 FM, Memphis. You do have to be 21 though.
WEVL Concert This Saturday Night!


Don't miss our Spring Concert with Mouserocket, The Third Man, The Warble, and Jeffrey and The Pacemakers. It's this Saturday night, March 1 at the Young Avenue Deli. Showtime is 10 PM sharp. $10 admission at the door goes to WEVL. Age 21+. Thanks to Kong Wee for the poster!

See The Third Man perform live at 9 AM this Friday, Feb. 29 on Channel 3's "Live at 9" show.
You can check it out at http://www.wevl.org/

I Hate Drama

Drama: A dramatic work that is that is intended for performance by actors on a stage.
Drama: An episode that is turbulent or highly emotional.
It is the second definition of drama that I hate, It seems to follow me or maybe I just drag it along with me.
My Ex, Madison, who is the father of my two fabulous daughters called again last night on Ariel's phone. He called last week saying he had been laid off his job. Ever since then I have had an uneasy feeling about it. He has a habit of truth bending.
He called last night like I said and told us that he was moving back to Memphis this weekend to go in to a three month alcohol rehabilitation program. And that is why he lost his very good job. Told you I had an uneasy feeling, trust your intuition.
So of course, he is wanting emotional support. Probably not from me but from his daughters. My youngest is rather detached from him even though she loves him but I knew Rachel would be very upset. She is alone in Berlin now and this would be hard for her. And it was. She called me today crying. She said she had already had a rough day at school and when she checked her email there was the one from her dad and she broke down in front of everyone. That is what really pisses me off. He does not "get" how every thing he does has a chain reaction. Or he just does not care, not really.
I hope this program helps him because he is not a kid. Not too many more chances to go. One of his best friends died last month in a nursing home from liver failure (alcoholism). He was not that old, he killed himself.
I do not understand why it is that there are a lot of males in my generation who have what I refer to as the "Peter Pan" syndrome. They do not want to grow up and as a consequence they steal from their children.

I Liked This

		this life
		first you gotta be a caterpillar before you can be the butterfly..everybody has to die but not everybody enjoys and sees the beauty of life..crawling crawling in the tall grass..and it feels so good on my little ass..eating the lotus blossoms and i love the taste..and makes me appreciate these caterpillar days..and at the end parked in my dark cocoon..i just says to myself this will be over soon..and i'll fly away fly away across the moon and sky..singing singing i sure do love this beautiful life. This is written by a guy named Doc Huckster and yes, I found or he found me on MySpace but I like his poems. They are always like short little thoughts. I don't know if he is published anywhere but he seems to be quite prolific. I have not went any further and checked to see if he is published, he is just a MySpace friend who is not obnoxious or intrusive. I guess he is just using it as an outlet for his thoughts. The poems are usually like this one something to do with life's passages. That is why I like them, I relate to them. Maybe I should find out if he has a book or something...or maybe not.

Not My Words, But

Ok, this is not my blog. It is the blog of Brad Listi, I love his blogs. Plus I thought I would share it because he is talking about group identity and we have discussed in class in talking about propaganda. So here it is, he has a very cynical sense of humor (which I like) but he makes a lot of good points.









I read something interesting the other day about group identity and how it factors into our political beliefs.

Basically, the gist goes as follows:

We often vote not in accordance with our best personal interests, but rather in accordance with our perceived group interests.

In short, group interest is often a better indicator of behavior than personal interest.

And in a lot of ways, I suppose this assessment amounts to basic common sense.

It seems obvious that many voters don't pay attention to politics.

And yet many of them vote, often passionately.

They don't know enough about the candidates, or the government, or the government's legislation, to be able to make even the most basic calculations about what is in their own best interests.

But they are able to wrap their minds around perceived group interests.






How would a devout Christian from Corpus Christi, Texas vote?

How would a San Francisco vegan Buddhist vote?

How would a rock-climbing outdoorsman from Boulder who teaches Outward Bound courses in the summer vote?

How would a freethinking, blue collar intellectual with a military background vote?

How would a gay Latino fashion designer from Miami vote?

How would a New York City Jewish social worker vote?

How would a black Tallahassee schoolteacher vote?

How would a rich, white, 32-year-old stockbroker from Hoboken vote?

How would a one-legged stripper from Las Vegas vote?

How would a disaffected high school senior whose favorite band is The Killers vote?

How would the scion of a wealthy southern family vote?





These are the kinds of questions we might ask ourselves as we make our calculations.

It's often subterranean, I suppose.

Subconscious.

Other times, it's right at the surface.

However it happens, it would appear to be a natural human egoic tendency to identify ourselves as a part of some sort of group.

Even if we're anti-group and anti-community and staunchly independent and this is what we pride ourselves on, we're still susceptible to this kind of mind-based group identity. In this particular case, we would see ourselves as part of the anti-group group. The staunchly independent group that prides itself on not being a part of any particular group.

(With thanks to the late Bill Hicks, such individuals might easily be members of the People Who Hate People Party.)






How would a novelist and community college teacher from Los Angeles vote?

(For Obama. Maybe McCain.)






I'm probably as guilty of it as anyone.

I'm sure this kind of thing has informed my decision-making process thus far.

I'm sure I see myself as a member of "writer" group or "teacher" group or even "non-group group."

My guess is that 99.9 percent of us are probably susceptible to this kind of thing in one way or the other.

Who among us really knows what the fuck is going on?







I went to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where I got my undergraduate degree.

Living in a place like Boulder at the age of, say, eighteen or nineteen, almost certainly had an impact on my political worldview.

Ditto for living in Los Angeles.

Then again, I was raised by traditional Southern parents in the ultra-conservative Midwestern suburbs.

An overwhelming majority of my family could be classified as conservative.

Somehow I wound up with a more progressive bent.





Where you live would appear to matter.

Your environment would appear to matter.

Unless, of course, you're a member of the I'm a staunchly independent thinker who reflexively operates in defiance of the general intellectual tendencies of the vast majority of the sheep people in my environment group.





What happens in your life would appear to matter.






If you want to get people to do something (even that which may fly in the face of their own best interest), get them to feel like a part of a group.

All political campaigns aspire to create this kind of feeling among voters.

They want you to pick a team, to feel like a part of the team.

They want you to put a sign in your yard.





This is how the Manson Family operated.






Perhaps a more obvious and widespread example of this kind of psychology at work would involve the military.

Talk about operating in defiance of your own best personal interest.

There's a selflessness involved in military service that is intrinsic to the whole operation.

Some of it is admirable; some of it is necessary; some of it is brutal and destructive.

There's a reason why all (male) soldiers have to shave their heads.

And why they all dress exactly the same.

And why they all chant together, and march together, and eat together, and so on.

Military psychology is designed to elevate the group identity while pretty much obliterating any vestiges of independent identity or independent thought. It's a sophisticated system in a lotta ways. An incredibly effective design, developed over centuries and across cultures.

Victory hangs in the balance.

Survival hangs in the balance.

For a military unit to be effective at killing and defeating its opponent in battle, its soldiers must be absolutely committed to the group identity.




It's weird when you think about it:

The vast majority of violence and atrocity in human history has not been inflicted by criminals or lunatics, but rather by ordinary, everyday people operating in the service of a group identity, a collective ego.





-BL



PS. What group are you in?


Currently listening :
Remain in Light
By Talking Heads
Release date: By 25 October, 1990

Hair As Empowerment

Funny, I never thought of Glamour magazine as a magazine of empowerment. I read the article from Glamour magazine about how Black women are judged by their appearance, particularly their hair. I believe this could be said of all women, really. I think women are judged more on their appearance in the business world and actually any arena where there is opportunity for success.
It used to be that women thought they had to dress more like a man to be taken seriously in the work world. It is probably still true to some degree even though it may have relaxed somewhat. Professional still equates hair and wardrobe that are conservative and not too personal or individual to most people. There are some occupations where some creativity is allowed. But if a woman goes too far she risks , at the least, not being taken seriously. Hair is always a big issue with women and we always like to express ourselves with our hair. Maybe this is one of the first things people notice, it is on the top of your head. I can see how it could be a political statement also.
I have never noticed men being judged as harshly on their appearance as women. Why do you think this is? Or do you think men are judged just as harshly?

Big Star

I had to do an informative speech in Oral Communication. And it had to be from an objective viewpoint, in other words, just the facts. I really had a hard time coming up with a topic. I finally decided I would talk about something I know because that seemed like it would be easier to research.
I did not want to do another serious topic and music is something I love so I decided to talk on the lengendary Memphis band, Big Star. The speech focused on why they are such a huge influence on alternative rock but basically never made it as a commercial success. A lot of bands never make it but Big Star still had a impact on music history.
When people mention Memphis music, you think of rockabilly and the blues and soul But through Big Star, Memphis music history can also place a claim as city where Alternative Rock had beginnings. Their music was closer to music from the British Invasion than blues, soul or rockabilly. But Chris Bell, Jody Stephens, Andy Hummel and Alex Chilton grew up in Memphis so all those genres were also reflected in their songs. They took their name from the grocery store chain. Their was a Big Star across the street on National where they recorded at Ardent Studios.
They made three albums at Ardent Recording , #1 Record, Radio City and Third/Sister Lovers. These first three albums influenced musicians and bands such as REM, The Replacements, Jeff Buckley, The dB's, The Posies and on and on. The Replacements even wrote a song called simply "Alex Chilton". Alex was also a member of The Boxtops, he and Chris Bell were the main songwriters. Chris left after the first album at the end of 1972. Some say he was jealous of all the attention Alex received. Who knows? He died in a car crash in 1978 and became on the rock legends.
Their jangly Power Pop was infectious, it was never marketed properly though. They had a distribution deal with Stax. Stax just did not know how to market them.
Their song, " In The Street " was chosen as the teme song for "That 70's Show", it lyrics represented to the makers of that show the feel of young America in the 70's. So the the influence of Big Star stretched even further out. Cheap Trick (another band who were under the influence) were recruited to record a new version for the show. So that is not the Big Star version you hear.
In recent years Big Star came together once more to do some dates. The band contained Alex Chilton, Jody Stephens and two of The Posies , Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. The two Posies fit right in. According to Alex, it was never intended as a reunion, but after a record company offered them some money to do a live album, that is what it became. They put out a new studio album, "In Space" in 2005. Not my favorite Big Star album, but it has some moments.
If you are a Modern Rock fan of such bands as The Decemberists, you can thank Big Star.And while you are at it, if you are not familiar with them, go ahead and check them out. They are part of Memphis's rich music history and a darn good rock band.

The Folkies Are Here!

     It's that time of year...time for the International Folk Alliance Music And Dance Conference. I actually did not attend last year and regretted it. So when I was offered media credentials (meaning everything is free) I decided not to pass it up this year.

     Brian at WEVL had already asked if I could come in live today and host a couple of the visiting acts on air. So Eilen Jewell and her fine band came in and talked and sang a couple of tunes. They sounded great even with the tight quarters, fitting her, a guitar player,  an upright bass player and a drummer was a squeeze in the studio. Then Caroline Herring came on and did a short acoustic set and talked some talk. They were all very nice and sounded great even though they had already done several performances at the conference and more to come.

       Later Judy and i went to get something to eat at Rio Loco. My first time there, a pretty good Mexican restaurant on Union. Then we headed over to the Convention Center, got our passes and goodie bags with schedules and started walking.

      There are so many artists there that it was rather overwhelming. We went and saw locals, The Dan Montgomery Trio, great set and the famous fan, Beatle Bob was there dancing away. He really liked the trio. Then we saw a little of Nancy Apple, stopped in and caught Tony Furtado (amazing guitar player multi instrumentalist). We walked over and caught some of Garrison Starr too. We wandered upstairs to see if any of the shows in private rooms had started. None of them started until around 11 pm and they went on until 2 in the morning. Not tonight for us. We went back downstairs and caught Peter Case which was very crowded. But he was very entertaining.

     The Conference goes on through Sunday with music, dance and panels. There are also some things going on around town for the public at places like The Center for Southern Folklore. You can check the Folk Alliance website for information.

The King Of Tortes

The King Of Torts is a book written by John Grisham that I picked up to read last year. I don't have a lot of opportunity to read for pleasure these days. I always liked John Grisham so I thought I would check out this book.
Clay Carter is the main character in The King Of Tortes. He is a young public defender, the lawyer son of a lawyer. His dad Clay, Sr. had been a well known trial attorney in Washington, D.C. who left the country for South America after a self created scandal. Now Dad was living the life of a beach captaining a small boat.
Clay has higher aspirations, he want the American Dream and to maybe to live it with Rebecca, his girlfriend. Unfortunately, her high-powered, new money family do not approve of Clay. She breaks it off.
Clay is appointed to defend Tequila Watson on a murder charge and soon after is visted by the mysterious Max Pace. Turns out Tequila Watson was under the influence of an experimental drug when he committed his crime and a huge pharmaceutical company is behind it all. And there may be others.
The drug company has sent Max Pace to solicit Clay to pay off the families of the victims of these murders and to keep things quiet. Then Max shows back up to give Clay some insider information on another drug and soon Clay is a huge big-time torte lawyer. However, you cannot fly with the eagle forever and Clay's increasing greed eventually brings down his new found success.
You might think that this subject matter could be boring for a book since it deals with things that very real in our society. However, this is not the case. The story was paced very well and proved extremely suspenseful. At the same time that you are chiding Clay for his increasing greed, you are still wanting him to get the girl and live happily ever after. You know that somewhere underneath he is just like you.

Rachel Is In Berlin

     I was sitting at the computer this morning drinking my coffee and reading on Yahoo about Kosovo declaring their independence as a nation.  I heard my phone announce that I had a text message. I knew it had to be Rachel wanting me to call her. Sure enough, it was. She had just arrived in Berlin Saturday to start her ESL school Monday and so she has been out exploring the city. She has been there before but this is the first time she has lived there.

     I called her German number and the first time I received an automated message (in German, so I am guessing from the tone of the message that all circuits were busy). I called again and she answered all excited, "Mom, I was walking around Berlin before going to a movie and ran into this huge crowd of people celebrating the independence of Kosovo!" She said it was wild and crazy. There was music and dancing and flag waving. People were screaming. They were mainly people from Kosovo but Rachel said she got caught up and started dancing and celebrating with the crowd.

     She left eventually and went to an ice cream parlor above the crowd and called me. While we were talking they started shooting off fireworks. I wish I could have been there with her. Her second day in Berlin and she ran smack into a part of history. A new nation celebrating it's independence!

Good News, Bad News

       My daughter Rachel called from Germany Wednesday with some news. She has a job lined up teaching English in language school in Bayruit (not sure of the spelling, it's in Bavaria) after she finishes up with her ESL school in Berlin. That would mean she will start in April. My emotions are mixed here, I am very proud of her for being so independent but I do MISS her. She left on December thirteenth and was supposed to come home on January seventh. Then she decided to stay until after school was finished at the end of March. She did not think she would get a job right away.

Well , she saw an ad online for a opening right in the city where she is staying so she thought she would go to the school and at least check it out. She did not think they would hire her because of her lack of experience. She hit it off with the gentleman who ran the school so she just asked him, "Would you consider hiring me?" They talked about it and he decided to offer her the job when she finished her school. I like how she has turned out, that she is not afraid of being bold.

       Bad news came today however when Rachel and Ariel's dad called and told me he had been laid off of his job. He is a stained glass artist and they have lost business because of the bad economy and the crappy housing market.

        So I am rather depressed at the moment because of missing Rachel and their dad's job situation, not to mention mine! I can't let it get me down though and I am very happy with my daughters.

Movies And Politics?

      So I just read an article by Mick LaSalle out of San Francisco, it is titled "Women Obey Their Husbands In Movies And Politics". It's at www.sfgate.com if you are interested in reading it.

      LaSalle is a Hillary supporter and his premise is as Carol Lloyd in a retort at Salon.com says is that "Voting For Clinton is like choosing a chick flick." LaSalle believes that when married couples go the movies that the wives give in to their husbands on the choice of what they go to see. And that married women use this criteria to choose who they vote for President. That is why women are going to vote for Obama instead of Hillary. They do not want to incur the wrath of their husbands. so they convince themselves that the master is right and do not vote for Hillary. 

     I find LaSalle's reasoning utterly ridiculous. It is a slap in the face to married women everywhere. What? Because you go through a ceremony of matrimony it makes you become a mindless robot? I don't believe all married women are afraid of disagreeing with their husbands. Their are cases where this may be true but his article makes it sound like this is the case, period. And do we use the same reasoning process to choose a President that we do to choose a movie as Lloyd says in her retort. Come on...

     Sounds like LaSalle is grasping for straws because he is afraid his candidate is going to drown. Maybe some women just don't like Hillary, not because she is a woman, they just don't like her stands on the issues. Maybe that is why they would rather have Obama or McCain. It is a choice, after all.

P.S. I just found this and it really makes me question her judgment.

Over The Rhine

      Last night on my radio program, Pathways, I had special guests. I don't know how many of you have heard of Over The Rhine, a band from the Cincinnati, Ohio area. I absolutely love them and their music. The band is fronted by husband and wife duo, Linford Detweiler and Karin Berquist. They are the songwriters for the group and they are extremely prolific. 

      Karin has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard, it is like listening to velvet. When she sings a song she makes it her own and it is hypnotic. They have put out around twenty cds since about 1989 and each one is amazing. No two are alike,. They told me that one of their goals was to make each cd to make each cd different. They have accomplished that but each one still retains their sound. You can tell after the first few moments that it is an Over The Rhine cd.  Linford also has a couple of instrumental cds out and I would heartily recommend them.

      I was very excited about Linford and Karin being my guests on Pathways. Their songs strike deep when you listen to them. You can almost always relate to whatever theme they are approaching in a song.  I love songwriters who are able to reach out and make you feel with their music and Over The Rhine is very accomplished at this.

     They arrived at WEVL about a quarter to six  and I was pleased to find that they were both very real down to earth people. You can get a lot of attitude with people in the music business so it is refreshing to meet artists like Karin and Linford. It makes an interview so much more fun. We talked about their new cd, "The Trumpet Child" for a few minutes and then they did two or three songs. It sounded fabulous! Karin's voice sounds even better live than on the cds. They introduced each song with a background story on how it came about. Linford's tale on the song, "If A Song Could Be President" was particularly interesting.

      They  left about six thirty for their sound check at the HiTone Cafe. I missed the show because Ariel has had the flu so I hope they return. And I hope they come by the station next time because they were a pleasure to have as guests.

      If you missed it, you can catch an encore Thursday at two pm on WEVL Memphis, 89.9 FM or wevl.org.  

Get Out The Vote

Get out the vote, hmmmm. When I first saw the instructions for the assignment my eyes went straight to that phrase first. The first thought it brought to my mind was MTV. Then I read on and realized it was written in 1955. The speaker I first imagined was young, "hip", Hollywood television moguls with a very liberal, left-wing agenda aimed at getting the young adults (mainly college age) to the polls to vote the young, "hip" agenda. Of course the party affiliation I first thought of was the Democratic party. Wait a minute, the phrase I am thinking of is "Rock The Vote." Similar, really just another variation of "Get Out The Vote." Does MTV even play music anymore, let alone rock music?
If you believe everything you read and hear, all young and hip entertainment types are Democrat. Oh, they are also usually wealthy. That part you don't hear about because the propaganda you get from the Democrat party is that all Republicans are very well off and that their party is the one for the poor and downtrodden. The Republican party is supported by a lot of wealthy individuals and corporations but so are the Democrats. I have come to believe that both of our major political parties are generally pretty much the same. Overall they try to appeal to different special interest groups and seem to have different agendas. But do they really? I believe both parties major agenda is getting elected and being the party in power.
The audience for this phrase now seems to be young adults as I mentioned earlier. When you are young you are much more idealistic. So the parties attempt through media to appeal to this idealism. The powers that be still try to make you feel if you do not get out and vote that you are unpatriotic. If you don't vote what right do you have to have an opinion about anything?
The writer of this article seems to be targeting a wider audience, maybe mainstream America, the middle class. He is trying to debunk the stream of thought that says you are not American if you do not vote. I think he is making a lot of very good points. A lot of thought went into the article. You can tell this is a subject that has been burning in his head and he got to the point where he had to get it out.
I am not surprised that this was written in 1955. We tend to look at the past as more pure and straight forward. People change in a lot of ways generation to generation but some things about us just tend to stay the same. We are still told that we must vote by the different parties and the media. Most voters actually are issue voters and that is how they determine who they will vote for. Those who do vote still vote absentmindedly on issues or for candidates they know little or nothing about.
Name recognition is the way a lot of people vote. I once was waiting in line to vote for local election. Two ladies in front of me were talking and I heard, "Well, I really don't know anything about the candidates for (fill in the blank) but I am going to vote for so and so because he has been in there for a long time." This is why you have so many elected officials stay in office for years even though they may be doing nothing. This particuliar elected official the ladies were speaking of I knew something about because I frequented his office in my work. He came to the office during election time or when there was going to be a photo shoot or an interview. He always immediately went back to his private office and turned on the television and one of his employees would bring him a coke or something to eat.He came out when the media arrived. The only reason he is not in office now is he died. 

       So I agree with the author of the article that we need to be informed voters, not just cattle led to the field to graze and munch on grass. I have been guilty myself in the past of uninformed voting. People do that for all the reasons stated in the article and if they don't know about a candidate for a certain office they will vote their political party. They may think they are supporting the right things by doing so but they really do not know what the candidate stands for.

      I am trying even now to look a bit deeper and vote for who I believe will do the best job. This means paying attention and not believing all the hype. And I would like to be able to vote for the candidate I decide is the right choice, not Democrat, Republican or etc.

The Grammys

       I turned the Grammys on last night about 30 minutes in to it. I used to enjoy watching some of the performances and the presentations. But the Grammys have become sooo predictable and boring. Why are all these televisions show stars introducing the acts? What have they got to do with music and the Grammys? Except of course, that every body wants to be a rock star and this is the closest some of them will ever come. Some of these actors who have started bands, did a cd and toured (Keanu Reeves) need a reality check. Stick to acting.

      But even the performances are nothing but show. I like a little show but when it overcomes the talent, it is too much. The one thing that really bugged me but was not surprising was the big deal about Amy Winehouse. She was rewarded for acting like a loser. I like her voice and I think she has talent but she should not be treated like royalty because she is a drug addict and went to rehab. To tell you the truth, there are ALOT of musicians struggling out there who have one hundred times her talent and don't act like total idiots. I like the quote that came from Keith Richard. He said,  "Amy should get her act together." Keith was a long-time junkie, but it is true that back when he started doing drugs we were more ignorant about it. That is not an excuse but now we really know what they do so people who allow themselves to become addicts have more information but do it anyway.  That is really stupid especially in a competitive field such as music. If Amy Winehouse wants a little motivation she could end up looking like Keith Richards.

Opinions

This is in regard to the quote Wendy posted on the 1020 Blog the other day... I love that! I think I am going to write it down somewhere I can see it everyday. We all have opinions and beliefs and that is good. I think we all think the world basically revolves around ourselves. I mean, be honest, we all do to some degree.
When it comes to politics and religion is where it really gets heated. Something I have discovered over my years on this earth is people have a low tolerance for other people who do not agree with them. It really does not matter whether you are Democrat, Republican, educated or not or whatever, people cannot stand it when someone does not agree with them. I have been guilty of this myself but I will say I never got angry with someone because they did not agree with me. I have had people get all bent out of shape because I did not agree with every detail of their ideals. Give me a break! Who is calling who intolerant?
I think I have kind of learned over time that I can like people who may not share my exact values. And you know what? Opinions and even values do change. People grow older and priorities change. That does not mean your core values change drastically but hopefully people grow to see a bigger picture instead of just their own little world. I am a registered Republican and a Christian. I have always considered myself conservative but I hate it when someone feels you cannot have an opinion or belief that does not follow what they think you should be believing. People have actually said to me, "You don't look like a Republican!" What the heck is a Republican supposed to look like?
I still do not know who I am voting for President this time. I have always liked McCain, if he had made the nomination last time I would definitely have rather had him. But you know, from what I know of Obama, I really like him. I had to do research on him last semester and I liked what I found. He seems like he is not just a face and he appears to be a unifier. I do believe we have had enough Clintons and Bushes for a while.

Domestic Violence

I just finished reading an article online about domestic violence. It said that CDC reported that a quarter of American women suffered from domestic violence. A quarter! That is one fourth of the people you know, at least you could look at it that way.
This subject has been on my mind a lot lately especially in regard to emotional and verbal abuse. People tend to think that when it is "only" verbal or emotional, it is not domestic violence. Besides the fact that it leads to actual physical violence a lot of the time, it is very harmful on it's own.
The article I read was on Reuters and it was written by Will Dunham. He wrote that the CDC stated that 23.6 percent of women and 11.5 percent of men reported being a victim of "intimate partner violence" at some time in their lives. Rita Smith of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence was also quoted as saying, " that living in a dangerous and stressful environment has long-term health impacts, it's like living in a war zone."
The CDC report seems to fit in with other assessments that about one third to one fourth of women in the states experience domestic violence. Those are very scary figures.
I hope more attention will continue to be drawn to this subject and that more people will come to realize that just because someone did not hit you does not mean it is not abuse. Sticks and stones do break bones and words will hurt you.

Gender

I am taking Gender and Society this semester. It is pretty interesting to me. I do find that I have to really pay attention to what the teacher is saying constantly. He jumps around somewhat on his topic matter but I can usually follow if i am paying attention. It is like watching a foreign movie, in fact, like an indie foreign movie. If you miss something you will probably get lost. and the class is three hours long so you do not want to get lost.
All in all though, I find it interesting. Could be because of my own personal life experiences, especially the ones I am going through at the moment.
We are reading through "Manhood In The Making" by David D. Gilmore. The last two chapters we went over I thought were pretty interesting. One dealt with performance excellence and the Circum-Mediterranean male. Then we read a chapter on performance anxiety and the Mehinaku people.
It is fascinating how all over the globe our societies are different in so many ways but a lot of the same values hold even if they are in different forms. Why do men every where feel they have to "prove" themselves? And why do women not feel this way? This is in general terms, there are always exceptions. All these societies hold in low regard men who will not even try to prove themselves and provide for their families. Parasites, in other words are the same in every culture. They have different names such as "flojo", a weak and pathetic impostor. Then there is the term the Andalusians have , a "wastrel" or "gamberro". He is despised, less than a man. The lateter term means irresponsible and reprobate who lives like a parasite off women. I know there are bad women too, but these societies seem to regard men much higher than women so the man just does not get off easy.

Twister!

What a crazy night we had last night! I hope everyone is safe and has power.
I know this is not unusual weather for this part of the country, but it is rather strange for this time of year.
I was watching some Oprah with my daughter, Ariel, when Channel Five came on with the weather updates. I had to leave a little before five to make it downtown in time to do my radio program. The show must go on even if you hate having to drive in nasty weather. I wasn't too worried, but the sirens started going off just as soon as I got in to my car. Well, I went on because I had to. I called Ariel and told her to stay downstairs and go in to the bathroom if anything happened. And leave the television on!
I was driving down Poplar and I looked in my rear view mirror, it looked really nasty eastward. I then got a text from my sister, Susan. It said, "Where are you?Where is Ariel?" I thought her text sounded a little hysterical. I called her and she said a funnel cloud was spotted out in Bartlett. Susan, I am not out in Bartlett, remember? I checked the weather on my phone and sure enough, there was a warning.
Once I got in to Midtown, it was raining really hard. You know, that white rain where you can not see anything! I got to the station and waited in my car for it to let up. Once it did, I ran to the door and was pressing the buzzer hard. Sometimes, it takes a while for someone to see the light flashing for the back door. I just did not want to spend the next two or three hours drenched!
Brian let me in and then Ariel was calling me. "Mom, she said, " the news said there is a funnel cloud out here and I am scared!" " Why did you leave me?" Did I mention she is nineteen? I told her just stay downstairs and in the bathroom like I told you!
It was pretty calm by the time I left and I drove around a little. I did see some chunks of hail on the side of the road. And some twisted traffic lights and signs. I did not the extent of the damage until I got home and saw the news. It turned out these storms were pretty bad.

Beginning Week 3 With River City Writers

So begins week three of the blogging adventure. I went to hear Percival Everitt tonight at the River City Writers Event. My sister, Susan was involved in this last year and talked it up a great deal. The writer for the evening sounded like he would be interesting and I needed to go anyway so I asked Susan to go with me.
We met up in the Central parking lot and I asked her how the food was at these events. I had just got out of a three hour philosophy class and hearing a lecture and discussion on evil for that long had made me hungry. She said the food was generally pretty good.
Upon arriving at the Fogelman Executive Center we made our way downstairs. There were very few people there yet but I did see Wendy and a couple of others from the class. It filled up pretty well a little later.
Mr Everitt was a pretty interesting speaker/writer. His readings that he gave us for the evening were rather on the dark side but I did enjoy them. And I had just had three hours of evil discussion so it fit. I liked his personality and the audience obviously liked him.
It was an nice evening and I would definitely attend more of these functions. However, the food was not that great, so don't attend on a empty stomach.

Crossroads

I read the Crossroads blog from December the third last year. It is the one about LEED, the new neighborhood design trend. There are two of these projects in Memphis, University Place and Legends Park. They are mixed income housing projects containing senior housing, multi-family rental and single family owner occupied units. It seems from what I got from this blog is that this project is about the concept of green building. I think it is a great idea and I hope that can make it work. Maybe it will really catch on.
My real concern, is will they make it affordable? Not just this project, but others, even those that are not mixed income. It seems these days that if you attach the labels of "green", "organic" or "eco-friendly" to anything it just shoots the cost up out of your average buyer's reach. This applies to food, cleaning products, etc.. The makers of these products have used these terms to add extra cost to the product. Families struggle a lot of the time to make ends meet and if faced with saving money or being eco-friendly the average family is going to go for saving money. They really can't afford to be eco-friendly, especially in the present economy.
If product manufacturers of green products would work on making their product more affordable more people would buy it. The same school of thought goes for green builders.