Lucky

So John and I were bummed that we couldn't see Radiohead on their latest tour. Their only stop in Chicago was Lollapalooza and the tickets for that are $205 for the three day passes ($100 something for one day passes). We decided it wasn't really worth the cost.

It is, however, worth 12 hours of our time (4 hrs each day) as volunteer coordinators. A friend of mine worked last year's Lollapalooza as the "Green team" - coordinating recycling, and other things to make sure the fest wasn't too wasteful and didn't tear up Grant Park. Well she's doing it again this year, and is a team lead. She let me know they had two open spots in the volunteer HQ tent and were John and I interested. The three of us, two years ago, tried and failed to get Radiohead tickets when they were playing the Auditorium Theatre, so she knew how much we wanted to see them.

We applied, and were hired. We work 4 hour shifts each day, getting the volunteers for each area set up with the shirts, materials, etc. In return, we each get a pass for each day. That's not a bad deal, huh?

So... now, not only do we get to see Radiohead in Grant Park again, but we also get to see Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, Lupe Fiasco (a new rapper out of Chicago's West Side who is very, very interesting), and a whole host of others.

Yippie!

FYI, even if you don't like Hip Hop/Rap, you might like Lupe. He's a Muslim, into nerdy stuff like skateboarding and videogames, raps about nerdy shit, and speaks out against the rampant violence and substance abuse of the black community. According to "Sound Opinions," a music critique show on Chicago Public Radio and WXRT, Lupe Fiasco said he wanted to make a rap album that would hold up to time like Dark Side of the Moon. He's an interesting cat...

Intro (Food & Liquor)

Food and liquor stores rest on every corner
From 45th and State to the last standing Henry Horner
J&J's, Harold's chicken, good finger licking
While they sin, gin, sin sin at Rothschild and Kenwood Liquors
The winos crooked stagger
meets the high stride of the youth searching for the truth
They rebel and raise hell across alleyways and in classroom settings
They get, high off that drum bass and 20/20 rims
They rock braids, Air Force Ones and Timbs
They drink Hennessy, Hypnotiq and 40's
They call they women hoes, bust downs and shorties
They keep funeral homes in business and gunshot wards of hospitals full
Prisons packed, bubbling over in brown sugar
They keep empty, Westside lots crowded, hype's powdered
The well is running dry, the days of Malcolm and Martin have ended
Our hope has descended and off to the side
Waiting for the reinstallment of the revolution
Because we are dying at the cost of our own pollution
But God has another solution, that has evolved from the hood
I present one who turns, the Fiasco to good

[Lupe Fiasco]
A'uzu billahi min ash shaitani r rajimi
Bismi 'llahi 'r-rahmani 'r-rahim
Dedicated, to my grandmother
Peace! And much love to you
YEAH!! And it start
1st and, 15, proudly present
You know what it is
See.. I got this philosophy right
I think the world, and everything in it
Is made up of a mix, of two things
You got your good, y'know, and you're bad
You got your food, and your liquor
That's right.. Chilly Chill!
You already know, it's a long time coming
I give you my.. I give you my heart
My soul, my mind my thoughts, my feelings
My experience, nothing more, and nothing less
Yes, FNF, uh-huh! So
With no further adieux...
Lupe, Fiasco's, "Food & Liquor"

In tribute to George

There's a term I've heard tossed around on news and political programs lately that is, frankly, annoying the fuck out of me. It's a term that I'm sure George Carlin had a few chuckles over before he died.

Low-Information Voter

Has anyone else noticed this? We really need a euphemism for lazy, willfully-ignorant, or just plain fuckin stupid people?

In the context in which I've heard it, it is used to describe those people who rely on 20-second sound bites, headlines, direct mail propoganda, talking heads, or Gods forbid, internet/email rumors to decide who to vote for. We really need a polite term for the people who re-elected George W. Bush? We really need a polite term for the fucktards who think Obama was a) born in Kenya, b) a covert Muslim, c) a radical Black Panther? Or people who believed in 2000 that John McCain had an illegitimate Black baby? Or people who think that all politicians are crooked and so who cares if we elect John McCain or Obama because it'll make no difference.

I have a euphemism for these people: Fucking idiots. How about that?

As I said in a recent post... put a little effort into learning about your candidates... they're only the people making decisions about your life... It's not like it's important or anything.

Honestly... we don't need a polite term for these people. Call a spade a spade. I'm calling out all those pundits and talking heads to stop insulting the people who actually pay attention to elections by sugar coating reality for the people who don't. And besides... it's not like any Low-Information Voter would recognize him/herself for what s/he is anyway. So call them "lazy ignoramuses," they won't know you're talking about them anyway.

Coming soon... "Single-issue voter" People who are too selfish or short sighted to see the bigger picture...

FUCK!! I'll miss you George

As George would probably say... ok, people, stop making such a big fuckin deal about this...

They warned us...

The religious whackjobs warned us that gay marriage was a slippery slope to damnation....

"Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. Why? Because society is based on one thing: That society is based on the future of the society. And that's what? Children. Monogamous relationships. In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever, to my knowledge, included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog or whatever the case may be. ..." former senator Rick Santorum, 2003

Well, it appears they were right after all. Just look what gay marriage has led to.

GraphJam

For all you data nerds out there.

This one is my favorite (for somewhat obvious reasons to music fans)


more graph humor and song chart memes

Related to a recent post:

more graph humor and song chart memes

There's a lot of good ones in here.

Why we should impeach Bush and members of his administration

This is written for the folks who are not still in denial that Bush and his officials committed crimes against the constitution. For all you out there still on the Bush bandwagon, argue all you want, but this post isn't a debate about whether Bush should be impeached, but rather, why it's still necessary.

For a full list, see Dennis Kucinich's resolution.

A lot of people are saying 'why bother now?,' including most of the Democratic leadership of congress and most voters. He'll be gone in January anyway, the damage is done, yada yada. Well it still matters based on principal. If a retiring CEO of a corporation was suspected of fraud, should they let him go even though he's leaving soon anyway? That is how Bush has run his government, right? The Harvard MBA first "businessman" president treats the country like a business (badly, I might add).

More importantly--and this is the part I think a lot of Americans are misinformed about--impeachment is more than just removal from office.

The Constitution prescribes the following punishment if an official is impeached and convicted:

Article 1, Section 3, "Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law."

Yes, you read that right. Disqualification to hold ANY office of honor, trust or profit under the United States. In the era of public officials leaving office and starting (or going back to) profitable business partnerships with the government, this is the highest form of punishment there can be. No ambassadorships. No private consulting for the defense department. No special investigator jobs. No chair of such and such private committee. Nothing directly related to government ever again.

And then there's the freedom of the court system to prosecute them for other crimes once they've been stripped of their political titles.

So yes. It still matters, and should still be "on the table" Ms. Pelosi. The democrats are just too scared that it would jeopardize the Fall elections. That's a legitimate political concern, especially when half the country probably doesn't get why impeachment is so important. Our public memory of impeachment has to do with perjury about blowjobs rather than real constitutional crimes. To us, now, it's just a partisan political tool.

What happened?

Punctuation and other important writing tips

OK... I know that blogs can be informal. Hell, mine is. But seriously folks - if you want people to read your ramblings, you have GOT to learn to write. Donna and I talk about this all the time in other contexts. The written language is being mutilated on a daily basis by the masses of un-learned or just plain lazy people who can't be bothered to spell, punctuate, and write in a readable manner. Here's what the above paragraph would look like when written the way I've encountered writing lately:


OK I know that blogs can be informal hell mine is but seriously folks if you want people to read your ramblings you have GOT to learn to write. Donna and I talk about this all the time in other contexts the written language is being mutilated on a daily basis by the masses of unlearned or just plain lazy people who cant be bothered to spell punctuate and write in a readable manner. Heres what the above paragraph would look like when written the way Ive encountered writing lately.


Tip: Punctuation separates one thought from another. Use it.

Another pet peeve (I'm in a bitchy mood today):

There, their, and they're are THREE SEPARATE words with three wholly different meanings. "There" is a place, "their" means an object that belongs to someone and "they're" is conjunction for "They are" as in a state of being. They're getting ready to put their books over there.

Same thing with your and you're. Your is a possessive - "this is your pen, it belongs to you." You're = you are. You're pissing me off with your poor grammar.

Maybe I'm just noticing it more lately, but it seems that more people are just butchering the written word. I'm no composition expert and I'm sure I make my share of gaffes, but is anyone else noticing this? Am I being too harsh to judge people as either lazy or incompetent (or both) for poor grammar? Should I just not care?

Pictures from Seattle coming soon.

Dear George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg,

Thank you for once again ruining a childhood cinematic memory for me. First, Spielberg decided to re-edit E.T. to make it more "family friendly" by replacing the government agents guns with walkie talkies. Then Lucas decided to release "remastered" versions of the original Star Wars trilogy, complete with Jumaji the Hutt and other craptacular additions. Then there was the travesty of the Star Wars Prequels.

And now... Indiana fuckin' Jones.

Really the blame here is Lucas' since it's his story and as we should all know by now, Lucas cannot write for shit.

All I am going to say is - what a waste. I groaned through the entire thing and laughed out loud (as did another guy in the audience) when Shia TheBeef appeared in all his Marlon Brandoesque goodness as some greaser kid. And yes, it ends exactly the way you think it does.

Save your money. I wish I could un-see this just so I don't have to think about it every time I see one of the GOOD Indiana Jones movies.

You think I jest? Check out Donna's review. For once, we're in agreement.