Prologue: Originally I had the lady's real name here. I changed it to TGIK (This Girl I Know) to protect me.
TGIK doesn't believe in computers. She owns a cell phone, but that is the extent of her technological delvings. So, I have no fear she will trip over this blog, and stick me in the middle of a shit-storm - which has happened before. ( Surprising? I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was.) I hope.
TGIK helped me record a simple rhythm guitar track Friday and Saturday. Yes it took 2 days (well a day and half) for one #$%ing rhythm track. TGIK was my button pusher, she sings but does not play an instrument.
The reason it took so long is two-fold: distraction and equipment. As for the equipment, I am doing this in my Apartment Bedroom. I am using a TASCAM MF-P01, a serviceable but not very advanced 4-track. After a few hours of trying to get this antique to do what I want, I gave up on it. Instead I used it as my board and input it directly into my computer. For the computer, I have been looking over Pro-tools (audio recording software) which is extremely expensive.
I spend some time at sourceforge.org, because I play with Unix/Linux computers and that's the place to go for programs. I found an open source (free to use) program called Audacity, which in some ways is superior to Pro-tools, though it doesn't have as many features. It is free and does the job. SO - for those audiophiles in the audience, I used the ancient TASCAM's on board monitor as pre-amp, and output it to the sound card on my main system. It took hours of twiddling potentiometers to get my jury-rigged system stabilized. But I got it.
Now for the distractions. First I have a bunch of stuff on my mind. I am in litigation with a large, evil corporation over some Montana property that they want to push a road through - a logging road. I have been battling for almost 5 years. I am almost out of money, hocked the property up to it's ears and I will probably lose everything fairly soon. My deceased daughter's birthday is coming up next month and I always have a bad time with that. I hate my job, but I am currently stuck because every cent I have is tied up in the Montana lawsuit.
Enter TGIK, another unexpected voice from my past, and there have been a Twilight Zone-ish amount of those lately.
TGIK is as pretty as a picture. Her face is close to perfectly symmetrical, a desirable quality in models and movie stars. She has a line of freckles across the bridge of her nose that is just right, as far as I'm concerned. Here eyes are green or blue, depending on the day, which I find fascinating. I'm big on looking people in the eyes to see who's there. I'm afraid I over do it with TGIK, because I never know what color her eyes will be. A few years ago she began announcing "Blue" or "Green" when she greets me. It's sort of a running joke. Oh yeah, as far as I'm concerned TGIK is married. I only hear from her when she has a big fight with her husband, whom I have never met. She has divorced him twice, and married him twice. The last time they didn't get re-married. She claims this leaves her free to sleep with anyone she chooses. I don't actually agree, but when she calls I always invite her over. Over the years we have been intimate several times, always (I think) when she was fighting with her "husband".
She get's a little frenetic when she first get's stoned, but she calms down quickly. She likes music and thinks I am a genius (I don't have the heart to tell her lol). She is a really touchy-feely type of person, as am I. Because that type of thing has been absent in my life lately, I let her - helped her be as snugly as she wished. I am very fond of her, but I don't Love her romantically. It was nice to just hold somebody sweet for a while, and even better because we have always been such good friends - even when I told her I wouldn't have sex with her, this time, a few days ago.
We got everything organized so TGIK pushed the buttons and I could concentrate on getting the guitar right. It took 32 takes just to get the levels straight. It was annoying because I am (make that was) a certified Audio Engineer. TGIK made us breakfast! It amazed me because she is not really domestic. That stalled things for a bit and by the time we got back to it it was time for me to get stoned again.
The space that remains when you line up all the equipment in my bedroom is close. TGIK and I kept brushing each other, and YES it made it difficult to concentrate.
After 3 throw-away takes, I finally got a great one. 16 more bars and we would have made it! That's when the sirens started. I said "Oh Fuck" and pulled the the guitar cord out of the guitar. TGIK looked at me in surprise and said, "I thought that one was good."
Now, for those Audiophiles paying close attention: I had been recording voice, earlier, and because the apartment is not sound proofed you have to take your chances: an open mike is open to everything. This time the sirens were not picked up on the track because I was input straight through the board to the computer. I was so distracted that I didn't realize it.
During a later take I had some unexpected visitors, and TGIK went and hid in the 2nd bedroom. She thought it might be her "husband", who doesn't know me, has never even heard my name and couldn't know where I lived unless he followed her. (which would make him a real sick one). She ran and I continued strumming, but the whole scene aggravated me enough that I strummed a little too hard and the track clipped and distorted the last 32 measures.
Would I never get this done? Ah well. I ordered a Pizza for dinner, we blew right through lunch. We set up for another take, and I brought the sheet music up on the computer. I tapped my foot in 4/4 and nodded my head when it was time for TGIK to push record.
POING! My favorite cowgirl was IM-ing me and I forgot to silence the IM client. When this sweetheart contacts me I drop everything. She is one of those very special people, who (if she gets a break and some guidance) will be someone special someday. She is only 13 and has become a good friend. I don't know why she bothers with an old fart like me. But she is witty and sweet and has seen more than her share of stupid bullshit in her young life.
So TGIK donned her best pouty face while I chatted with my favorite cowgirl. TGIK didn't realize that this was more like big-brother, she thought that my little cowgirl was the reason I wouldn't sleep with her the other night. Not that the cowgirl isn't gorgeous, she is. However, she is only 13 and not the reason I told TGIK, she could spend the night but I didn't want to have sex. I never turned her down before. The reason I did is ... is way to complicated for a single blog entry.
Time to get stoned again and TGIK wanted to go out somewhere. I was all frazzled so we got toasted and went and got Ice Cream. When we got back I set my jaw, grabbed the guitar and TGIK punched record. 1 take. We got it. I put the guitar down and sighed. I was so relieved I could have cried.
TGIK, dropped into my lap and grabbed both my ears (honest, I was so surprised I tried to jerk away, which hurt more than I thought it would). She kissed me with a fierce tenderness that stunned me. We had kissed before, we are both such snugly people that it was inevitable, and we had been intimate before. I kissed her back, with as much feeling as I could muster. It was nice, it was very nice. We did it a bit more and then she stopped and backed away to look at me, with her hands on my shoulders. They were green today.
"It's that Princess person, isn't it?" she pouted. I didn't understand at first, I am a pretty good kisser, if I do say so myself. (It's all a matter of concentration) I was a little shocked. I started to laugh aloud, when I got it, because the mis-understanding was so funny - and so uncharacteristic. There had never been a spec of jealousy between us and that is what this was. I tried to explain that if I was 40 years younger, I would probably be chasing that cowgirl around the corral, but under the circumstance the extent of our relationship was helping with homework and one short wrestling/tickling match.
See, TGIK didn't know my cowgirl was only 13, and I didn't tell her the real reason behind my earlier refusal because it was actually a little embarrassing. She probably wouldn't have believed me, anyway. She knows me well and believes that I don't waste time on romantic lost causes. I think if I told her it was because of someone I had never kissed, never even held hands with, that she wouldn't have believed me.
I would like to tell you that I pushed her on the bed and we made passionate love for 3 hours (yes I can, we had before), but I didn't. I couldn't actually. Just the kissing was enough to make me feel like I had betrayed the other person, even though we had never done.. anything really. Jesus, this love stuff sucks.
So we played the track over and over, we sang to it and I sort of worked out some harmonies and a bass part. It has been a very long time since I tried to record anything other than a scratch track. Now I have to work out the fills and the lead guitar. I hope it's easier than the rhythm track. I don't have a drum machine, but I think I might get one, 'cause I really don't like drummers very much (lol). I've worked out a cool bass part, but I don't have one of those either (hint!). I can probably use a blind track to get the bass down and then track it after - when I find a bass.
Gee, I wish I had someone to push buttons for me.
PS: to my favorite hot jumper: I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Who Knew?
Do you remember how much fun a snowball fight is? How about how much fun it is to stay up too late, and get silly; just silly. When's the last time you built a snowman (snowperson?) Have you been missing this, for whatever reason? Yeah, me too. I've been a hermit way too long.
We have forgotten the importance of having fun. Over the past few years I watched the World get crazier and watched people do terrible things. It's been difficult for me to work up any enthusiasm for frivolousness. I pay attention to politics, I listen to what the bastards say. (keep your friends close and your enemies closer). I have a reasonably advanced grasp of politics. I am usually able to translate the bullshit they spout and figure out what it really means. Generally, when a politician makes a speech, someone is about to get sodomized. That hasn't changed.
Some of my friend will never forgive me. I bombarded them with email pleas to write congress and tell their friends, sign this or that petition.. well you get the idea. I set up an ACLU sponsored meeting. I was surprised to see which old (or new) went which way with that mess. I believe it is, now, generally accepted that we were lied to, and the invasion was wrong and badly handled. Torture, wire taps, lies, the attacks on the constitution, watching the Bush Administration destroy everything this country stands for,; there were many times I could have wept.
It's because I say I'm Agnostic (shudder) that my Christian friends discount some of the things I say. Could it be that they think I'm stupid or crazy; or that I am a mean or evil person, They obviously know me better - it's why we are friends. But, somwhere in thier hearts, these myth-believers (I kinda like that one, I wonder if I can copyright it?) Think I am deluded. That I haven't seen the light. That I am a godless, pinko, commie, fag. It's why they railed against my postions during the last Admnistration; inneffectively I grant you, but they railed none the less. It's why some of them don't communicate with me now. So this is for all my Republican friends. The one's who tsk'd like a Nuns in a porno shop when I railed against the war. The one's who told me they wouldn't vote for Obama because he's Black.
"Most Human dilemnas can be solved with the proper application of sunlight on one's face"
So I forgot. I forgot that the best times of my life, were mostly un-planned silliness. Think about it. Your "fondest memories" are probably about accidental tenderness, un-planned silliness and quiet moments of natural awe (or natural "awwww"), with those for whom you care. It's not being a "Rock Star" that will be your final reminiscence when you loose this mortal coil. Check your own memories again; what are the strongest good memories? The Eureka look on a child's face when you help them figure something out for the first time? The rowdy, cheeks-burning joy of a snowball fight, or sitting by the fire after? The scent of apple pie (cookies, turkey, or fill in with your own favorite:) cooking? Whatever it is I'll wager someone you cared about and some silliness or frivolity figured heavily.
So, after all that whining in the last post, my actual Saturday turned out great. A day I will never forget, I had fun.
Today I spent the afternoon with my nephew Austin. He and I are best friends. I have been busy and we haven't seen each other for a while. He is struggling with a new Dad and a new Sister and he is just turning 7. Whew, and I thought I had problems. He is doing well with it, but he is a willful child and he doesn't like being told what to do. I understand, and I believe it is a good trait to nurture - up to a point.
He is a rowdy, restless child and a handful because he is so blasted smart, too. He has been that way since he was very small. He and I started a- I don't know, call it a game. I would sit, cross legged on the floor, he would sit in my lap and we would practice calm concentration. Although, we called it rock and talk, if we called it anything. It included some gentle, nearly imperceptible rocking, and slow, quiet conversation. Sometimes, it included hushed singing or humming. Whenever possible it included sunlight. I did not mention the words meditation, zen, mantra or anything like that. I didn't bring it up to him or Mom, or Grandma or even Great-Grandma. But Austin was always less problematic afterward. Today he headed straight for Lotus position so I knew he was troubled, or in trouble with Mom and Dad
Later we played. I may be the only adult who pretends with him, kids are all full of boredom killing imagination and are usually discouraged from using it. It's one of the reasons we have so many frustrated, constipated 30 and 40-year-olds. So I pretend with him. I listen to his questions and give him straight answers. I don't lie as a rule of life and I would never lie to my best buddy - I don't have to, The truth is always better than a lie. We ran outside and shot the aliens. We hid all the Teddy-Bears. We talked about his sister, and about him.
He has grown too big for me to carry, anymore, as we discovered during our last outing to the Zoo. He has been sympathetic about it, and has avoided leaping into my arms, like he used to do. I feel worse than he does about it. Today, little sister was getting all the attention. She got the toys that could be opened, he got an art set with so many pieces, that even I said "wait until you get home". He stood there looking at me, after our conversation. I saw the disappointment in his adorable face. I reached out to him and he climbed into my arms. He rested his head on my shoulder, as he used to do.
It was worth going through a horrendous week for just one day like that, never mind two in a row. I just forgot what the important stuff was. I will try to remember that in the future. And to my friends who gave me such an unforgettable Saturday, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Oh yeah, Get some sunshine on your face.
We have forgotten the importance of having fun. Over the past few years I watched the World get crazier and watched people do terrible things. It's been difficult for me to work up any enthusiasm for frivolousness. I pay attention to politics, I listen to what the bastards say. (keep your friends close and your enemies closer). I have a reasonably advanced grasp of politics. I am usually able to translate the bullshit they spout and figure out what it really means. Generally, when a politician makes a speech, someone is about to get sodomized. That hasn't changed.
Some of my friend will never forgive me. I bombarded them with email pleas to write congress and tell their friends, sign this or that petition.. well you get the idea. I set up an ACLU sponsored meeting. I was surprised to see which old (or new) went which way with that mess. I believe it is, now, generally accepted that we were lied to, and the invasion was wrong and badly handled. Torture, wire taps, lies, the attacks on the constitution, watching the Bush Administration destroy everything this country stands for,; there were many times I could have wept.
It's because I say I'm Agnostic (shudder) that my Christian friends discount some of the things I say. Could it be that they think I'm stupid or crazy; or that I am a mean or evil person, They obviously know me better - it's why we are friends. But, somwhere in thier hearts, these myth-believers (I kinda like that one, I wonder if I can copyright it?) Think I am deluded. That I haven't seen the light. That I am a godless, pinko, commie, fag. It's why they railed against my postions during the last Admnistration; inneffectively I grant you, but they railed none the less. It's why some of them don't communicate with me now. So this is for all my Republican friends. The one's who tsk'd like a Nuns in a porno shop when I railed against the war. The one's who told me they wouldn't vote for Obama because he's Black.
"Most Human dilemnas can be solved with the proper application of sunlight on one's face"
So I forgot. I forgot that the best times of my life, were mostly un-planned silliness. Think about it. Your "fondest memories" are probably about accidental tenderness, un-planned silliness and quiet moments of natural awe (or natural "awwww"), with those for whom you care. It's not being a "Rock Star" that will be your final reminiscence when you loose this mortal coil. Check your own memories again; what are the strongest good memories? The Eureka look on a child's face when you help them figure something out for the first time? The rowdy, cheeks-burning joy of a snowball fight, or sitting by the fire after? The scent of apple pie (cookies, turkey, or fill in with your own favorite:) cooking? Whatever it is I'll wager someone you cared about and some silliness or frivolity figured heavily.
So, after all that whining in the last post, my actual Saturday turned out great. A day I will never forget, I had fun.
Today I spent the afternoon with my nephew Austin. He and I are best friends. I have been busy and we haven't seen each other for a while. He is struggling with a new Dad and a new Sister and he is just turning 7. Whew, and I thought I had problems. He is doing well with it, but he is a willful child and he doesn't like being told what to do. I understand, and I believe it is a good trait to nurture - up to a point.
He is a rowdy, restless child and a handful because he is so blasted smart, too. He has been that way since he was very small. He and I started a- I don't know, call it a game. I would sit, cross legged on the floor, he would sit in my lap and we would practice calm concentration. Although, we called it rock and talk, if we called it anything. It included some gentle, nearly imperceptible rocking, and slow, quiet conversation. Sometimes, it included hushed singing or humming. Whenever possible it included sunlight. I did not mention the words meditation, zen, mantra or anything like that. I didn't bring it up to him or Mom, or Grandma or even Great-Grandma. But Austin was always less problematic afterward. Today he headed straight for Lotus position so I knew he was troubled, or in trouble with Mom and Dad
Later we played. I may be the only adult who pretends with him, kids are all full of boredom killing imagination and are usually discouraged from using it. It's one of the reasons we have so many frustrated, constipated 30 and 40-year-olds. So I pretend with him. I listen to his questions and give him straight answers. I don't lie as a rule of life and I would never lie to my best buddy - I don't have to, The truth is always better than a lie. We ran outside and shot the aliens. We hid all the Teddy-Bears. We talked about his sister, and about him.
He has grown too big for me to carry, anymore, as we discovered during our last outing to the Zoo. He has been sympathetic about it, and has avoided leaping into my arms, like he used to do. I feel worse than he does about it. Today, little sister was getting all the attention. She got the toys that could be opened, he got an art set with so many pieces, that even I said "wait until you get home". He stood there looking at me, after our conversation. I saw the disappointment in his adorable face. I reached out to him and he climbed into my arms. He rested his head on my shoulder, as he used to do.
It was worth going through a horrendous week for just one day like that, never mind two in a row. I just forgot what the important stuff was. I will try to remember that in the future. And to my friends who gave me such an unforgettable Saturday, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Oh yeah, Get some sunshine on your face.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
We The People
We know what's wrong. The places we live in are too crowded and filthy, or too poor to be communities anymore. The goods we buy are are poorly manufactured, with no thought of safety or usefulness. The food we eat is filled with noxious chemicals that make it convenient for processors and deadly for people. The news is filled with empty adjectives, diversions and spin; the news-readers are clueless except for the producers voice in their ear piece. We rarely get the facts or the truth. Politicians can't get elected without becoming crooked (yes, YOUR favorite candidate, too) and therefore part of the problem. Corporations buy and sell the politicians, and through them make the decisions that impact our lives; but it is not our lives with which they are concerned - it is profits. Education, Health Care, and soon Housing, are only for the wealthy.
WalMart is wrong, and so is Haliburton, Enron, ATT, Time Warner, and especially Rupert Murdock. We know these are bad things, yet we do nothing. Britteny Spears, Paris Hilton and all their ilk are wrong, and yet we watch American Idol. We glorify their banal emptiness, because MSN tells us too. Are we too stupid too survive? Is there any hope we will begin getting smarter again? Or is NASCAR, the Super Bowl and WWF all we care about?
Our values are upside down. When the government cuts spending, they cut schools, police, community programs. They still have their limos and perks. They don't cut oil company subsidies, tax breaks for corporations are on the rise. When corporations cut costs, they cut benefits; lunch rooms close, health care is minimized, workers are fired. For this, the CEO gets a raise. It seems pretty obvious where the money comes from, doesn't it. In the same way there is a direct correlation between record Oil Company profits and the prices at the pump, no matter how they spin it. Our public schools are designed to turn out minimum wage workers, who are barely literate. The Private Schools are only affordable by those already in the upper economic echelons.
There are so many factors at work that it is impracticable to design a cohesive theory that explains the mechanism, or even includes all of them. As we crowd closer together, we build larger psychological fences, between our neighbors, co-workers and strangers. Families have been moving apart for generations. There was a time, when children where exposed to elder points of view, and experience; when generations of people were born and died in the same town, even the same home. Our point of view has been narrowed by this, and other things. You will have to look up the study, it was a few years ago; but I remember it said the average news broadcast used a vocabulary of less than 600 words, that of a 3 year old. It is difficult to make a reasoned decision with a vocabulary of less than 600 words. It is hard to state the premise, at that level.
The gap is widening. The rich can afford to educate their children so they will be rich. The poor must hope that their kids don't wind up in jail, or worse, because public education can't help them. Health Care is much the same. The CEO of a Standard & Poor's 500 company had, on average, a 9.4 percent increase in pay over last year. The average worker's wage actually declined, due to the migration of highly paid skilled workers, losing the highly paid jobs and having to work at McDonald's. That's not to say that no "Average Joes" got a raise, but the technical and manufacturing sectors are in the crapper; primarily because of outsourcing. Socio-Economically, we are regressing.
As a culture we are losing literacy, we do not exercise our minds or judgment. We don't need to think, the news channels and politicians radiate spin into our brains, and tell us what to think. TV has taken the place of books. Reading is good exercise for the mind, TV is a brain cell burning opiate. What is the last thing you read? What is the last thing you read you read to your children? When is the last time you had a publicly educated clerk, count back change from a purchase? When is the last time you met one who could count back change?
So who can one count on to make these societal changes? We need to change so much. We need to give up the cars. We all know that, or we all should. If you don't understand why, you are part of the problem. We need to disassemble the two-party-electoral-college system that is so corrupt, and replace it with representative government. Adjustment and regulations won't do it, it needs to be replaced. We need to force the government to protect us from corporations, and provide education and health care to everyone. We need to force the issue of Solar Power, there is no excuse for the lack of it's use.
As a society, we have a collective conscience. When it is not being diverted by the latest celebrity bimbo or sports gangster, it is generally effective. We know what's right, we don't need a book, a cop, a judge, or a news reader to tell us. We know.
Even President Bush has a conscience, (which was last seen under a barstool in Lubbock, ca 1979). Cheney and Rumsfeld I'm not sure about, and Carl Rove, well obviously not. But almost every human has this ability, the laws of the land are based on it. We know what's right and we can do something about it. It's not too big to tackle, much like eating an elephant, you must take little bites. Each and every one of us can do something.
Join a neighborhood organization, or start one. Find an empty lot and clean it up, start a community garden. Talk to your neighbors, create friends. Be nice to people, be polite to strangers. Take your children to a museum, ask the neighbors if they want to come and bring their children. Turn off the television. Take a class at community college, or teach one. Make something with your hands, and give it as a gift. Learn to play an instrument.
Make it a game:
Talk to your friends and family about politics without mentioning one thing you saw on television.
Start a blog that doesn't mention Brittany and has nothing to do with Star Wars.
Have a research race with your kids. See how fast you can dig up information on a topic, especially one that interests your kids. Talk about how accurate it is. Do it online and at the library.
Start small, make little changes and help increase awareness. We have to do this, each of us in our own way. The government won't change it, they are part of the problem. The politicians are a bigger part; write letters, sign petitions (after you read them), VOTE. The corporations won't help, to a very large degree they are the enemy. Start your own company. Stop shopping at WalMart, for anything, forever. Start your own company. Get your shop to go union.
We are the reason this country exists. It's not for the government, most of the framers of the constitution were trying to prevent the very kind of government we have now. It is not for the corporations, they have done their best to eradicate everything this country stood for. They don't care about anything but profit. It's not for the news media who claim special rights to "keep the people informed" and sell us lies and condoms, but never give us real information. None of them can do without us. We the people are the reason.
WalMart is wrong, and so is Haliburton, Enron, ATT, Time Warner, and especially Rupert Murdock. We know these are bad things, yet we do nothing. Britteny Spears, Paris Hilton and all their ilk are wrong, and yet we watch American Idol. We glorify their banal emptiness, because MSN tells us too. Are we too stupid too survive? Is there any hope we will begin getting smarter again? Or is NASCAR, the Super Bowl and WWF all we care about?
Our values are upside down. When the government cuts spending, they cut schools, police, community programs. They still have their limos and perks. They don't cut oil company subsidies, tax breaks for corporations are on the rise. When corporations cut costs, they cut benefits; lunch rooms close, health care is minimized, workers are fired. For this, the CEO gets a raise. It seems pretty obvious where the money comes from, doesn't it. In the same way there is a direct correlation between record Oil Company profits and the prices at the pump, no matter how they spin it. Our public schools are designed to turn out minimum wage workers, who are barely literate. The Private Schools are only affordable by those already in the upper economic echelons.
There are so many factors at work that it is impracticable to design a cohesive theory that explains the mechanism, or even includes all of them. As we crowd closer together, we build larger psychological fences, between our neighbors, co-workers and strangers. Families have been moving apart for generations. There was a time, when children where exposed to elder points of view, and experience; when generations of people were born and died in the same town, even the same home. Our point of view has been narrowed by this, and other things. You will have to look up the study, it was a few years ago; but I remember it said the average news broadcast used a vocabulary of less than 600 words, that of a 3 year old. It is difficult to make a reasoned decision with a vocabulary of less than 600 words. It is hard to state the premise, at that level.
The gap is widening. The rich can afford to educate their children so they will be rich. The poor must hope that their kids don't wind up in jail, or worse, because public education can't help them. Health Care is much the same. The CEO of a Standard & Poor's 500 company had, on average, a 9.4 percent increase in pay over last year. The average worker's wage actually declined, due to the migration of highly paid skilled workers, losing the highly paid jobs and having to work at McDonald's. That's not to say that no "Average Joes" got a raise, but the technical and manufacturing sectors are in the crapper; primarily because of outsourcing. Socio-Economically, we are regressing.
As a culture we are losing literacy, we do not exercise our minds or judgment. We don't need to think, the news channels and politicians radiate spin into our brains, and tell us what to think. TV has taken the place of books. Reading is good exercise for the mind, TV is a brain cell burning opiate. What is the last thing you read? What is the last thing you read you read to your children? When is the last time you had a publicly educated clerk, count back change from a purchase? When is the last time you met one who could count back change?
So who can one count on to make these societal changes? We need to change so much. We need to give up the cars. We all know that, or we all should. If you don't understand why, you are part of the problem. We need to disassemble the two-party-electoral-college system that is so corrupt, and replace it with representative government. Adjustment and regulations won't do it, it needs to be replaced. We need to force the government to protect us from corporations, and provide education and health care to everyone. We need to force the issue of Solar Power, there is no excuse for the lack of it's use.
As a society, we have a collective conscience. When it is not being diverted by the latest celebrity bimbo or sports gangster, it is generally effective. We know what's right, we don't need a book, a cop, a judge, or a news reader to tell us. We know.
Even President Bush has a conscience, (which was last seen under a barstool in Lubbock, ca 1979). Cheney and Rumsfeld I'm not sure about, and Carl Rove, well obviously not. But almost every human has this ability, the laws of the land are based on it. We know what's right and we can do something about it. It's not too big to tackle, much like eating an elephant, you must take little bites. Each and every one of us can do something.
Join a neighborhood organization, or start one. Find an empty lot and clean it up, start a community garden. Talk to your neighbors, create friends. Be nice to people, be polite to strangers. Take your children to a museum, ask the neighbors if they want to come and bring their children. Turn off the television. Take a class at community college, or teach one. Make something with your hands, and give it as a gift. Learn to play an instrument.
Make it a game:
Talk to your friends and family about politics without mentioning one thing you saw on television.
Start a blog that doesn't mention Brittany and has nothing to do with Star Wars.
Have a research race with your kids. See how fast you can dig up information on a topic, especially one that interests your kids. Talk about how accurate it is. Do it online and at the library.
Start small, make little changes and help increase awareness. We have to do this, each of us in our own way. The government won't change it, they are part of the problem. The politicians are a bigger part; write letters, sign petitions (after you read them), VOTE. The corporations won't help, to a very large degree they are the enemy. Start your own company. Stop shopping at WalMart, for anything, forever. Start your own company. Get your shop to go union.
We are the reason this country exists. It's not for the government, most of the framers of the constitution were trying to prevent the very kind of government we have now. It is not for the corporations, they have done their best to eradicate everything this country stood for. They don't care about anything but profit. It's not for the news media who claim special rights to "keep the people informed" and sell us lies and condoms, but never give us real information. None of them can do without us. We the people are the reason.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
The Truth About LSD
LSD. Lysergic acid diethylamide. LSD was first synthesized in 1938 by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland. The acronym LSD comes from the German "Lysergsaure-diethylamid". LSD is synthesized from lysergic acid derived from ergot, a grain fungus that typically grows on rye. In pure form it is colorless, odorless and mildly bitter. LSD is typically delivered orally, usually on absorbent blotter paper, a sugar cube, or gelatin. In its liquid form, it can be administered by intramuscular or intravenous injection, or even in the form of eye-drops.
I heard Clark Carr, Director of Narconon International, talking about LSD on the History Channel. Though I can't quote him directly, what he said was:
1. I took LSD and became a barefoot "Hippie" overnight.
2. LSD was causing the social upheaval in the 60's
HUH?? Is this George Orwell's Nightmare come true? Was this person around the US in the 60's? Did he do acid more than once?
Let us evaluate:
1. I took LSD and became a barefoot "Hippie" overnight.
If he became a "Hippie" after 1 LSD "trip" he had much bigger issues than drug use. I suspect he was one of those losers who hung around the edges of the movement, doing free drugs and trying to get laid. A dipshit is a dipshit - on or off LSD.
2. LSD caused the social upheaval in the 60's
If Clark didn't realize that LSD and it's kin were the symptoms, not the cause; then he missed the whole point. He spoke as if drugs were this new thing to the Human Race that these mis-guided Hippies found. I repeat: HUH???
I suspect (though I couldn't Google anything on it), that way more Valium and alcohol was consumed by average citizens, than Pot and LSD by Hippies. It was common practice to prescribe Valium to women who complained about their marriage. It was just as common to prescribe little pink pep pills (Benzedrine or "Bennies") to busy executives so they could work longer. 8 year olds were being given Morphine, for migraines. I know, as I was one of them.
Furthermore, Cocaine, and Marijuana were rampant in the 20's and 30's. Patent Medicine refer to medicines that had cocaine or marijuana as the main ingredient. Buddha ate lotus blossoms for goodness sake. People have been doing drugs since they could figure out how to do them. Birds and mammals eat fermented berries, it is rumored that elephants eat the fruit of the marula tree, as an intoxicant - though there is plenty of debate about that.
Clark went on to say that all drugs were poison, because if you take enough they will kill you. However, if you take enough of anything it will kill you - just Google Jennifer Strange.
Jennifer Strange, 28, took part in a contest called "Hold your Wee for a Wii." A medical examiner said the woman died of water intoxication. Water intoxication is a condition that causes the organs -- especially the brain -- to swell.
So then, is it this mis-informed social mis-fit to write the History of LSD? He must have an agenda of his own. Let's see, why would the director of Narconon dislike drugs? Maybe a better question is why is anyone listening to this half-witted propaganda?
The point is, we must draw a line in the sand, so to speak. This is fact, this is not. I'm tired of getting half-witted propaganda represented as the facts. I'm nauseous from all the spin, and I'd like to see an elected official - or anyone- present the unvarnished facts. I'm not interested in "Truth" anymore. Your truth is different than mine. Give me facts, without the adjectives. Always ask yourself, "What does this person have to gain by this interpretation of the facts?"
Does anyone think it's right, either ethically or morally, to re-write history to support your pet project?
Are you listening Dubya?
I heard Clark Carr, Director of Narconon International, talking about LSD on the History Channel. Though I can't quote him directly, what he said was:
1. I took LSD and became a barefoot "Hippie" overnight.
2. LSD was causing the social upheaval in the 60's
HUH?? Is this George Orwell's Nightmare come true? Was this person around the US in the 60's? Did he do acid more than once?
Let us evaluate:
1. I took LSD and became a barefoot "Hippie" overnight.
If he became a "Hippie" after 1 LSD "trip" he had much bigger issues than drug use. I suspect he was one of those losers who hung around the edges of the movement, doing free drugs and trying to get laid. A dipshit is a dipshit - on or off LSD.
2. LSD caused the social upheaval in the 60's
If Clark didn't realize that LSD and it's kin were the symptoms, not the cause; then he missed the whole point. He spoke as if drugs were this new thing to the Human Race that these mis-guided Hippies found. I repeat: HUH???
I suspect (though I couldn't Google anything on it), that way more Valium and alcohol was consumed by average citizens, than Pot and LSD by Hippies. It was common practice to prescribe Valium to women who complained about their marriage. It was just as common to prescribe little pink pep pills (Benzedrine or "Bennies") to busy executives so they could work longer. 8 year olds were being given Morphine, for migraines. I know, as I was one of them.
Furthermore, Cocaine, and Marijuana were rampant in the 20's and 30's. Patent Medicine refer to medicines that had cocaine or marijuana as the main ingredient. Buddha ate lotus blossoms for goodness sake. People have been doing drugs since they could figure out how to do them. Birds and mammals eat fermented berries, it is rumored that elephants eat the fruit of the marula tree, as an intoxicant - though there is plenty of debate about that.
Clark went on to say that all drugs were poison, because if you take enough they will kill you. However, if you take enough of anything it will kill you - just Google Jennifer Strange.
Jennifer Strange, 28, took part in a contest called "Hold your Wee for a Wii." A medical examiner said the woman died of water intoxication. Water intoxication is a condition that causes the organs -- especially the brain -- to swell.
So then, is it this mis-informed social mis-fit to write the History of LSD? He must have an agenda of his own. Let's see, why would the director of Narconon dislike drugs? Maybe a better question is why is anyone listening to this half-witted propaganda?
The point is, we must draw a line in the sand, so to speak. This is fact, this is not. I'm tired of getting half-witted propaganda represented as the facts. I'm nauseous from all the spin, and I'd like to see an elected official - or anyone- present the unvarnished facts. I'm not interested in "Truth" anymore. Your truth is different than mine. Give me facts, without the adjectives. Always ask yourself, "What does this person have to gain by this interpretation of the facts?"
Does anyone think it's right, either ethically or morally, to re-write history to support your pet project?
Are you listening Dubya?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
