Today's warm fuzzy thought

From time to time I run across things that allow me to be totally comitted to my liberalism. This bumper sticker was a bit of a catalyst for the rant that follows.



Ok.....this was obviously brought on by something.
I'm reminded of sections of the most recent Potter book (I am at least admitting my addiction, the first step toward recovery) as I watch the devastation in the Southeast US and the recent price gouging upon the remainder of the country. Chaos reigns supreme.

I'm afraid that years of negligence from our government (all of it quite conservative, even the so-called "liberals") has led to both problems. Although I can probably place as much blame on liberals as conservatives, I just can believe that America can be so obtuse. Although conservative logic/homespun wisdom might follow with the right answers, only the liberals seem to be concerned with asking the questions in the first place.


Q. Why shouldn't I be allowed to build my house here?

A. Well, the fact that this is marshland makes it more than a little unstable. Oh, and the fact that you want to drain this marshland for your ritzy coastal estate will inevitable cause flooding in inner city areas where folks won't have the resources to get out of town in the event of a "biblically sized" disaster. Build your estate and damn the consequences


Q. Why do you want to outlaw my Chevy Suburban?

A. Because you're a miserable selfish bastard, abusing our precious fuel reserves, driving up the price for the rest of us. Oh, and you drive like an asshole (this applies to Soccer Moms and folks over 50 as a general rule).

So I'm finding myself watching our president's remarks tonight. I have no doubt that Republicans and Democrats alike will bond together providing for the short term relief of these devestated areas of our country and our economy. But don't you think that perhaps its time that we actually bothered to head some of these problems off? Why can't we tell stupid people to built their house somewhere else? Why not require GM and FORD and CHRYSLER to immediately begin production of cars with reasonable fuel economy, and require these jerks in their fuel-hogging SUV's to pay a huge extra tax and require them to have a Commercial Drivers Liscence?



By the way, The petroleum industry reported record profits again this quarter. One report mentioned that Conoco was up 80% over last year. I'm seriously considering trying to get a group together to drive our cars to the local gas station, park them, and leave them there. 40 or 50 people could wreak havoc on an entire town. Isn't it time that the Petroleum Industry be treated to the same type of economic terrorism that they've been subjecting us to since the Carter era?

Hail to the Chief!

Once is co-incidence....twice is creepy.

Earlier today Hammer and I were watching Weapon of Choice's video starring Christopher Walken. (If you haven't seen it, watch it here) In the process of looking at it I said, "Boy, that hotel they're in looks really familiar. Kind of like the Hotel I was in for ACDA." Sure enough a little research showed that this video was in fact filmed at the Mariott on Figueroa (Los Angeles) By itself this was strange!

So just a minute ago I'm looking at news articles online and I find this website. Not only can he dance, act, and sing.......but he's my pick for Prez next time round.

Osama sings Karaoke

So Hammer and I are sitting around tonight, and I remember that one of my co-workers mentioned a Karaoke site on the internet. I'm NOT going to post any of our contributions (I do a mean Aaron Neaville and an even meaner Jingle Cat) but whilst looking for Tammy Wynette songs I found this.

I do believe that this is the "voice of terror" that our esteemed dictat....er....president keeps

Click here for the VOICE OF TERROR

P.S. Keep listening until the chorus, even if you're bored. It's WORTH it.

Random pretensiousness

"Maestro" John Doe


At what point does someone feel that they should have the title 'maestro' applied to them?

Generally we only see this term used for proven, revered conductors who have spent years at the top of their game. Being dead certainly doesn't hurt either.

Imagine my shock when I was recently reading a copy of the Choral Journal only to see this label applied to a person who is under 40, and hasn't ever been the regular conductor of ANY ensemble other than a few things he did in grad school. This person (his anonymity preserved in the photo above) is a composer. Of course Bernstein wore both hats Conductor and Composer, and maestro might apply here.

I've wracked my brain trying to find any sort of precedent here.

Maestro Beethoven..........no
Maestro Mozart...............no
Maestro Bernstein.........perhaps
Maestro Kirby Shaw.......no ( I feel cheap and tawdry for even bringing this one up)

So I'm thinking that the only thing more pretensious that my post today, is this 'composer' who doesn't conduct being called "Maestro".

Oh.......remember I'm the guy who gets creeped out reaching inside a potato chip bag.

Gute Nacht, Frau Bluecher!

I think that one of the best things about having kids is being able to share some movie, book, or joke that you've always found meaningful in some way.

So in the spirit of that, Emma (the 6 year old) and I watched an old favorite. Sure, there are plenty of jokes she didn't get, but it was all worth it when we made it to "Puttin' on the Ritz"

Just when I was beginning to worry about parenthood I've realized that I made my kid laugh, and taught here a handy German phrase or two.

I don't think that she's ready for Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail or her first episode of South Park, but we're making progress!

It's that special time of the year...

...when everything is just insanely busy. Amid the chaos at work and the startup of various performing organizations, we've also send our 6 year old daughter and 8 month old to school today for the first day. Furthermore, Hammer is now back at the office as well.

we're sleepy....and looking for good drink recipies.

He Called the Sh*t POOP!

Hypothetical story.

There's this person, let's call him Carl. Carl works as a finance manager for a fine arts organization in a city somewhere in the midwest. As a part of Carl's daily duties, he leaves work early to take donor checks and season ticket checks to the bank. By the way, Carl is a bit of a shithead.

Suppose one day Carl leaves with the deposit in hand but forgets to take the deposit to the bank. Furthermore imagine that Carl takes the bank bag into his house, sets it on the table, and forgets about it. Carl cooks supper, has a good drink, plays with his new energetic St. Bernard puppy and goes to bed.

A day or so later Carl is taking his dog for a walk and notices some sort of paper sticking out of the puppy's 'business'. Let's get really wild for a minute and imagine that the paper just happens to be checks from patrons and donors.

Can you imagine the letter of explanation that goes out to said donors?

Not that this would really ever happen, just a hypothetical situation. But if it were to happen, what do you think should happen to Carl?

Put your hands together...

My friend Herr Vogler (Voegler if you're pernickity) has a blog that you ought to check out.......were I smart enough I'd have him in my links to other blogs list,but that has somehow strangely disappeared.

musicinventor.blogspot.com

And this isn't just because he's got the same Mozart 250th bug that I've got. You really need to check out some classics from the archive too....My favorite bits involve his daily exchanges with "patrons" of the arts

PS Anyone notice that this just happens to be Purcell's 31oth, or last year was Charpentier's 300th.....nope? May God have mercy on our commercialized/Americanized souls!

Static Guard

So....we're cat-sitting for our friends and they have this de-clawed cat. She can claw away at our couch, carpet, stair, and bannister with no ill effects......ok almost no ill effects.....static electricity is such a bitch!

Soooo........can we static guard a cat? I mean I'm ok with the occasional buzz of electricity. But I remember Mark mentioning that when he was a child sightreading in his parent's children's choir at church that anytime he made a mistake they'd hook his balls up to a car battery....

They should've just gotten a cat.

I can't wait to get a set of these for the kiddos...... 

Am I really a bastard?

There are days I have such a great job......below is an excerpt from an email that a co-worker of mine received today

Dear A,

At the Friday reading session, Don introduced Jay as a "legitimate" countertenor. Is that in contrast to an "illegitimate" CT? Can one be a "legitimate" CT but still be a b*****d?

I'm confused about all these fancy music words! I'd communicate directly with Jay, but not being sure of his legit or illegit status, I'm not sure I want to go there.

I did enjoy his singing, however, whatever his origins.

Thanks for your help with music and this delicate matter.