by virtue of its' emptiness

Top 10 cd's of 2006

2006-12-28T07:39:00.000-08:00

Top 10 of 2006 (assuming that I shouldn’t count the copy of Exile on Main St I got for Christmas anyway)

Tom Waits- Orphans.
Tom has been holding out on us! This 3-cd set compiles a group of songs described by Waits as "Things that fell behind the stove while I was making dinner." Rather than simply burn all these b-sides, soundtrack cuts and such onto disc and let it go, Waits re-recorded the whole bit to give it some continuity, and divided it into three sections. Disc 1, "Brawlers," contains the roots/rockers of the set, disc 2, "Bawlers" contains the sentimental ballads, and disc 3, "Bastards" contains the real craziness- spoken word pieces, dark pub music and experiments galore. What could have been a collection for die-hards only that would have left them hitting the fast-forward button a lot is instead possibly Waits’ finest collection, richly textured, highly listenable and simultaneouly heartbreakingly beautiful and deeply disturbing. Had it been cut down to one disc it would almost certainly be butting heads with "Sgt Peppers" and it’s ilk for best album ever, but I wouldn’t take that job on a bet…there’s too much gold in here! Uneven and sprawling (or bawling) it may be, but unquestionably this is 2006’s best music.

Lindsey Buckingham- Under the Skin
The Fleetwood Mac maestro returns for his first album since the absurdly great "Out of the Cradle," and delivers the music we knew he had in him. An acoustic album almost entirely, the disc relies on Buckingham’s elegant fingerpicking and remarkably expressive voice to carry these songs, meditations on aging, fatherhood and general middle-aged angst. It’s not perfect by any means, he overutilizes reverb and chorus to the point of distraction sometimes, and cuts like the Stones cover "I Am Waiting" seem like filler, if pleasant filler. Recommended for anyone who can appreciate a simple good tune.

Tool- 10,000 days
Well, Tool could probably release a cd of armpit noises and it would be on the list. 10,000 days is a highly uneven affair, with long quiet passages breaking up the flow and ruining what continuity there might have been between the songs. And I don’t think that would have been much, these songs are all over the place. So how did it make the list? First off, the stereoscope packaging…even from a band that prides itself on interesting artwork, this is above and beyond. Second, the opener, "Vicarious," is the best straight up rocker the group has ever done, and firmly proves that Maynard’s lyrics are the only ones in rock currently worth reading. The real clincher is the "wings for Marie" suite. Evidently written about Maynard’s mother passing away after many years in a wheelchair, the song builds with classical precision to the brilliant climax- "call up the spirit, the son and the father/tell them their pillar of faith is ascending…give me my wings!" It simply must be heard to be believed, no rock band has attempted this sort of piece, and they pull it off with room to spare. There are other gems too…"the Pot" is the best song Perfect Circle never recorded, "Rosetta Stoned, once it gets past the annoying intro, is Tool at their creepy best. Not as good as "Aenima" for sure, but a great recording.

Beck- The Information
Everyone’s favorite Scientologist delivers on this album, a weird journey through the digital age. And if that sounds a lot like his past albums, well, let’s just say this one is better. Easily his best since "odelay," this CD actually had me dancing around the house, and I’m not that kind of guy. The do-it-yourself cover art is nifty too. Check out "Cellphone’s Dead."

Mastodon- Blood Mountain
There’s not a lot new here for those who heard their last album "Leviathan:" jaw-dropping musicianship, angular compositions that swing with a dexterity usually reserved for jazz, and a good healthy sense of humor and fun. Metal’s best band right now.

Prince- 3121
Proving that "Musicology" was no fluke, the Purple one goes back to his roots and delivers a solid album, full of songs about chicks, God and, in the title track, his house. Deeply funky and fun. The vocoder effect may get a bit old, but it’s worth putting up with certain eccentricities to hear this glorious music. Prince is a national treasure. Best line: "you’ll be screaming like a white lady when I count to three…"

Lamb of God- Sacrament
Following up a monster like "Ashes of the Wake" is never easy. Rather than trying to continue pushing boundaries, LOG have released and album that just utterly rocks all the way through. "All killer, no filler" indeed! These guys make me proud to be from Richmond.

The Coup- Pick a Bigger Weapon
Proving that there is life in rap yet, The Coup is the new Public Enemy: impassioned and fierce, but with a healthy sense of humor…and most importantly a good ear for the beats. "babylet’shaveababybeforebushdosomethingcrazy" is easily the song title of the year.

Gwar- Beyond Hell
It’s a concept album in which Gwar are attacked in their Antarctic fortress by the Nazi pope, escape into underground tunnels which eventually lead them to hell, fight enemies including a crooked cop, the drugged-up spirit of rock, the Ultimate Bohab, and eventually Satan himself, and once victorious return to their wrecked castle, where they play an Alice Cooper song. Enough said.

Rebel meets Rebel
The lads from Pantera join David Allan Coe for some country metal, and it simply rules. "Nothin to Lose" is an instant classic, but every song on here is genuinely rocking. RIP Dimebag!

Honourable Mention:
Mushroomhead, "Savior Sorrow"
All That Remains, "The Fall of Ideals"
Bob Dylan,"Modern Times"
The Haunted, "The Dead Eye."
Cat Power, "The Greatest"
And the pleasant surprise of the year: Stone Sour, "Come What(ever) May." I can’t stand Slipknot, but this album is really good!

pedestrians, speed bumps and millions

2006-09-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

As recently announced, the fine state of New Jersey has implemented a new program. 74 million dollars will be dedicated to the problem of pedestrian safety, namely to stop people from getting hit by vehicles. A modest proposal to save a bit of money would be this:

Instead of spending 74 million dollars, let's just tell all the major TV news shows and newspapers to put in a little blurb. 15 seconds or a couple of print lines will suffice, and I imagine threatening them with increase in licensing fees would take care of the cost. "attention residents. Please do not quickly move in front of fast moving vehicles, and especially not at night when you are wearing the equivalent of a druid's black robe. Cars have trouble stopping quickly, which is why brake repair is such a great business. And in all fairness, drivers should stop driving over pedestrians, as they are covered in far less metal padding and tend to get hurt feelings and other injuries."

There we go. The savings can be sent directly to my house.

Andrea Yates: The System has Failed

2006-07-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

Experiencing a feeling of nausea as I watch the news is getting to be normal for me, but this is really too much. Andrea Yates is not guilty of murder?

Okay, it’s by reason of insanity. Fine and good…I have no doubt that she was insane when she committed these murders. In fact, I have no doubt that anyone who kills another outside of self defense is insane…they would have to be. Especially when the murder involves ones own children, killed one by one, watching them suffer. Insane? Absolutely! She claims that she believes she was possessed by the devil…were I of the Christian persuasion I would almost certainly agree.

I am not without sympathy for her. Obviously she was greatly suffering, and undoubtedly is now as well. She will be spending a long time in a hospital, possibly the rest of her life. And she will have to live with the knowledge and memory of the deaths of her children at her own hands.
But our penal system has a purpose, to insure that those who would commit crimes repay their debt to society, and ideally that they will then not commit the crimes anymore. Frankly I’m not too excited about the prospect of this pitiable but dangerous creature ever walking the streets again. What’s going to happen when she decides that the local 7-11 clerk needs to be saved from hell? What if she has more children?

As I say, it’s not the insanity part that bothers me. It’s the not guilty part. Andrea Yates is a murderer, a multiple, serial murderer, who went after her own flesh and blood in a meticulous and careful fashion. Had a man snuck into the house and killed the children in the same fashion, saying that he believed that their mother was possessed by Satan and he believed he was saving them from hell, would we be having the same reaction? Could we say he behaved any more sanely? Would he not deserve to live out his life in prison, and would we as a society not deserve to be safe from him?

This is a dangerous precedent folks. Next time the local youth group decides to tie a homosexual to a barbed wire fence, next time an abortion clinic goes sky high, next time a prostitute turns up dead, will it be a passable defense to say that the killers believed they were saving the victims from damnation?

Extreme examples, I admit. But I just saw that a woman who admittedly drowned her own children one by one was found not guilty, NOT GUILTY, for the same reason.

And finally, peace to the Yates family, who have at this point most certainly been through enough. Namaste.

moving to Jersey

2006-06-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, I haven’t been too good about keeping up mr. blog here. Sorry about that. So I’m just going to knock out all the dirty details of the past couple of months in one swoop, and move on…

So the past couple of months have sucked a lot…starting from the beginning. One day I’m getting ready to head off to work, checking the traffic on traffic.com to see how clowned up the expressway was on that particular day, when I notice my little email flag go up. So I checked it, and learned that our close friend Harry had died in a car accident. We were somewhat prepared to deal with his loss, those of you who got to meet him know that besides being at an advanced age he had heart problems, joint problems, etc. But we couldn’t have expected this…plus Vera (Harry’s wife) getting hurt.

Well, after calling Stephanie to let her know, I decided to go on to work as I couldn’t think of anything else to do with myself. About 2 hours later I get a call from Stephanie notifying me that she had found a story online about the accident, at which point I had the breakdown that had been coming. This was immediately followed by the news that her employer had decided to announce that particular day that we were being transferred to Hammonton, New Jersey (Blueberry capital of the world, fools.)

So we had to look for a new place to live. After taking time to visit Vera we started calling around, and it seems that renters in Jersey aren’t too keen on cats and rabbits. We decide to see if we qualify for a mortgage. Not really expecting to, after all we’re currently carrying tens of thousands in Stephanie’s student loans and had only been in our jobs for a few months. Suprisingly, we were told we were approved! So we start looking at houses, have a meeting with our realtor (he does tech support at Stephanie’s office and I’ll happily recommend him if anyone needs one around here) and all that kind of thing. Then we call the mortgage lender to get a certificate so we can make offers and get told "oops, I didn’t take into account your student loans, plus neither of you have been in your jobs for even a year, so you qualify for ass." I’m still considering sending this clown a bill for my gas and time out of work looking at places.

We begin again looking for a place to rent and set up some appointments, eventually settling on a duplex that I just fell in love with. Just goes to show that I have no taste…we’ll get to that later. In the meantime my favorite bunny, Whitey, passed away. Whitey has had chronic health problems for years, but suprisingly I have reason to believe she was accidentally suffocated by her roommate, sister, best friend and life partner Dr. Moo. At this point I’m getting pretty tired of grieving.

Our lease was to start May 13th. We decided to get our moving truck on the 20th, giving me a week to move art, guitars, etc. and do a little cleaning. When we arrived to do some carpet measuring, sign the lease and put down the rest of our deposit, we were informed that eviction proceedings against the previous tenant had not gone through properly, so we couldn’t take the lease until the 20th…that they thought our statement that we planned to put a little area rug in the bedroom meant that we planned to put in wall to wall carpet and so had left the floor as bare subfloor, and that they had "forgotten" the keys so we couldn’t get in to measure. (sigh) I did manage to get an agreement to put down something on the floor in the bedroom, as we had no plans on carpeting a rental house.

Now is the time for Uhual to come into the picture. As already noted, we planned to get the truck for the 20th, so the crisis is not too bad yet. Uhual was to call me on the 19th and let me know when and where I could get my truck the next day. And they did…letting me know that the truck would be ready at 2 in the AFTERNOON, 45 minutes from our house in Lansdale. I informed Uhual (hereafter called "Usuck" for my own amusement) that this wasn’t really too great, and was told that even though we had had a reservation for weeks, it was tough to get a truck on weekends. I was also unable to get directions to the place, as the attendant who answered the phone spoke only the barest rudiments of English. So, we decide to trot out to Jersey in the morning and get keys, then get the truck in the afternoon and load up.

The next morning I call up Usuck, again trying to get directions to our truck. We had no maps or computer to check on how to get to the place (in Doylestown.) A call to the station got me hung up on by a cranky young fellow. I called Usuck’s central office, and twice got transferred to random gas stations that naturally had no idea where Lansdale or Doylestown were. Finally the third station took pity on me and pulled out the maps, and even looked up the addresses on the computer to give me directions. I wish I had written down the name of the station and who I talked too so I could commend them to their corporate offices…guys, if you’re reading this, step forward!

We then drive out here to Jersey to get keys. The landlord arrives, late, and says that all the previous tenants stuff, which is mysteriously still on the porch, will be removed that Monday. We are then let in, to realize that nothing, absolutely nothing, had been repaired or cleaned. The floor in the bedroom had been done, by her 12 year old son. He did a great job…FOR A 12 YEAR OLD! Even the cabinets hadn’t been emptied, there was a canine fecal testing kit, luckily unused, in a kitchen cabinet for instance…and a bag of what may have been grapes in the bathroom, along with a broken window (now fixed, in their defense.) there were, and still are, a derelict car and trailer in the yard, along with obscene amounts of trash. When I brought up our disgust with the condition the house was left in, I was told that it had been assumed that since we were in a hurry to get in we would do all the cleaning. "True," says I, "we wanted to get in on the 13th!"

So we head back to Lansdale to get our truck and get moving. We finally find the Usuck place, and are told that…there’s no truck. Yup. Calls were made, and a truck was found in Colmar, on the way back to Lansdale. Fine, we say, as it is now 3:00 and we really need a truck. No dice, the place in Colmar swears up and down that we may not have the truck, it is already reserved. Usuck tells me then that they have found one in Pottstown, which is about an hour from Lansdale, in the other direction. It is now 4:00. I offer to take the truck at a heavy discount or even take the much smaller truck at the station and make two trips if it is at the same price…again, no dice. "we would be losing money" they said. "Why is that my problem?" I said back…but clearly it was. I cancelled the reservation and told them I wanted my deposit FULLY refunded…they said I would have to call on Monday. In the meantime Stephanie has called Budget, and they tell us we can have a truck the next day. Great.

Well naturally we had a call when we got home, Budget had no truck. At least they gave us a day’s notice…but we set up a reservation with them for the next week. Far more expensive, but we’re still trusting them more than Usuck.

So I spend a week cleaning and moving little stuff as I can…moving day comes. We get the truck from Budget…24 feet. There is no way I should be allowed to drive a truck that big…going under a low bridge in town was the most terrifying thing ever. I go to Lowe’s to get our new washer and dryer, and after making me wait for half an hour they inform me that someone sold our dryer. (sigh) But, they gave us the next model up at the same price. Lowe’s, the only business that really comes out good here.

From here it gets better. We made the move all in one day. The problems are getting smaller…Usuck finally refunded my deposit. They informed me when I called that they had only charged $5.00, and when I told them that it was nice that it had been reduced to a token insult refunded that. I had a message to call a manager to make it right about the trouble, and when I called back got put on hold for 30 minutes before I gave up. They sent coupons…as if we plan to ever give them an ounce of business again…the house is looking a lot better, and we are slowly getting the problems fixed. Cassidy burned his foot on the stove but is okay, I took him to the vet and they put a really cute yellow bandage on it. Stephanie likes her new office a lot, and since we’re so close to Atlantic City I’m thinking of becoming a blackjack dealer. Life goes on…

And that’s the story of the Cooks moving to Jersey.

Merry Solstice, Bill

2005-12-21T07:11:00.000-08:00

Oh, I’m so over this already. I’m so over the Christmas season. Tacky décor, horrible music, bad tempered people spending all their money, yark.

So when Bill O’Reilly says that it would be a good thing to overhaul how we view the season, I’m all for it. Frankly, after a few years working in retail I know the "holiday spirit" myth is bunk. Is it the holiday spirit that causes people to get into fistfights in Walmart the day after Thanksgiving? I have been cursed out three times in my life, soundly and personally cursed, because the store where I worked was out of ROBOT VACUUMS on December 24th. Seriously, robot vacuums, I mean the things don’t even work.

But one thing that has always made me happy about this time of year is the effort to include different traditions into the holiday season. True, someone saying "Merry Christmas" to me does not offend me. But to make that effort to recognize that I may be Jewish, or Muslim, or Hindu, or none of the above, and say "Happy Holidays" instead…it warms my heart.

Imagine if I greeted everyone this season with "Blessed Rohatsu." I imagine most would find it odd that I’m giving a greeting for a holiday they don’t celebrate. Ahh…welcome to my world.

So here’s my theory. If Lowe’s wants to call their trees "holiday trees" or "christmas trees," that’s their business and none of mine. And none of Bill O’Reilly’s either.

This is bigger than the holidays of course. We are to accept the idea here that somehow the Christian majority is being undermined, persecuted even. And it’s a bunch of crap. Religion is doing better in this country than ever, and if you don’t believe it look at the numbers for Evangelical church attendance. Or listen to our president discuss his feelings on faith. Not that this is a bad thing. America was founded in part on free religion, and it’s a great thing. But the fact is, this is NOT a Christian nation, which brings me to my key talking point:

IF A PERSON OR INSTITUTION WISHES TO ISSUE A MORE INCLUSIVE HOLIDAY GREETING, THEY SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED. IF THEY WISH TO SAY "MERRY CHRISTMAS" OR "HAPPY HANUKKAH" OR "TIP-TOP TET," THIS IS THEIR BUSINESS AND THEY SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED.

So to Mr O’Reilly, I wish a big happy holidays, and hope that you will stop spending the season encouraging our fragile minded leaders to bring religion into the public forum. Your robot vacuum is coming UPS.

Election Day Follies: New Jersey Edition

2005-11-08T14:06:00.000-08:00

Today New Jersey (AKA New York’s Basement) elects a new governor, thank heavens. For anyone who has not been following this race, it has seen the escalation of negative politics to previously unheard of levels…this race makes the Bush/Kerry rivalry look like a picnic in the park in autumn. Since moving to Philly we have seen untold commercials by the two discussing how much bigger of a jerk the other candidate is, while studiously avoiding discussing any actual issues of policies, experience, shoe size, or anything else that could be construed as relevant about themselves. Basically, Jon Corzine and Doug Forrester have turned this race into something like a public email slap-fest.

New Jersey (motto: "Springsteen is from here, everybody likes him, right?") has had a rough go of it lately. For those who missed the fun, their last elected governor Jim McGreevey resigned under what could be called a "cloud:" he revealed that despite being married he was homosexual and had given a rather important job to a romantic interest, the job of homeland security aide. First off, this gives an interesting insight into what may have led Bush to select Michael Brown as FEMA director. But more importantly, it sets and ugly precedent for what has been an ugly race.

We haven’t done too well over here in Pennsylvania (Motto: "Work area, fines doubled") either. We just survived a fun bit with our state legislature wherein they decided at 2 am to vote themselves a huge pay raise (Up to 50% for some,) and then decided to use a loophole called "unvouchered expenses" to collect the raises during their present term, which of course is highly illegal anywhere in the civilized world. Between that and the tranportation strike set up by SEPTA (motto: "Gimme!") and the antics of Philly councilman Ray Mariano (Motto: "Uh oh, I did it this time!") I’ve pretty much given up on local politics.

But I still feel bad for New Jersey (Motto: "Sorry about Atlantic City!") Especially for new voters. Everyone wants young people to vote, and Puff Diddly or whatever the hell his new name is says he’ll kill you if you don’t. But with these choices, what really is the point? I’m glad I don’t have to vote. But if I did, it would be for Corzine. Here’s why:

As a final effort in the race, the Forrester campaign decided to run a "commercial" which consisted of a black screen with a quote from Corzine’s ex-wife saying, in effect, that he had let his family down and would probably let New Jersey (AKA "Pennsylvania’s Wacky Neighbour!") down as well.

Now, I’ve had a couple of rough relationships. I once had an ex get me turned down for a library card. But really, this was a low, uncalled for shot. Maybe Mr. Corzine could have been a better husband. Or maybe his wife is just bitter. Or more likely, both. Either way, I fail to see what is has to do with the race. So I guess it would be a pity vote, but I’m okay with that.

To everyone who went out to vote today, good job. And to the politicians of the world, get your acts together for crying out loud, or I’ll get nasty notes from your first grade teachers and put them on TV.

Namaste

GWAR at the Electric Factory: Review

2005-10-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

20 years of GWAR, how about that? For two decades now Dave Brockie and crew having been raising utter mayhem across the country and overseas, creating an admirable catalogue of albums and consistently putting on the best shows in rock music. I’ve said it before, seeing a bad GWAR show is still better than 95% of the other live entertainment music has to offer. But seeing a great GWAR show now…

But first a word on the Electric Factory, as this was my first visit…I found it quite impressive. Those from Richmond who remember the Flood Zone would feel right at home (and that of course makes it a great place to see GWAR,) the layout is similar but with higher ceilings, better lighting, cool movie projectors on the wall and (gasp) clean bathrooms. I also appreciated their enthusiastic and cheerful parking attendants…

The first band of the night was Mensrea, featuring Cory who performs as Flattus in GWAR without costume. I enjoyed the set, but it didn’t seem to get the crowd going too much…I think their complex rhythm work may have been a bit overwhelming for a first band. They put on a solid performance with impressive musicality though and were mostly well received, except for one little turd in my vicinity who kept yelling "Fuck you, where’s GWAR?" between songs. Evidently, no one informed the chap that part of GWAR was right there…Mensrea’s CD, what I’ve heard of it, is quite good by the way.

Next up was A Dozen Furies. I went down to the front for these guys, and I’m glad I did. I listened to their album before the show and honestly it didn’t do much for me, but live these guys really shine. Acrobatic, full of energy and doing all kind of wild jumps during their set while keeping an extraordinarily fast tempo going. Most interesting to me (besides the fact that they managed to avoid colliding with each other) was the guitarists water trick, which involved guzzling water between songs and then simultaneously blowing the water in the air during the song. I listened to their cd after the show and meh, I still didn’t dig it that much, but I’ll go see these boys anytime they’re in town for sure. Incidentally, it was during their set that the very caustically angry lad in front of me got booted for flicking a cigarrette at one of the guitarists. At which point I was able to get right on the rail, woot.

And then…Devildriver. Anyone who wants to know what I see in extreme metal, here’s what you do: go see Devildriver. Stand up front. And wear earplugs. Devildriver does the sort of old-school, fun thrash music that the world needs more of, and nobody gets a crowd riled like Dez (formerly of Coal Chamber) does. I wasn’t in the pit for the enormous circle pit the band requested (complete with the bassist yelling "Gentleman, START YOUR ENGINES…," priceless) but juding from the crushing I soon experienced it must have been utter mayhem. Yay.

The main event…GWAR. But first, we got Melvin Freebish escorting out the Nazi pope…and during "Horror of Yig," the best song to start a show, both were decapitated. Also killed during the evening: Bush (with Oderus commenting that killing the president had become "GWAR tradition,") Dick Cheney ("We’re going down the chain of command tonight!") Sharon Osbourne (yay!) Michael Jackson (the most realistic of the victims by far) Bonesnapper (a character I still can’t warm up to, he was funny when he talked but now that he doesn’t he’s like some highly aggressive pile of guacamole) and…Gor Gor! My last two shows have been at the Crowbar in State College and Gor, who must stand at least 9 feet tall, wouldn’t fit, so it was a huge thrill to see the evil dino back.

Song selection was good…"Death Pod" and "Love Surgery" off "Scumdogs" were both welcome, hearing a rare "Road Behind" was awesome. Folks I talked to were dissapointed at the lack of "Sick of You," this is the first time I’ve seen them that they haven’t done it. SO I didn’t miss it, I did miss "Have you seen me?" though. Not that I’m complaining, when the encore is a 7 minute medley of all the songs off "Hell-O" it’s all good. Too bad some characters couldn’t have been brought back, Techno or Slymenstra would have been great. But as a whole, it was a great show. The timing was on, Oderus was in top form. The crowd was nuts. I walked out crushed, battered, bruised, stained red from alien blood and green from alien, er, ejaculate, and happy as can be.

No disrespect to the bands, but probably my top moment of the nightwas on the drive home. I couldn’t find 676 west, only east. So I thought I’d get on there and turn around…no go, it goes right to the Ben Franklin bridge which then goes to New Jersey. So I had to turn around in Jersey (not to the left though!) and go back over, paying a three dollar toll on the way. But the view from the mostly empty bridge at night was well worth it, this truly is the most beautiful of US cities.

Okay, maybe seeing Sharon Osbourne get chopped up was better. But you get the idea.

philly part 1: the move

2005-10-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

first things first: i hate moving. it's sweaty. hard work and makes all too apparent what a packrat and bad housekeeper i am. however, this move went fairly well, from state college, our home for the last four years, to lansdale, a bit north of philadelphia. the constant load of cleaning, moving, paperwork, more paperwork, phone calls and such has left me with more of a set of images than a clear narrative, so i'll hit the highlights.

anyone care to take a guess how many stuffed animals the cook household is currently hosting? i was curious...what with the requisite teddy bears, my small groups of beanie grateful dead bears, stuffed doppelgangers for cassidy and calliope, pound puppies and of course ampcat, my longtime stage companion. so i counted today. the answer may shock you...

42.

some of you are just thinking that's a lot of stuffing, and you're right. some of you recognize a different importance...spooky, isn't it? that number by the way does not reflect "seasonal" animals, pink flamingoes or buddha statues.

music...i listened to a lot of music while packing. for one thing, i had no tv or computer...but i firmly believe that the best packing music ever is dylan's "blood on the tracks." i also gave good hard listens to "desire" and "the basement tapes," a highly underrated release.

but for driving, metallica's black album...i forgot how ridiculously hard this album rocks. every time i hear the riff to "enter sandman" i wish my hair was long again. i also listened to soilwork's "stabbing the drama" while driving the bunnies here, as there was an amp wedged in front of the glovebox where the cd's were. everyone should go buy this album immediately. no one does metal like the swedish do metal.

speaking of driving, how about u-haul? they rented me a 17' moving truck without any kind of driving test...are they nuts? it was huge! luckily i didn't have to drive it far, my mother in law's boyfriend drove it here on the big move. (incidentally, what relation does that make him to me? my boyfriend-in-law?) apparently one can get much bigger trucks to drive too. every time i'm on the highway i'm a little suprised not to see a pileup of uhuals, with some guys sitting there wondering where the cupholders and cruise controls are while they wait to be scrapped.

truth be told, i'm going to miss state college. i'll miss the zendo of course. i'll miss getting in free to the crowbar, though i'm excited that i'm going to gwar at the electric factory. imagine, seeing gwar in a place bigger than a large closet with a pa system not apparently made of recycled car stereo speakers! i'll miss the regular main switch reunions. incidentally, we're having another one on oct 29th at the lizard lounge, i'm driving back for it. it will be for the release of our long-awaited album "chinese democracy," and then of course we'll break up again.

but my impressions of philly so far...i met charlie parker's son, he owns a recording studio minutes from our house. we wandered in thinking it was a record store (it's called birdland) and sat in on a session from an interesting local rapper. nice guy. i also explored south street, cool area. and i saw zipperhead!

st francis revisited

2005-09-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

a note before i begin: i was planning to write a piece on katrina, but i decided not to. many people, far more erudite than yours truly, have done a great job writing on this. many others, who should have their pens or keyboards taken away, have written a lot of garbage. but the bottom line for me is, i have nothing to say except the obvious, that this is a disaster of overwhelming and frightening proportion, and i desperately hope, and even pray, that the survivors will have peace and joy soon.

for a great piece on this event, click on "vickie's blog," on the right of this page, and read "a convoluted argument against finger pointing." it really changed my thoughts on this disaster, and as far as i am concerned nothing else needs to be said for the moment. by me, at least.

so let's talk about st francis. i just read omer englebert's biography of him after developing a fascination during an activity at o-an zendo, detailed in an earlier blog. the biography gave an interesting view of the saint, which was neither a cold and heartless portrayal determined to undermine the legend of the man, nor a wide-eyed fawning fest. ultimately i felt it fit well with what i have heard of the saint. particularly in discussing the stigmata, there was honest and open printing of the scientific theory that the stigmata were more likely leprosy sores, while the author expressed his own view that the marks were indeed sent from above. in short, a read that had the truth and a sense of wonder.

but what i most want to talk about is compromise. the concept of compromise is held dear to humans. it allows a democratic government to exist. it allows people of diverse ideas and backgrounds to work productively. it allows husbands and wives (or husbands and husbands, or wives and wives) to build a life both can enjoy, and allows any resulting children to grow up safely but with their own identity.

ah, but what of st francis? first some background: "lady poverty" was the true love of francis's life. he believed that the best path in life was to live in the way of jesus christ, and that way was in poverty, in rags, insulted, begging for food. every facet of francis's early religious work was caught up in this idea. his monks were to be poor, and in fact were not to handle money, they got their food by begging or working. the dressed in simple, ragged tunics, and even these were likely to be given away to poor met in crossing. they were to live either in the woods or in the lowliest of dwellings. even their name, the friars minor, was meant to put them below everyone else, where francis felt they would best emulate their savior.

and for a time this idea worked well. francis and the friars minor (which also had a convent in association) lived in utter poverty, endured insults and injury, cold and heat, hunger and sickness. and yet by most accounts they were a happy band, singing of their love for the world and their god. and as is the way of society, more and more people showed up to join in, with ideas of their own.

some refuted francis's ban of scholarship, and said that the friars minor ought to have books. some wanted monasteries, or the ability to own property of their own. some wanted the priveledge of challenging catholic bishops and priests. francis did not pick the name "friars minor" for nothing, he felt that their status in life should be at the bottom of society, with the lepers and at their service (see stigmata) and not as another group of church elders. but eventually the calls for change became to numerous to be resisted. there is a story of francis coming home from a pilgrimage to the middle east and discovering some of his friars living in a fine house, and promptly going up to the roof with a ladder to pull the shingles off. no amount of passion on his part was able to stop the changes, and not long before his death the order had removed him from any real power.

what i wonder is whether this was a positive move? certainly the franciscan monks have done well, but only at the cost of betraying the ideals of their namesake and founder. is that still a victory? a defeat? or something else entirely? it makes me sad to think that this powerful little man (he was called the "little poor man" by many) worked so hard only to see his ideals watered down.

buddhism was founded on similar compromise. the buddha was born into great wealth and pleasure, but found it brought him no spiritual happiness. he became an aesthetic, fasting and punishing his body relentlessly, but did not find what he was looking for. he then came up with the middle path, saying that neither great physical pleasure nor self-imposed suffering was of help for the spirit, but that the seeker ought to keep the body alive and happy and the mind pure and focused. following, he and billions of others experienced some or all of the ideal he sought.

note: st francis, shortly before his death, apologized to his own body ("brother body") for the abuse he put it through. was that itself a level of compromise?

from the book: "was it his fault if the ideal of the little poor man could be entirely realized only by a few exceptional souls? the moment that this ideal became the public property of several thousand men, it had to be watered down, as it were, in order to remain accessible to all. who could possibly make heroism and holiness the common law of this world?"

the last sentence says a lot i think. who indeed?

cassidy vs. the crickets

2005-08-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

so my cat hates crickets. it's true. and not just a little bit either. i was sitting with him on our patio when all of a sudden he marched off very purposefully, and about 50 yards away in the grass he pounced on and consumed a cricket. then he set off again, and another good ways away found and pounced another one.

stephanie says he does this all the time. apparently he can hear their chirping and it enrages him.

i suppose as a good buddhist i should not encourage his one feline insect genocide, but i can't help but find it kind of funny.

Rumi, Dogen and St Francis

2005-08-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

i got to go to an interesting event sunday...a workshop based on comparative study of francis of assisi, dogen and rumi at o-an zendo, which is located in julian, pennsylvania. seriously. if my life were a book, i bet high school english teachers would be falling all over each other to gush about the symbolism. maybe i'll write an autobiographical novel just to throw them off.

so i got to learn some interesting things. for one, st francis was pretty cool, very passionate. and apparently the supposed "stigmata" he had were probably leprosy sores. i'm reading a biography of him now.

rumi brought up some interesting discussion. rumi was a great sufi poet, sufis being the mystic branch of islam, as well as the founder of the whirling dervishes. looking at some of his work, we came across a line about how to see the true light of the sun would cause a person to simply dissolve under it's power. a couple of people thought that might be a line that would appeal to jihadists. chilling to think of.

dogen was the founder of soto zen in japan, and most interesting about him to me was that the zendo he built, around 1200 ce in the mountains of northern japan, is still present and functional.

the point of all this was to see how the three looked at the natural world, after which we went on a walk through the beautiful forest out by the zendo. the forest is completely untamed here, and stretches on for days. as usual, the hike was officiated by sumi, the wonderful black lab who resides at o-an. the walk was silent, and we were to try and look at our surroundings as the three subjects of discussion did. it was a great exercise and i really recommend it. here is a brief synopsis of their respective views:

francis of assisi: looked upon everyone and everything as his family, and often referred to animals, plants, and natural elements like fire or water as his brothers or sisters.

rumi: believed the natural world to be a reflection of the higher kingdom of god, and that every object manifested in nature had a counterpart in that kingdom.

dogen: not suprisingly, his view was most appealing to me. dogen taught followers to try and see things as they were, and only as they were, without preconceived notions about them. i.e., a tree can be appreciated as "just a tree," and further can be impressive merely on account of the "suchness" of it's existence.

i did get a poem out of it, i may post it if i ever get it revised to a point i consider acceptable.

stunning and truly disturbing

2005-08-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

my wife just shouted this in horror while watching the news:

1 in 5 americans believe that the three branches of government are republican, democrat and independent.

20%. unreal.

this is only a test

2005-08-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

only a test...what does that mean exactly? what could be more important? everything from manned spaceflight to the safety of various forms of makeup relies on testing...

regardless, i just wanted to see what my blog looked like. i bet it's going to look like one more person casting their words into the ether of the internet(which may or may not get to go through an ethernet cable to do so.) and i bet i'll like it all the same.