Smith's Blue Blog

A New Home

2009-09-07T21:49:00.000-04:00

I clearly needed a change. A break from the old, even if it was nothing more than a new name, a new layout, and the sense of freedom from precedent. Thus I have started a new blog - think of it as Smith's Blue Blog 2.0. Think of it as silly. But, regardless, please, if you're at all interested, check it out. Hell, you might even like it.

Eric Drummond Smith

Paintin' on Paper

2008-09-23T19:05:00.004-04:00

Well it has been, as they say, awhile. Actually one year, twelve days. Damn. I ain't got no excuse.

This one's mine, punks.

Well, you're wondering what the heck am I gonna' use to reintroduce this monstrosity. Well, how about some art? One of the main reasons I have been offline for, hmm, a month of Mondays is this: I have been painting like the Devil, and under those circumstances there is only so much work you can do on a blog that like forty people read. Ever. But such is life, and so it goes. Regardless, if you're interested in seeing some of my recent work, well, dig on these here, as well as these over here.

Anyway, I hope you like them and, mores the truth, I hope that my absurdly long hiatus hasn't resulted in the complete purging of SBB from all Bookmark lists. But, if that's the case, well heck, tumbled walls can always be rebuilt.

Deliciousness.

2007-09-10T23:28:00.000-04:00

Faery Cat, probably representing Neoliberalism, from Strange Horizons

Okay, so you're hungry for some links. You can't be blamed - they are delicious with sausage. Bite off a piece of these.

First, Visualizing Economics - - - it is a collection of, well, visual models that help the numerically challenged to comprehend the whimsy that is the lingua economica. Surrender and consume.

Image from I-AA.org

Second, my friend Clint advised me on this jonx . . . ESPN Page 2's new rules for college football fans. Submit and digest.

Image from Rockabilly.us

Third - musical group with which I was previously unaware of? The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. A must listen (I suggest that you do a couple searches for some of their acoustic stuff - - - that is the fruit that really pleases). Think emo-punk with light hints of the Foo Fighters. And hazelnuts. Yield and devour.

Image from DeletedImages

Fourth and finally, check out DeletedImages, a self-explanatory delight for the eyes. And stuff. Cease and masticate.

Poetry: Arthur Lloyd Mitchell

2007-09-09T20:54:00.000-04:00

Originally posted on Hillbilly Savants

A.L. "Big Al" Mitchell

Some of you reader-folk are fully aware, I'd imagine, of our A.L. Mitchell writing contest we're sponsoring here at HS. That said, unless you were a member of the Emory & Henry College/Abingdon, Virginia-area community you probably didn't have the pleasure of knowing its namesake. I was close to Mr. Mitchell, looked up to him like grandfather, and still, even over the eleven years I knew him, there was still so much I didn't know about him. For instance, I knew he had an MA from Columbia University in literature, and I knew he had a deep and abiding love of poetry, but I never read any of his own work - in fact, I'm ashamed to say, I don't think I really ever knew he wrote poetry. Well, since Mr. Mitchell passed away, I have come into a copy of a small folio of poetry written and published by Mr. Mitchell, and I thought I would share a couple of my favorite pieces. They are a bit more traditional than I usually go into (I'm an e.e. cummings sorta' guy myself), but they are touching and, sometimes, quite beautiful - especially the pieces on nature. Consider:

Birth and Death of Day

Glorious rays of daybreak finger through the eastern sky
When the sun has kissed the morn.
Gold, scarlet, and flamingo
Are tints which glow when day is born.

Pastel shades of evening float across the western sky
When the sun has slipped away.
Pink, light blue, and lavender
Are the hues that attire the dying day.

Our Days Are What We Make Them (excerpt)

Some days I awake to a gray, misty morn
And the world seems ragged and bare.
The people I meet as I walk down the street
Seem loaded with burdens and care.
Nature is dull: the birds fail to sing;
Flowers have no fragrance or hue;
Things go undone till setting of the sun.
These days end in gray dampness of dew.

Other days I awake to a bright, rosy east
And the world seems happy and gay.
The people I meet as I walk down the street
Warmly smile as they go on their way.
All nature is stirring: the bird loudly carol;
The flowers are brilliant and sweet;
The tasks of the day seem to drift right away.
Night arrives on a million ballet feet.

Recollections of Boyhood on New River (excerpt)

The rippling stream met the wide, wide river,
And swirlets danced in the limpid pool
Formed by the union of waters rushing.
As a tender youth, I would stand and quiver
As I looked on this scene, where I cam to cool
The burning thoughts from my young heart gushing.

A winding path led up beside this little stream
Over banks of mossy green and through
Flats of mud where turtles played.
Barefoot, I would trace that path as in a dream,
Drinking in each scent and sight and sound anew.
I lingered by each lovely spot and stayed
Still as blood-red cardinals, perched high
On the top-most branches of the willow trees,
Whistled their crisp, clear notes. Then, here
And there, in the crystal stream flowing by,
Rippled ever so gently by the faintest breeze,
A silver minnow would rise without fear
And kiss the surface.

It was in the time of spring,
That emerald of the year I loved the best,
When dogwoods gleamed snowy white against the green,
And hordes of violets vied with purple passion to fling
Themselves about the rocks and rotten stumps in quest
Of choice spots where they might grow and blush unseen.

In idle gestures of boyish pleasure
I would search the path for pebbles, white as chalk,
To toss into the stream. When at last
This whim, satisfied in fullest measure,
No longer held my fancy, I would slowly walk
Away, soon to fall beneath some other spell cast
By wands of springtime waved above my youthful frame.
Then suddenly, with breathless anticipation,
I would set out for my favorite spot,
Racing through the mead and playing a game
Of tag with butterflies whose only occupation was sipping nectar from the bright yellow dot
Of ox-eye daisies growing in clusters along the way.

Wooded ridges rose from the meadow's edge
And stair-stepped themselves into distant mountains.
Just over the first ridge, in seclusion and stillness, lay
My private haunt, nestled beneath a little ledge
Where water oozed from cracks, making miniature fountains
Here and there among the rocks. The mossy ground,
Spotted by warm rays of sunlight drifting through
Gently rustling branches, was a leopard skin,
Soft and spongy to my step. Growing all around,
To hide the isle of mine from any outside view,
Were towering clumps of verdant rhododendron
And waxy mountain laurel. Trilliums grew
In the shadows, and lady-slippers, soft and pink,
Stood upright on their stems as if fairy feet,
Light and tripping, were on their way and knew
Just where to put them on.

O! I would think:
No place, not even Paradise, can be so sweet
And still and soothing to the soul as this -
A downy nest of Nature, a green Aladdin lamp,
Which only I can rub.

Though panting from my flight,
Across the meadow and over the ridge, I would not miss
The smallest bit of beauty there - even in the damp
Recesses where, half-hidden to my sight,
Salamanders played.

Before an Autumn Maple

I stood today before a tree
All red aflame with autumn fire;
And now I know how Moses felt
Before the bush in flame attire.

Each Fall I Watch My Dogwoods Die

Each fall I watch my dogwoods die
(The ones beside my lane)
And with each russet leaf that falls
My heart is stabbed with pain.

I think back when these lovely trees
Were blooming pink and white
And often in my mind's eye
That rare, breath-taking sight.

And I recall how later on
Their dark green boughs were spread
And how they shortly wrapped themselves
In coats of berries red.

And so each fall my dogwoods die
(The ones beside my lane)
And melancholy thoughts well up
Within my heart again.

But such sad thoughts will fade away
Because I always know
That spring will find my dogwoods back
Safe from the winter's snow.

And in all this there seems somehow
A message meant for me;
Life's autumn days are not the end;
New springs there'll surely be.

All poems are from A.L. Mitchell's (1974) Collected Poems (Carlton Press, Inc.).

The Helmet Project

2007-09-08T19:02:00.000-04:00

image from The Helmet Project

Okay, it is Saturday and it is September - and that, boys and girls, means football. Specifically, college football (I just can't bring myself to care at all about the NFL . . . yawnsville . . . no explanation, just a fact). The reason I mention this is to explain why this entry is gonna' be "brief" - the Manvision is in effect, the Low Country boil is on the stove, and the beer is cold. Huzzahlicious.

That said, I wanted to share something cool with you - specifically, since I appreciate a well-designed uniform (e.g. Penn State, Alabama, and [no matter what the pundits say] Syracuse - in other words, simple). It is called the Helmet Project, its by the guys down at National Champs.net, and well, it rules. So worth twenty minutes.

Okay, back to Georgia/South Carolina. And Mississippi State/Tulane. And Penn State/Notre Dame. And, of course, Fresno State/Texas A&M. Dammit, I love football - and my Manvision.

Back From the Dead and Words on Hobos

2007-09-07T14:46:00.000-04:00

Well, I am back. Long story short, early November of last year I got married and, since then, I have been obsessed with the dissertation. Ob. Sessed. But it is done and I am back. So get ready for more sensualistic meanderings. Oh, and for your information, my website (Smith's Blue Book) is nearly done being renovated. Check it out. . . it should be awesome. In the meantime, chew on this:

HOBOTOPIA

Yeah, I know, you're incredulous. Who can blame you. It is a website centered around hobo cats and maintained by a man who refers to himself as Ape-Lad. But seriously, not only are the cartoons brilliant and often laugh so loud funny that people stare in the coffee shop, but they can be all heart-warming. And $#!%. And the geeker references? Fogettahboutit.

Ape-Lad's Laugh Out Loud Cats #156

Regardless, I'm back, I've got a PhD, and I'm looking for work. So expect me. For reallz.

Bachelor Party

2006-10-02T01:33:00.000-04:00

Eric Drummond Smith's Bachelor Party
Kinda' Near Glade Springs, Virginia
September 30th, 2006

Front Row: Grat, Neal, Mike, & Vaughn
Middle Row: Chuck, Yours Truly, Lee, Justin, Irish, & Trevor
Back Row: Papaw, Wes, Wiley, & Clayman

[Also, Tyler, Steve, and A.K. were there, but for some reason they're AWOL.]

It is like a Who's Who of, um, people who like me.

Courtesy Mike Mason (Coolest Man in the World)

McDonald's

2006-09-28T16:59:00.000-04:00

There are few absolute truths in this world. Gravity, the speed of light, the effects of cheese on grandparents, and so on. Another of these? If you go to a foreign land, and you're an American, your friends will ask what were McDonald's restaurants like there? Oh yeah, donkey.

Oh yeah, go to this site. Its cool.

Magic Butter

2006-09-28T16:24:00.000-04:00

What are you going to say about a site named Magic Butter?

I'm not gonna' lie to you. There are about one billion great things on this site - though most of them you wouldn't want to see around your mom. Or Chuck's Mom. Must-sees?

1. Rat Chicken
2. Internet: The Animated Series
3. Space Dog

and, if you're ready to have a minor ambulism,

4. Porkchops

If you like these cartoons, well, you're weird. Its a fact. Accept it, embrace it, revel in it. If you don't, well, um, yeah. . . that means you're probably sane.

Odd-Wasp II

2006-09-13T13:25:00.000-04:00

Per Mr. Sike's Request - I 5k'd it up. Wrist-bands.

Odd-Wasp

2006-09-11T01:48:00.000-04:00

Not long ago my friend Scott Sikes called me with his magical cell phone dee-vice. We reminisced and then he cut to the chase. He wanted me to draw something for a tee-shirt, specifically for a 5K run at Emory & Henry College this fall, the morning of our Homecoming. Well, I have been sketching like the devil in Florence, and have scanned a few of 'm to e-mail to Scott. Thought I'd throw 'm up here just for giggles. Remember, Emory & Henry's mascot is the mighty wasp. Huzzah.

Animatus

2006-09-01T17:43:00.000-04:00

A month or two ago my friend Echols posted a delicious blog entry on the anatomy of cartoon characters, specifically the work of Michael Paulus. So macabre, so delicious. Well, I found something that will make him go, oh damn, I wish I'd found that. First. Probably. Whatever.

If you like cartoon character calaveras (and alliteration), or you love 18th Century skeleton museums, well, you'll love Hyungkoo Lee. So cool that it makes babies cry. A lot.

Oh, and as they say in Paraguay, muchas gracias to BoingBoing.

Retrojunk

2006-08-29T22:51:00.000-04:00

Wow. Trevor did it again. He introduced me to a site so dangerously addictive that it undoubtedly will have to be monitored by the FDA. Its name? Retrojunk.

The premise behind Retrojunk is elementary. It collects quotes, intros, theme music, general overviews, and trailers from movies, television shows, and commercials of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s into one, easy-to-use site. Yummy, right? Oh damn, you don't know the half of it. . . you can also download the trailers, etc. to your harddrive, you know, so when you're stranded in an airport you can watch a trailer for a movie you've already seen forty, fifty times (I sought out, for no reason I can possibly explain, the trailer to 1994's ultimate hit, Ace Venura, Pet Detective. Oh. and A.L.F. Trevor? He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and Gummi Bears.). Awesome.

PS - Go for the download instead of the Active X - buffering sucks.

Havaria Emergency and Disaster Information Services

2006-08-16T02:49:00.000-04:00

Not depressed, repressed, or generally scared enough? Of course you aren't.

This should help.

Everclear: Songs From an American Movie

2006-08-16T01:22:00.000-04:00

Recently, as I've mentioned before, my computer died (R.I.P. Halloween). Well, I've been prepping my new computer for my life-use, which of course includes ripping my music to the harddrive so that I can work and listen to music without hauling a billion CDs all over North America. High up on my "must have" list were my old favorites, both volumes of Everclear's Songs From an American Movie.

Damn. That was the word. Damn. Not just one volume, but both were tanked - scratched and scraped to the point of un-rip-ability. Signs of hard use and much love, I suppose. Was my response sadness? Terror? Fear? No, I just got online and ordered copies of both. That very moment.

Let me preface everything that's about to come with some backstory. I had never heard of Everclear (as opposed to Everclear) my freshman year in college. Then one afternoon my pal Whittaker and I were headed off to Marion, Virginia to see a high school baseball game and he popped in another great album, Sparkle and Fade. I was mesmerized.

[If you don't know Everclear's sound, well, obviously you don't have a radio. They are unquestionably the most popular band I've ever reviewed on my humble blog, which means you should have heard of them, even if you live under a hole. In France. Regardless, check their myspace page (or even MTV, for a nearly extinct "music video") if you have been under said hole.]

The reason I was so deeply effected by this music is difficult to describe. Perhaps it was simply the fact that Everclear's lyrics conjured up very particular images in my head, both about the world in general and about my own life in particular. Okay, no perhaps, that is definitely part of it. But part of it, as well, lies in the enormous power of Everclear's albums-as-symphonies. That's right. Rock-and-roll symphonies.

Note: I don't mean that they were symphonic in the sense of a strictly contructed single piece of music. Nor do I mean that they were symphonic in the sense of 1970s or 1980s rock sagas or, more terrifyingly, "concept albums." Rather, Everclear's albums explore themes from numerous directions - from the perspectives of multiple "characters," for instance, and as time progresses. The effect is, as the very album(s) I review now seem to indicate, similar in may ways to a movie - like a 1940s musical blended with post-Vietnam bipolarism. Indeed, having written these words, I wonder if instead of "symphonic" I should have used the phrase "operatic". Hmm.

Well, it was in June of 2000 that Everclear's Songs From an American Movie: Volume One, Learning How to Smile premiered. I was in mourning for my Mom, agonizing over various relationship failures, and generally depressed. I had just moved in with Dad, had just graduated from Virginia, and I really had next to no idea what I was about to do next. And here comes this album, with its, well, its overpowering joy. And not only that, it was a kind of joy that was tempered by its realism - you had no sense that the participants in this artistic universe were free of past pains and anguish. Rather, you had a sense that they had overcome their personal anguish, found something brighter. Sure, there was a warning feeling to the final few tracks, overtones of problems to come, but alone the album made me optimistic, even unto the point of foolishness - blended with the emotional disorientation I was already deeply immersed in, well, the album, along with a dream largely inspired by the album (ah, Otis Redding), prompted me to engage in the single most spontaneous, and arguably self-destructive action of my life.

I can't bring myself to describe it again. I did it once - you can read it here - but that, well, that's the last time, at least without alcohol, low-light, and excellent music.

I should have waited - Songs From an American Movie: Volume Two, Good Time for a Bad Attitude, which came out in November of the same year, would have let me in on the joke. The first album, well, it was the lead-in, the woodwinds before the kettle drums. That's not to say that the album leaves one without optimism - it certainly doesn't. What it does do, however, is use optimism merely as an accent to pessimism. And it has a song whose mere name makes my backbone prickle.

"Halloween Americana"

This is not an album I can recommend one or two songs from. No, you need to listen to them both, perhaps not at the same time, but all the way through in no more than two sittings. From the first song, "Song From an American Movie, Part 1" to the final song, "Song From an American Movie, Part 2", the effect is astounding. Beautiful, complex, powerful. You will empathize with every conceivable emotion and you're empathy will touch on the subtle layers between the Crayola color emotions that we as humans are usually restricted to in our artistic endeavors.

My success came to fruition yesterday. My new albums finally came in the mail and I ripped them last night. My ears have been ringing ever since. Sigh.

Summary and Post-Script: I recommend, in the strongest of terms, all of Everclear's work. That said, the new Everclear album coming out in September is by a new band - led up by former lead singer Art Alexakis. That doesn't mean I won't buy it, it just means I'm taking a watch and see attitude. As to the other members of Everclear, well, Craig Montoya has co-formed a band named Tri-Polar while Greg Eklund has co-founded another band, the Oohlas. I can't testify to either of them yet, but I intend to check them out in the near future. Consider yourself warned.

The Middle East Buddy List

2006-08-12T12:41:00.000-04:00

Praise the folks at Slate. They've done it again. I wish I'd had this for use in my last class - it might have saved me an hour of my life trying to explain things. Huzzah!

The Various Deaths of St. Sebastian

2006-08-07T01:46:00.000-04:00

To quote the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Roman martyr; little more than the fact of his martyrdom can be proved about St. Sebastian. In the "Depositio martyrum" of the chronologer of 354 it is mentioned that Sebastian was buried on the Via Appia. St. Ambrose ("In Psalmum cxviii"; "Sermo", XX, no. sliv in PL, XV, 1497) states that Sebastian came from Milan and even in the time of St. Ambrose was venerated there. The Acts, probably written at the beginning of the fifth century and formerly ascribed erroneously to Ambrose, relate that he was an officer in the imperial bodyguard and had secretly done many acts of love and charity for his brethren in the Faith. When he was finally discovered to be a Christian, in 286, he was handed over to the Mauretanian archers, who pierced him with arrows; he was healed, however, by the widowed St. Irene. He was finally killed by the blows of a club. These stories are unhistorical and not worthy of belief. The earliest mosaic picture of St. Sebastian, which probably belongs to the year 682, shows a grown, bearded man in court dress but contains no trace of an arrow. It was the art of the Renaissance that first portrayed him as a youth pierced by arrows. In 367 a basilica which was one of the seven chief churches of Rome was built over his grave. The present church was completed in 1611 by Scipio Cardinal Borghese. His relics in part were taken in the year 826 to St. Medard at Soissons. Sebastian is considered a protector against the plague. Celebrated answers to prayer for his protection against the plague are related of Rome in 680, Milan in 1575, and Lisbon in 1599. His feast day is 20 January.

Anonymous Fresco (Twelfth Century)

Anonymous Fresco (Fourteenth Century)

Anonymous (Fourteenth Century)

Anonymous Tritych (Fourteenth Century)

Hans Paur (1472)

Sandro Boticelli (1474)

Andrea da Murano (1475)

Andrea Mantegna (1480)

Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (Fifteenth Century)

Vittore Carpaccio (Late Fifteenth to Early Sixteenth Century)

Anonymous (Fifteenth Century)

Alonso Sedano (Fifteenth Century)

Albrecht Dürer (1505)

Andrea Boscoli (Sixteenth Century)

Anonymous (Mid-Sixteenth Century)

Domenicos Theotokopoulos detto el Greco (1580)

Tanzio da Varallo (1620s)

José Leonardo (1635)

George de La Tour (Late Seventeenth Century)

François Guillaume Ménageot (Eighteenth Century)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1850s)

Gustave Moreau (1869)

Gabriele Smargiassi (1892)

Adolphe Marie Timothee Beaufrere (Late Nineteenth/Early Twentieth Century)

Odilon Redon (1910)

Egon Schiele (1915)

1968

James Belton Bonsall (1975)

Keith Haring (1984)

Xavier Cortada (2000)

Niels Osthorst (2002)

The Mother of All St. Sebastian Sites.

The Various Birth(s) of Venus/Aphrodite

2006-08-04T00:03:00.000-04:00

There are few new ideas. Rather, human change, especially in the fields of art, philosophy, and theology, is the product of reinterperting old themes using new mediums and cross-referencing old (and often ancient) ideas. Consider:

Attic Red-Figure Vase (Fifth Century, BCE)

Graecia Ludovisi Throne (Fifth Century BCE)

Terracotta Statue (Fourth Century, BCE)

Attic Pelike (Fourth Century, BCE)

A Pompeiian Villa (First Century, CE)

Sandro Botticelli (1483)

Titian (1525)

Paul Reubens (1636)

Alexandre Cabanel (1863)

Adolphe-William Bouguereau (1879)

Odilon Redon (1912)

Salvador Dali (20th Century)

Salvador Dali (1970)

Andy Warhol (1984)

Dune

2006-08-01T22:39:00.000-04:00

I can't speak for other readers, but I personally believe that Frank Herbert is one the big eight science fiction writers (along with Issac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Orson Scott Card, Aldous Huxley, and George Orwell) who transcend the genre to such a point that literate men and women of virtually all spheres of life in the developed world have a pretty good chance of having heard of them. How? In the simplest of terms, they address contemporary (and indeed, historically universal) themes from politics, economics, and society. In other words, to a humble political scientist like me, well, they're heavenly.

Back to the point. While Herbert wrote a plethora of excellent books, it is his Dune series that warrents series note: in them he traces thousands of years of human politics and economics. Originally he intended (or so we believe based on his notes) to write eight novels, but when he died in 1986, he left us with only six - the anguish of his readers can only be imagined. Well, his son has at last taken up the torch and begun to fill in the gaps - both in terms of writing prequels to the original novels (I have read the works on the so-called Butlerian Jihad, a pan-galactic war between human beings and sentient machines - not Matrix-esque at all, if you're wondering) and in terms of finishing Herbert's original run. In preparation for the concluding novels, I have decided to reread the originals.

Well, as I read Dune I was struck by the extent of the political analysis and discussion, the richness of the economic and ecological commentary, and so forth, and I realized a man could easily teach a course in introductory political economics built just on Herbert's work. And I decided to share with you a few of the quotes from the book that I found the most telling. Now, don't get me wrong, these ain't a substitute for reading the whole thing. Think of them as bait. To get you to read. The book(s).

Page 9

The old woman said: "You've heard of animals chewing off a leg to escape a trap? There's an animal kind of trick. A human would remain in the trap, endure the pain, feigning death that he might kil the trapper and remove a threat to his kind."

Page 30

"Grave this on your memory, lad: A world is supported by four things . . . the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the righteous and the valor of the brave. But of these are as nothing . . . " She closed her fingers into a fist. ". . . without a ruler who knows the art of ruling. Make that the science of your tradition!"

Pages 138-139

Kynes looked at Jessica, said: "The newcomer to Arrakis frequently underestimates the importance of water her. You are dealing, you see, with the Law of the Minimum."
She heard the testing quality in his voice, said, "Growth is limited by that necessity which is present in the least amount. And, naturally, the least favorable condition controls the growth rate."

Page 321

The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future.

-from "Collected Sayings of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

Page 371

"Hawat's a dangerous toy," Feyd-Rautha said.

"Toy! Don't be stupid. I know what I have in Hawat and how to control it. Hawat has deep emotions, Feyd. The man without emotions is the one to fear. But deep emotions . . . ah, now, those can be bent to your needs."

Page 401

You cannot avoid the interplay of politics within an orthodox religion. This power struggle permeates the training, educating and disciplining of the orthodox community. Because of this pressure, the leaders of such a community inevitably must face that ultimate internal question: to succumb to complete opportunism as the price of maintaining their rule, or risk sacrificing themselves for the sake of the orthodox ethic.

- from "Muad'Dib: The Religious Issues" by Princess Irulan

Page 428

"There are men here who will hold positions of importance on Arrakis when I claim those Imperial rights which are mine," Paul said, "Stilgar is one of those men. Not because I wish to bribe him! Not out of gratitude, though I'm one of many here who owe him life for life. No! Because he's wise and strong. Because he governs this troop by his own intelligence and not just by rules. Do you think me stupid? Do you think I'll cut of my right arm and leave it bloody on the floor of this cavern just to provide you with a circus?"

Page 451

"The city people do seem eager," Stilgar said.

"Their hate is fresh and clear," Paul said. "That's why we use them as shock troops."

"The slaughter among them will be fearful," Gurney said.

Stilgar nodded agreement.

"They were told the odds," Paul said. "They know every Sardaukar they kill will be one less for us. You see, gentlemen, they have something to die for. They've discovered they're a people. They're awakening."

PS - If you've seen Dune the movie, well, don't judge the masterpiece based on that moderate fiasco. That's not to say its a bad movie, per say, only to say that its an attempt to deal with what may be one of the two or three most complicated pieces of fiction written in the last couple decades in around three hours. Don't see it till you read it. I mean, if you haven't already seen it. Whatever.

All quotes are from:
Herbert, Frank (1990) Dune. Ace Books, New York.

De Novo Dahl

2006-07-30T15:35:00.000-04:00

I know its been awhile since I recommended a musical ensemble. Frankly, I haven't had the opportunity to seek out new groups recently, much to my very distinct personal anguish - that said, last night I went with some pals to Barley's - a long time haunt of mine which I have, in the last year and a half or so, neglected. We went to hear music and drink yummy beverages. And did we ever.

Well, at one point during the evening several men and one red-headed woman climb up on stage. They calmly set up their instruments and then, well, they strip down. That's right. They take off their street clothes to reveal what I can only describe as 1920's-style swimsuits. You remember those, from all the Disney cartoons. Or from living in the 1920s. Yeah.

Come to find out, these people were a band, not roadies who had escaped early Twentieth Century Myrtle Beach through the manipulation of bicycle parts and a time-space interspersion. Not only that, but the Nashville rock band named De Novo Dahl, who seem to be going for the 1950s-1960s create-a-memorable-visual-impact-to-reiterate-the-auditory-impact-thing (their myspace page refers to the Beach Boys as a significant influence), kinda' rock. Okay, they don't kinda' rock. They friggin' straight up rock.

Let me describe the music. Hmmm. Well, for me, at least, they have the feeling of Modest Mouse or Franz Ferdinand blended with Weezer. No, no, that's not enough. Throw in pretty much everything awesome about the more poppy 1970s and 1980s super-groups, you know, when they were exploring what the synthesizer and electric keyboards could do without any self-restraint - energy over subtlety - not to say that they aren't capable of incredible subtlety, but their electric instrumentation has a kind of youthful exuberance, the feeling we all got when the synthesizer was new and warranted real experimentation, not just (sigh) sampling.

Okay, I'm not really getting where I want to get. Let me put this differently.

Listening to De Novo Dahl is like taking a class on the history of rock and roll. If you dig the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Buddy Holly, the Doors, Queen, U2, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Nirvana, Everclear, Incubus, the Dave Matthews Band (circa Crash), Weezer, Franz Ferdinand, Modest Mouse, and OKGo all blended together with a hint of the blues and a little seasoning of Janis Joplin, well, get ready. Cause you will freak out and scream as soon as you hear De Novo Dahl. If you demand less cerebral musical experiences or rock that doesn't send your brain on a goosechase as you seek to pigeonhole them, well, tuff. Spelled with two "f"s on purpose.

Seriously though, this band is worth listening to - I personally have already ordered their first album, Cats & Kittens and I believe, without a single qualm, that De Novo Dahl is going to be huge. Their stage presence combined with the exemplary quality of their music and lyrics demand as much. I say, get in while the gettin's good, so you can brag to your friends about your music savvy once they start buying De Novo Dahl's albums in 2008. Listening to them play, especially live, is like opening your trick-or-treat bag as a kid - all bright colors and sugar rushes. So awesome.

But what am I saying? You don't want to read my blither-blather, you want want links. Well, let's see what we can do.

1. De Novo Dahl - Their homepage - it seems to be going through a renovation right now, but there is still a list of upcoming concerts and a small but downloadable collection of yummy mp3s.

2. MySpace.com - As with all myspace pages, the utility of this site lies largely in its music samples - all of which are, sadly, repeats of their homepage - except for "Be Your Man." Whichever of the above sites you hit, though, you should definitely lead this party off with "Subject of the Kill." Delicious.

3. theory 8 records - De Novo Dahl's publishers. Not the most dramatic site, by any means, but it has some stuff worth perusing.

4. WOXY Lounge Acts - A 23 minute interview/performance. Yummy.

As for reviews and interviews, well, I gott'm.

1. The Tennesseean
2. Rainydawg Radio
3. You Ain't No Picasso
4. MetroPulse
5. Dusted Magazine
6. Hybrid Magazine
7. Carrie Neumayer

Ahhhh. . . refreshing.

Sarah Vowell

2006-07-27T01:38:00.000-04:00

So, there I was, checking the Technorati website to see who had and had not linked to us over at Hillbilly Savants - its been awhile since I updated said list, cause, you know. Dissertation.

Whatever.

So, one of the blogs I found was, bizzy-zizzy, this one - Jape's Japes. It is pretty cool - from what I can tell the author and his family have recently moved to Southwest Virginny - goodtimes. Well, that said, in a recent blog, he scrawled out this exciting quote:

Why I love Sarah Vowell.

I know. Nothing dramatic. But there was empathy, and has to count for something. Well, I clicked on the associated link and yes, it led me to a "letter" from Ms. Vowell to a dead Senator. Intriguing.

Here's the part where I go off. Sarah Vowell? Easily one of the best writers and storytellers alive. And, while I have written blog entries about the absolute best radio program currently in production, This American Life, well, Jape made me realize that yeah, I have been remiss. Ms. Vowell deserves her own, full-scale entry.

By the by, I should tell you what I love about Sarah Vowell. First, she is so cynical and sarcastic and caustic that it reminds me of Arab mythology. That's right. Arab mythology. According to traditional Arab beliefs (at least in some states - according to stuff I read once somewhere - probably) human beings were made, by the Deity, from the earth, the Jinn (Genies) were made from fire, and angels were made from light. Kinda' cool - vaguely alchemical. Anyway, if this is and/or were the case, I would merely say this: Sarah Vowell was made from acid. Like the Aliens.

Oh, and Abraham Lincoln's DNA.

Long story. Read enough of her stuff, or what the extra features from Disney's The Incredibles. Whatever.

Regardless, he is brilliant, hilarious, and simply cutting. When I finish my PhD, get a teaching job, and once more have the opportunity to write for the sake of art, well, I can tell you she is definitely going to be that person that people are all like, dude, you write like her. Which is nice. Her understanding of history and politics is equalled only by the degree to which she is in touch with American society - pop and otherwise. She writes, and speaks, with incredible sincerity. I have, quite literally, had to stop the car from laughing too hard at her monologues on multiple occasions, and I have cried, just a little, listening to the same artistic medium. Is she a raving liberal? Yeah, she is. But she was also born in Oklahoma. I don't know how that balances things out, but it does - quite enough that my moderate, fence-rail-sitting sensibilities are never rankled.

I do go on. Well, here are some links for you. First and foremost, you have to hit up This American Life (Wikipedia throws us this bone with a list of most of her appearances). Just scroll down through the list of old shows - you'll find Sarah's name coming up over and over again. Other samples of Sarah's storytelling include this excerpt from NPR, this Hearing Voices special,

Looking for essays and other written work? Well, of course you can check out her books, but if you're in the mood for something more immediate, I recommend this obituary from Timothy McSweeney's (for Tom Landry), a whole slew of essays from Salon, and her wry op-ed work at the New York Times.

As for interviews, dig this one from Identity Theory, great jonx from The Daily Show, this one from Survival Kit, a dollup from Powell's, and of course this one from Barnes & Noble's Meet the Writers.

[Pause for drama.]

You're addicted now, aren't you? Its just like Nancy Reagan warned us - you taste the good stuff and you'll sell your Aunt Flo to get more. That's a vague reinterpretation, of course. Anyway, you're gonna' want to know if she's coming to your town, right? Well hit her lecture agent over at Steven Barclay Agency. . . they'll tell you when she's coming to your town. If you're on the coast. Cause mainly, that seems to be where she goes. Big water.

This is just crazy.

In conclusion, I would like to make one more point - Sarah Vowell the contemporary manifestation of the spirit-being that formerly was constituted in Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain. Awesome.

The Best Dramas Ever Made

2006-07-24T23:27:00.000-04:00

To deal with the angst of losing my laptop and all its data and the simultaneous boredom produced by my rush-job spreadsheet re-writing, I have turned to my truly excellent "DVD" collection and, specifically, to my collection of fine political dramas. I want to share them with you because, well, you deserve it. May my pain, coupled with my political genius, brighten your pitiful lives.

Figure 1. Delta Tau Chi House - intended, according to Director
Landis and Writers Ramis, Kenney, and Miller, to be a discrete
reference to Descartes

I. Animal House - A commentary on Machiavellian and Hobbesian politics, with a Marxian class-relations theory twist, set satrically on an early 1960s college campus - just before the full blossom of mid-Century American revolutionary and progressive movements. Some scholars have suggested that the chief antagonists are all based on historical figures - Dean Vernon Wormer, for instance, represents (depending upon the analysis) Louis the XVI of France, George the III of the United Kingdom, or Stalin, while Douglas Neidermeyer is manifestly a symbolic manifestation of imperialist lackeys of all variants (see in particular James P. Witherspoon's esssay "Neidermeyer, the Horse, and the Flounder: A Cinematic Analysis of Franco's Spain" in American Sociology) . As to Greg Marmalard, well, the simultaneous reference jelly in his name and his own inability to perform sexually, coupled with his function as a device for and of Dean Wormer can only be described as both Freudian and a commentary on pre-Reformation abuses of the Roman Catholic church.
As to the protaganists? I will only list in brief who they are usually compared with:

1. John 'Bluto' Blutarsky: This character is obviously a realization-in-the-flesh of the ubermensch, not to mention the Romantic archaetype of the heroic, unintentional artist. He has variously been compared with Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Plato, and of course every historically significant messianic figure. A key essay? Simpleton's "Bluto: Liquor, Lincoln, and the American Dream."

2. Eric 'Otter' Stratton: Oration of this level is rare in any genre of art or literature - this magnificent performance is unquestionably a reference to Socrates, though others have compared it to the masterpiece speeches of both Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry.

3. Donald 'Boon' Schoenstein: To quote William A. Reinholt's 1984 article, "Zionism and Animal House,":

Schoenstien is both the archaetypical American and Zionist. "Boon" is, of course, simultaneously "Boone," the trailblazer whose life, fraught with tragedy, assumes higher meaning through tragedy. But furthermore, Boon represents the tragedy of the Jewish people - the diaspora, the repression of the Middle Ages, the Holocaust, on and on - yielding, ultimately, a heroic volkgeist that leads to the establishment of Israel.

Beautiful words.

4. Daniel Simpson 'D-Day' Day: Probably the most unaccountable figure of the piece, D-Day most likely represents the dialectic between imperialism and libertarianism that defines modern, developed, democratic nation-states with their powerful military-intelligence-police establishments and legal systems that enshrine individual rights. Strong arguements, however, have been made asserting that D-Day is, in fact, a sort of Count of Monte Cristo figure, alighting on the scene, creating grand disorder, then disappearing. I am, however, disinclined to agree with that particular interpertation.

5. Robert Hoover: Hoover, the "House's" resident philosopher and fraternity president (read "philosopher-king") is unquestionably intended to represent the fundamental flaws attendent with political-economic schemes that lean too explicitly in idealist bents - Platonism and classical Confucianism, for instance.

To end, I would like to note one key fact - there remains some debate over where fictional Faber College was intended to be. The official line, never mentioned in the movie, is that the institution was the product of Pennsylvanian higher education. Yet, the substantial number of Southern accents throughout the movie, as well as the presence of the Tennesseean flag during the magnificent "trial scene" seem to indicate that this is not, in fact the case. The controversy among members of the academic community is tremendous.

Figure 2. "Droz" and "Gutter," played respectively by Jeremy Piven
and John Favreau, caught amidst one of their dialogues which have been
variously compared to the greatest performances of Shakespeare's
Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio and Romeo) and Christopher Marlow's Dr. Faustus.

II. PCU: This film, set at fictional Port Chester University, Connecticut, requires far less discussion, not for lack of quality, but for lack of ambiguity. PCU is a barely covert reference to the phenomenon of "PC" or "Political Correctness." In essence, it is a classical Marxist analysis of the elite, dominating class (or classes) of all society's propensity to use formal and informal methods of domination, including propaganda (read as both liberal and conservative variations on PC) as methods of dividing the underclasses that they might be more easily exploited. To summarize, consider this Orwellian monologue by Droz:

Ok, now it's true, the majority of students today are so cravenly PC, they wouldn't know a good time if it was sitting on their face, but there's one thing that will always unite us and them. They're young. They may not realize it yet. They've got the same raging hormones, the same self-destructive desire to get boldly trashed and wildly out of control. Look out that window! That's not a protest! That is cry for help! They're begging us . . . please have a party! Feed us drinks! Get us laid! Aahhhhhh!

Touchingly reminiscent of Walt Whitman and Ghandi.

Figure 3. Van Wilder orates on the innate equality of all members
of our species physiologically and essentially, and on how our
worth as men and women can only be judged in terms of our service to the community.

III. Van Wilder: Another masterpiece - MASTERPIECE. Beautifully filmed, scripted, and edited, this film follows in the tradition of Animal House in another manner as well - it perfectly integrates contemporary music with a powerful story so epically that it can only compared with Yankovic's colossal UHF in terms of scope and raw emotion. Moving on.
My first several viewings of this film challenged both my intelligence and my grasp of political literature. I was nearly convinced, if you can believe this, that it was a comedy! Well, luckily I recently read, at my friend Doug's urging, Ayn Rand's Anthem, the libertarian tome which, mirroring Socrates' Allegory of the Cave, powerfully asserts the need for messianic leaders to force, yes force, the illiterate (literally and/or metaphorically) into the light of individualism and, dare I say it, the Weberian Protestant Ethic. Unlike many such works, however, this film grasps the need of the messiah to undergo a traumatic transformation, preparing him for the responsibilities inherent in his or her knowledge of the truth of individual rights and responsibilities.
Furthermore, Taj's exploration of himself and his sexuality, a Freudian correlation of his self-value and successful ego-expressions, is a powerful commentary on psychologically medieval puritanism of American sexual culture. Indeed, Taj's experience has been used by numerous authors as a metaphor for the experiences of minorities in every culture (Issac's "The Pump and the Pimp: Race Relations in New England"), not to mention its prominent role in feminist literature (Crutchfield's magnificent "Alien as Feminine: Feminine as Weak: Weak as Immoral; Van Wilder as a New Melian Dialogue").
As to the incredible symbolism of having the actor who played Eric Stratton in Animal House play Van's father, one must defer to the interpertation of John Hayes of Oxford University, who wrote, "Bringing Eric Stratton in as a representative of the establishment and ego-repression as the means of truly freeing Van Wilder from his own ego-repression can only be seen as groundbreaking. . . the propensity of every generation to rebel and rediscover what makes the individual the key unit of society is contrasted with the horrible truth that eventually every generation establishes, and seeks to enforce, a new puritanism, a new orthodoxy."

To say that tears fill my eyes as this film ends is to lie - I weep.

Further Suggested Viewing: Ferris Bueller's Day Off - A further exploration of Rand's individualist ethos.

Figure 4. Frank "The Tank" Ricard - an advocate of the gradualistic
"evolving" revolution advocated by Adam Smith and, of course, David Ricardo -
essential to the theories of both, however, is that the system
continue to functionfor the betterment of its participants as
a whole, rather than as a plutocracy

IV. Old School: Hedonism, apparently for the sake of hedonism, is in fact a reinterpertation of the themes first explored (in the medium of film) in the masterpiece Fight Club. Modernity's tendency to alienate and isolate is manifest from the beginning of the film - Frank, ultimately "Frank the Tank," one of our everymen, bares this point clearly - he is surrounded by wealth and the accoutrements thereof - a huge wedding with a beautiful, wealthy woman; a conspicuous automobile; indeed, he even defines his days and nights in terms of consumption ("Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.").
Coincidence, a deus ex machina cross-reference of timing and trauma, set off the explosive mix which American consumerism has prepared, and three men begin a revolutionary movement. Variously compared in the popular press to the Freemasons and Illuminati, their fraternity is far more radical - a libertine (or, arguably, anarchist) expression of discontent and rage. When their rebellion is detected by the ruling elite, the result is a standoff that leads them to argue over whether they should opt for violence or merely accept the orthodox paradigm. Instead, reflecting their American discomfort with both terrorism and guerilla tactics, they opt to lead a "revolution from within." Their inevitable victory calls to mind the great bloodless revolutions of the the last fifty years - specifically the collapse of the Soviet empire, the Ukrainian Orange Revolution, and the American Civil Rights Movement.
It should be noted that Frank's "running scenes" were intended by the director to emulate a more violent series of events - specifically the history of Washington's Army of the Potomac. When Frank nakedly runs through the streets of the college town, wearing only green shoes, he represents the chaos of the Valley Forge winter, while his cross-country chase of and ultimate fight with Dean Gordon 'Cheese' Pritchard is reminiscent of the Yorktown campaign. When pressed why he elected to use this imagery, director Todd Phillips stated that he felt Washington's use a guerrilla techniques against conventional targets only demonstrates better than any other historical episode that excessive force in the name of liberty is never an answer, even when force is the only option.

I hope you've enjoyed my informed and brilliant analyses of these movies. Feel free to faun. Please be sure to e-mail me your credit card numbers as soon as possible, that I might buy more DVDs and therefore write more world-changing critical literature.

Cheerio.

Lamentations

2006-07-24T23:00:00.000-04:00

My computer of three and a half years, my most heavily customized and personal object, has died. And taken with it my spreadsheets. Curses, tears, and wild lamentations.

I will miss you, H@lloween. I will miss your barely functioning keyboard, your incredibly loud and whining fan, my extensive collection of mp3s, and most of all, your delicate, comforting hard drive hum, like a heartbeat on my lap. Sigh.

Okay, enough. I am getting to be like Strongbad. With his "Compys." And such.

Anyways, if you want to be all morbid, look at this website. It is pretty cool, I guess. And stuff. Whatever. I think I'm going to become a goth.

Updated NCAA Football Predictions

2006-07-21T02:36:00.000-04:00

Not too long ago, I laid out all the various major preseason, NCAA top-25 forecasts. Cool stuff, right? Well guess what time it is. That's right. Its time for an update.

First, let me drop two more significant ranking sets:

CBS Sportsline Poll

1. Ohio State
2. West Virginia
3. Lousiana State
4. Notre Dame
5. Auburn
6. Oklahoma
7. Texas
8. USC
9. Florida
10. Oregon
11. Georgia
12. Florida State
13. Virginia Tech
14. Iowa
15. Louisville
16. California
17. Clemson
18. Penn State
19. Michigan
20. Miami
21. Boston College
22. Nebraska
23. Texas Christian
24. Georgia Tech
25. UCLA

And, the one I've been little girl giddy about, the EA Sports Ranking from NCAA Football 2007

1. Ohio State
2. Texas
3. Notre Dame
4. USC
5. Louisiana State
6. Florida
7. Auburn
8. Oklahoma
9. West Virginia
10. Louisville
11. Miami
12. Florida State
13. Penn State
14. Michigan
15. California
16. Georgia
17. Iowa
18. Tennessee
19. Arizona State
20. Nebraska
21. Virginia Tech
22. Texas Tech
23. Clemson
24. Alabama
25. Georgia Tech

Some interesting little changes, eh? From what I can tell, the EA poll is based more on the composite skills of the players - other polls tend to take into account the peculiarities of coaches, strength of schedule, etc. . . I dunno'. That said, I entered these rankings into my previous poll spreadsheet and have updated my composite ranking - ahh, the assimilation of the wisdom of the (highly informed) masses. Note that I'm including the weighted scores so you can see where the rankings are hmmm. . . edgy?, and where consensus is much stronger. Oh, and if your wondering how I did it, I just assigned each ranking a score (a rank of #1, for instance becomes 25, of #2 becomes 24 and so on), then simply averaged them for the mean. The system isn't perfect, by any means, but it is something. And yes, it biases in favor of those states which appear on all the polls (or nearly all) - what of it?

1. Ohio State (23.86)
2. West Virginia (21.43)
3. Notre Dame (21.29)
4. USC (21)
5. LSU (20)
6. Auburn (17.57)
7. Florida (17.29)
8. Oklahoma (14)
9. Penn State (12.71)
10. Virginia Tech (11.86)
11. California (10.43)
12. Georgia (9.29)
13. Michigan (8.14)
14. Florida State (7.286)
15. Miami (7.2857)
16. Alabama (6.714286)
17. Texas Christian (6.7142857)
18. Louisville (6.57)
19. Iowa (6)
20. Oregon (5)
21. Texas Tech (3.57)
22. UCLA (3.43)
23. Arizona State (3.42)
24. Clemson (3.29)
25. Wisconsin and Boston College (tie at 3.142857)

And, of course, other schools mentioned in at least one top 25 poll: Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah, and Georgia Tech.

Dig the colored sections - they aren't the only close calls, but they definitely drew my eye. So I colored them. So they'd draw your eye. Eyes.

My thoughts? Well, I have a couple, now that I've read quite a bit and played a couple games with the ol' NCAA 2007. Let me tell you what I think. First, I believe OSU is the most distinct and definite frontrunner of pack - they deserve their number 1 ranking. West Virginia, well, I think they'll get a major bowl, but I think that hopes may be a little high - though I would flip out awesome style to see them in the National Championship. Notre Dame, yeah, they're on their way back, and they'll almost definitely pull a top-10, but top five? I just don't think so. . . they have the makings, but with their schedule, well, I think they may be in for a bad way. Underrated teams (by at least say, five places): I am gonna' call, for the time being at least, Clemson, Louisville, and Penn State. Here is the gig - Clemson, I think, looks tough on paper, Louisville, I think, looks tuff on paper, and Adam Kennedy, well, he could kill me with a mere look - and I refuse to catch the death from offending his Penn State-loving sensibilities.

God I'm excited. And its just July.

Pigs as Ironic Public Relations Mascots Advocating Their Own Species' Consumption by Members of the Species Homo Sapiens

2006-07-20T01:05:00.000-04:00

Fact.
This is the best blog entry EVER by anyone ever who isn't a deity or TV's LaVar Burton.

I was running through my standard set of non-news links, the ones I hit around midnight every evening, and I found this entry on Yahoo's The Spark! blog. Okay, vaguely interesting, I know. Then I noticed the link to this - The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. That's right. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. I have little doubt I'll be spending hours on that site. Seriously. No fooly. Compelling literature.

And tail-gating advice.

Ahem.

Regardless, the NHDSC (acronymrific) made me think of something from my childhood that, frankly, after years first in Charlottesville and then in Knoxvegas, I had almost forgotten about.

(Singing)

B - A -Double L - A - R, D, S spells Ballard's . . . Ballard's is the JONX for me. . .

Okay. I don't remember the song exactly. But Ballard's products (straight out of Wayne, WV) dotted meals of mine for the better part of my childhood and their advertising campaigns dominated my evening television experiences on WVVA - I mean, in between the actual shows (specifically Cheers and The Cosby Show . . . sigh). And seriously, check out the packaging - its like, wow, you know it is good, because those pigs wouldn't lie. Dammit.

Speaking of trustworthy swine . . .

This in turn reminded me of another major producer of pork and pork by-products, those irrepressible folks from Salem, VA (kinda'), Valleydale Farms. Their website is worth exploring if for no other reason than their small but pimped out collection of archived commercials. Featuring pigs. Playing instruments. In celebration of the purchase and consumption of their less talented kin.

I mean other pigs.

Okay, now that I'm pretty darn deep into this blog, does the fact that our species uses cartoon images of the animals we're eating to advertise the animals we're eating freak anyone else out? Not bad, just a little, like, maybe while you read this blog? I dunno' - its just kinda' sadistic. I mean, we're basically using Porky Pig's illegitimate kids to advertise the sale and consumption of other illegitimate kids of pigs, though these have neither readily observable entertainment value nor good representation.

Whatever. Cancel.

When the war comes, let no man question whether or not I, Eric Drummond Smith, am still, and forever shall be, Big on the Pig. Peace in the Middle East.

Yee-Haw Industries

2006-07-19T02:57:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite things about Knoxvegas is that so much of its advertising straddles the line between art and commercial design effectively -this includes, of course, a high-quality poster making establishment known as Yee-Haw Industries. While most towns' local businesses are relegated to nothing more than photocopied Microsoft documents or handdrawn psuedo-grafitti, or, if they're really lucky, that one, pseudo-Jamaican style of print with three, vaguely blurred colors (yellow, red, and green) overlain with black ink, we here in the Orange City have an alternative. Knoxville has artisans.

Oh, how delightfully "guildish!"

Yee-Haw Industries has been pumping out fine linotypes and woodbock prints for ten years. By the by, a linotype is a print made by using carved linoleum as a plate. I did some in college, though I was substantially better at drypoints or monotypes - somewhere, though, I hope my friend Michelle Lester is still making linotypes. Damn skippy she had a gift.

Regardless, I won't bore you with details about Yee-Haw (there homepage has all the details you could possible want), except to say that if you're looking for something to hang in the old living room, why settle on a photograph of original art when you can order one of Yee-Haw's prints for close to the same price (well, in some instances at least).

No, ghosts of the Vienna Secession, the poster is not dead.

Dig:

Impressive stuff, eh? Functional, beautiful, art-deco with a frontier twist - Yee-Haw's work is incredible. And, all of these works are, by the way, available for sale on the Yee-Haw website.

As for other links, well, I suggest this EconoCulture interview, or this blurb from the Knoxville Museum of Fine Art (which is a helluva' small museum, frankly), where, coincidently, the folks at Yee-Haw have a show going on right now. Other neat blurbs include this one from Ptelevision, and this one from the Savannah College of Art and Design (where my pal Ahart Powers went - I need to call him - he and Christopher are the guys who went with me to see Young Guns II in the movie theater that time - you know, with the JujuBees).

Fun on the bun.

2006-07-19T02:21:00.000-04:00

Sweet Jumping Moses -

I am not a man to make fun of political leaders (ahem) but dammit. George. Seriously. Check the microphone before cussin', quit making suggestions to the president of Russia that he should submit to American hegemony, and for the love of Pete DON'T GIVE MASSAGES TO WORLD LEADERS WHO AREN'T TONY BLAIR (its not an office Christmas party circa 1954, dammit). Or maybe the Koizumi. I dunno'.

I know, Trivia Doug. I know. There are wars, there's another tsunami, there's global warming, the national debt, and Pam Anderson is engaged again. But I couldn't hold it in anymore.

George. Please. Its the friggin' G8. You're not there for fun.

Oh, and if you get angry at anyone who critiques the president, sorry. Let me just say this. Don't just say, "screw those Europeans." Maybe they aren't "fun" and maybe they can be "jerks" but they have most of the other key economies and they share 95% of our political, economic, and social values. We. Need. Them.

PS - That look on Merkel's face is pretty hilarious.

John Henry

2006-07-18T01:27:00.000-04:00

One of the best blog entries I've ever written, at least I think, is this one on Hillbilly Savants. I dunno'. John Henry is one of my heros, and well, I just hope I did him justice.

I hope.

Batman: Dead End

2006-07-15T23:33:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm sick as heck, so I'll make this brief.

Damn.

Oh, and darn.

Enjoy.
(Thanks Transbuddha)

The Glass Armonica

2006-07-14T03:19:00.000-04:00

Here is the story - its really pretty incredible.

Once there was a man named Benjamin Franklin - that's right, the womanizing, Euro-loving, scientist, agnostic, Yankee who is easily one of the five most important political leaders in our nation's early history (along with Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton). This man designed many, many things (along with being the primary advocate of a federal system of government way before it was cool - like Frank Sinatra, sorta'. . . kinda'). One of these is the glass armonica.

First Metaphor: If ghosts could sing, they would sound like a glass armonica.

Second Metaphor: If whales could fly around on summer nights in the Smokey Mountains, they would sound like a glass armonica.

Third Metaphor: If either Phillip Glass or Incubus invented an instrument that has already been invented by, hypothetically, had never been invented, it would be the glass armonica.

I could go into tons of detail as to the history and nature of this instrument but heck, everything I know I got off the net anyways, so I might as well just link you up. For some general background, well, there is always the Wikipedia entry on the subject - one of the better written, I might say, that I've yet come across. Nothing fancy, mind you, just straight to the point. The Bakkan Museum has an article as well, though it is more specific to the piece found in their collection. PBS provides a bit too, including a Mozart piece composed for the instrument which, sadly, I don't recommend. Not because the piece is inferior, mind you, but because it demonstrates just how difficult of an instrument this is to properly play.

William Zeitler, who apparently is a glass armonica professional, has his own site (which does, of course, have the requisite history) and, I should add, some great music - dig on, for instance, "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" or his own "Contemplation of the Grail" (which was on NPR) or Mozart's "Adagioa in C for Glass Armonica." And Mayling Garcia's site is a little troubling, but she does have this lovely rendition of "Amazing Grace."

I love this teaser from Dean Shostak - its quite good enough that, as in the case of Zeitler, I am tempted to break down and order some digital fun. Also, yeah, that's right, there are fish.

Not post-mod enough for you? Dig on Jan Erik Mikalsen's recording of "Weeps and Ghosts." I like it, but I know not everyone will.

What'd ol' Eric save for last, you're wondering, what is the zinger at the end? Hmm. . . check out this site called, simply, the Glass Armonica. It has all the basics (including a vague reference to the disappearance in 1999 of the guy who single-handedly began the glass armonica revolution - wow), but it also has these - some truly beautiful, haunting pieces that you're probably going to want to download or bookmark or something (especially the Oror piece)- I mean, if you have a soul.

And of course, this whole article brings up a topic that really makes me quite sad - the fact that entire types, nay, genre of musical instruments will sometimes go extinct, as surely as the poor dodo or great auk. I mean, composers wrote orchaestras for instruments that simply don't exist anymore, or that exist on such a limited scale as to be virtually a nonfactor. So I say this - sure kids, the guitar is awesome and we all love Nirvana. But maybe, just maybe, you should choose a different instrument, something that stands out as extraordinary. The accordian, the harmonica, some long, crazy, 17th century horn, you know? Ah heck, I'm just rambling now. But seriously, if you hear of any glass armonica concerts coming our way, drop me a line. Players.

The Drunk and Chinese Political Philosophy

2006-07-13T00:39:00.000-04:00

Tonight, this every evening, my friend Mr. Armbrister called me. He was, um, not so much drunk as much as very un-sober. Which is cool. Cause its Wednesday.

Regardless, as he always does, he makes fun of me for studying China at Emory & Henry and UVA. Ah, some jokes just never die. Even when they are incoherent. And stuff.

Which made me start to think - I have probably not talked enough about the Middle Kingdom in this here blog (pronounced "bù luò gé" in the tongue of the Han folk - according to the "internet").

What to say, though, what to say?

I paced. I paced and I paced and then I paced some more. I went through two Diet Mountain Dews. I cursed my television for having inferior programing options. Rage was my mantra.

Then I thought of it. I will give the great works to you that my old mentor at Virginny, the great Dr. Ronald Dimberg, gave to me.
Backstory: The single best course I had at Virginia was my first semester of my first year, a course on Chinese political philosophy of the Zhou (pronounced "Joe") and Qin (pronounced "Chin") Dynasties. We read a host of works from this period, all of which fascinated me as intellectually powerful alternatives to Western political philosophy. It was, frankly, like the first moment I used a blade to scrape and shape paint on a canvas - everything was familiar, but alien at the same time - the effect was vaguely intoxicating. I dunno'. Regardless, I sat and read for hours on end in the various libraries, reading and, frankly, re-reading these works and, I believe, they were the single most important contributors to my understanding the differences between Western and Sinic political thought. Perhaps I'm wrong.

If you liked Buddhism, you'll like -

Taoist Works:

Laozi (Tao Te Qing):
James Legge's Translation

Zhuangzi:
James Legge's Translation
Burton Watson's Translation

If you liked the non-racist, cool parts of the South, you'll like -

Confucian Works:

The Doctrine of the Mean:
James Legge's Translation
Charles Muller's Translation

The Great Learning:
Charles Muller's Translation
The Classic of Filial Piety:
James Legge's Translation
Kungfuzi (Confucius):
James Legge's Translation
Charles Muller's Translation

Mengzi (Mencius):
James Legge's Translation
Charles Muller's Translation

Xunzi:
(Unfortunately, no complete translations are available on the web. Sorry.)
Patricia Ebrey's Presentation

If you liked Jesus then you'll like -

Moism:

Mozi:
Donald Sturgeon's Translation

If you liked Machiavelli and Hobbes, you'll like -

Legalism:

Hanfei Zi:
(Sadly, no one seems to have a complete version online, so the following are mere selections)
W.K. Liao's Translation (Mis-cited?)
Assorted Translations

Enjoy.

Surname Mapping

2006-07-12T15:38:00.000-04:00

Wow. On Blogger's Blogs-of-Note page, I found a blog that, frankly, I am now addicted to - the Canadian Cartography Association's weblog. So neat, so many maps. That said, the CCA then, in its own turn, dropped me knowledge about websites that allow you to map the frequency of certain surnames in a number of countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

Sexy.

Check this part out. . . I did searches for my Momma's surname, Gatherum, and I got the following results:

Gatherums in Great Britain
Circa 1881
(The Highlighted Area is around Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline, and St.Andrews - all in Fife)

Gatherums in the United States
Circa Today

And, as to Great Britain - present- no Gatherums show up on the map - that means there are less than 100 in the entire country.

Damned, "extra-Eurasian Great Celtic Diaspora?"

Jordan Crane

2006-07-12T01:32:00.000-04:00

As I surveyed the vistas and hills of Transbuddha, well, I found this entry. Its on an artist/commercial artist whose work I think is completely, utterly beautiful. Legitimate art that harkens to pop art and cartoons without bending over entire to them. I dunno'. Anyway, check out this website, reddingk, and dig on Crane's fantastic prints in particular. . . they are completely within the average human being's price range, which is awesome. And they ain't no Moss-style photographic reproductions. Yummy.

Ant Poem (Sorta')

2006-07-12T01:19:00.000-04:00

I found this on CSL's blog - she doesn't have permanent link set-up, so I am just going to cut and paste - CSL, if you read this, I hope you don't mind, and if you do, well, damn.

(Because some lists are just worth repeating.)

Attracts and kills all household ants including: Argentine ants, Ghost ants, Cornfield ants, Pavement ants, Acrobat ants, White footed ants, Little black ants, Odorous house ants, Crazy ants, Big headed ants, and other sweet eating ants.

Weird, eh? Okay, then just dig the title -

Found poetry

Yeah, now it makes more sense - in terms of "why the hell would this be a blog entry," eh?

[This will be one that Vaughn loves and Papaw posts a hilarious and mildly insulting comment to, given their relative perspectives on postmodernism]

Joel A. Friesen

2006-07-11T03:10:00.000-04:00

Joel's attempt to keep a woman from leaving him like Cher left her Muppet-like husband Sonny. He failed. She stole one of his appliances. If only he'd compared himself to a manatee.

The Bubble Project

2006-07-11T02:57:00.000-04:00

I have been fascinated by this site for months - then, I quit being fascinated and started being not-as-fascinated. Then the maker of said site came up with a new fascinating idea. Take avant garde art and make it available to the potty-mouthed masses of the net who are too damned cheap to spend the money to print out their graffiti. Sigh, today's youth.

Also, I, personally, am a huge fan of Ms. Angelina Jolie. But that little girl? Oh, she #@%$ing hates her. She has no significant feelings, however, towards Ms. Ann Curry.

Vanishing Point

2006-07-11T02:36:00.000-04:00

To quote this site's description of itself:

Vanishing Point consists of a map of the world connected to a database fed by news coming from several international newspapers. The visibility of each country on the map results from the quantity of media coverage the country receives, so those countries that do not make the news disappear progressively.

I'd be interested in contrasting it with a map in which states experiencing wars, plagues, pestilences, droughts, natural disasters, genocides, corruption, autocracy, or even just failed political-economic development (you know, newsworthy events) show up more obviously. . . it wouldn't be exactly the opposite, but it damn sure would be different.

A great heuristic. Honeys.

Pandora

2006-07-11T01:53:00.000-04:00

Granted - Pandora was a Greek woman who personified every trait that sexist men use to justify discrimination against the "ladies." And she is the metaphor for every jerk who ever ignored long-term consequences for short-term benefits, like that time Rob Schutt bought us that damned Sambuka.

And every plot ever on SciFi network.

That's right. It radio stations. My radio stations. One for thinkin' and one for drinkin'.

Dig this.

That's right. My radio stations - one for thinkin' and one for drinkin'.

Regardless, that's the gist of Pandora Internet Radio - free, personalizable music with just enough randomness that you get that little, suprised, "I love this song," feeling.

I think you'll like it.

Snow Domes

2006-07-10T02:04:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid there were few things more awesome than clear molded plastic filled with shavings of other differently colored plastic which, when aggitated, would, inevitably, rain gently down on figures of unusual fish, or perhaps endangered waterfowl, and 1:1000 scale geographic landmarks. Which were also molded plastic.

Well, by accident the other day I found this site. So kitschy, so awesome. So symbolically representative of the hyper-sanitized life we thrust upon our children. And old people. And everyone else.

That said, I stand inspired. Dig.

The-Family-Business.
Mielke.
Miriam.
Random-French-Person-or-Persons.
Random-Japanese-Person-or-Persons.
Zito.

Music for Writing

2006-07-07T13:39:00.000-04:00

For those of you who know me, you know that when I write for any length of time, I listen to the same song for hours at a time - it helps me go "Zen," you know, find my rythym and really settle in, and it helps me keep a lyrical rythym that (sometimes) makes my work flow just a little nicer. Unless it has to be edited forty-five times at the behest of four other people.

But I digress.

Just below this entry you can see, no doubt, two things. One is a tapir. Pay no attention to that. Second is what I have written over the last two days. Its painful, isn't it? Yeah. I love political science. Anyway, since I haven't been online for awhile, well, I figured I should post something, though admittedly my list of influences is low, to say the least. Then I thought, hell, why don't I tell people what I've been listening to. So here it is:

1. Jake Jones and the Gold Front Boys: "Southern Sea Blues"

Honest answer? I don't know anything about Jake Jones, and I know even less about the Gold Front Boys. But this song, wow. It makes me happy - like I'm in the car, going 60 miles an hour on a sunny day through backwoods towns where Cheerwine and unusual ginger ales can be got on the cheap at stores where people still have accents.

2. The Bare Naked Ladies: "Too Little, Too Late" (All I can find is a clip - for $0.10 you can buy it. Cheap b@$#@%&s.)

Wow - one of the greatest albums of all time, BNL's Maroon is chock full of the kind of music that makes you have faith in the ability of rock and roll to produce music you can appreciate both for its quality and its toe-tapping, um, -itude. This song, wow, every break-up since Maroon came out I cranked this one up, and, of course, whenever I found myself generally depressed, etc. . . ah, meloncholia.

3. Citizen Cope: "The Son's Gonna' Rise"

This one, from The Clarence Greenwood Recordings, wow, fantastic. Another uplifting, beautiful, tune, though not one with as much history as the old BNL piece above. And no, the spelling isn't wrong - this song is, at least in as far as any bluesy, jazzy, not-preachy piece can be, a Christian song. That's right. I know, I know. Everyone is surprised, saying things like "Eric, what about Deinonychus?" Whatever. Its all cool. I am still your favorite non-literal interpertist, I just like good music that actually gets at the real meaning of the religion: you know, hope, faith, universal (non-racist, sexist, nationalist, etc.) love, and service to humanity. Regardless, back to the song, I like to think of it as a contemporary Pilgrim's Progress sort of piece - with as many personifications so much as a sort of wierd reverse personification.

Nevermind.

4. N.E.R.D: "Rockstar"

Yes. I listen to techno-rock-rap-a la-Linkin Park. You go to hell.

Also, there's a deinonychus.

Dissertation: Namibia and Botswana

2006-07-07T13:22:00.000-04:00

Dudes and Dude-ettes:
Honestly, I don't have much for you today - I have to apologize, I know I've been giving you precious little to mull over, chew on, etc. My dissertation work has shifted from the stage of data acquisition to the stage of writing, at least for the near future, and that means I shift from marking up spreadsheets and browsing the web to writing, as I do, for eight to twelve hours a day. That means I don't have much time to interact with the world in such a manner, shape, and/or form as to really blog much. As the say in Argentina, lo siento.

You don't believe me, do you? Well, dig this - after I read and annotated the complete constitutions of both Botswana and Namibia (and they are way longer than that of the good ol' US of A) I wrote the following (useless to you, probably) mess:

Institutional Arrangement of the Branches of
Government and the Legislative Process

Contrasting and comparing any two states’ formal institutional arrangements is a problematic task in the contemporary age – the American constitutional model, with its complex system of checks and balances has made its mark on the institutional systems of many states hoping to avoid slipping from republic or democracy into tyranny. Namibia and Botswana are, as shall shortly be made clear, no exception to this rule. In order to deal with the inherent complications in this task, I have divided this section of my study into three subsections. First, I will review the formal institutional arrangements of Namibia. Second, I will review the formal institutional arrangements of Botswana. Finally I will list and explain the fundamental differences between the two, commenting on the theoretical implications of each.

Also, in an additional note, for the first two subsections below, citations are to the relevant elements of the various nation-states’ respective constitutions.

Namibia

Namibia’s political system is divided into three independent branches whose relation to one another is very similar to that of the United States of America. One corner of the Namibian political pyramid, that of the executive branch, is built around a president. (Chapter V, Article 27, Paragraph 1). The president attains office through direct election by at least 50% of the voting population – failure to achieve 50% in the final vote necessitates additional, succeeding ballots (Chapter V, Article 28, Paragraph 2, Sections a, b, and d). The president’s term of office is five years (Chapter V, Article 29, Paragraph 1) – originally there was a two-term limit, but recently the National Assembly amended the Constitution to allow a third term (First Amendment). The president of Namibia is ineligible for prosecution during office, but if impeached by the National Assembly (Chapter V, Article 31) is eligible for criminal (but not civil) charges with regards to the basis of the impeachment.

Namibia’s president has a number of key responsibilities. Not only is the president the commander-in-chief of the Namibian military and police forces, he or she is additionally the head of government, that is to say the head of the bureaucracy. He or she is also responsible for reporting the state of the nation at least once a year to the parliament, specifically during the budgetary process. On the international front the president also has the power to accredit (or fail to accredit) diplomatic personnel and is responsible for negotiating and signing (though not ratifying) interstate agreements. The president also has the ability to establish new agencies and appoints the Prime Minister (the chief of parliamentary procedure in the cabinet), the various ministers and deputy-ministers (that is to say the administrators of the various ministries and members of the Cabinet), the Attorney-General, and so on, as well as the members of the various courts and other commissions (including the heads of the military and police forces and prison system) (Chapter V, Article 32).

Aside from the ability to write and submit new legislation to the parliament, the president has two other key legislative powers. First, he or she can nominate up to six ex officio members of the National Assembly and, quite significantly, has the right to propose legislation to the parliament directly (Chapter V, Article 32, Section c and Chapter VII, Article 46, Paragraph 1). Second, and far more significantly, the president has the ability to veto (that is to say “withhold assent”) from any piece of legislation passed by the National Assembly by less than two-thirds of its full membership (Chapter VII, Article 56). An interesting alternative to this, in some cases at least, is the president’s ability to send the legislation to the High Court (discussed below), for consideration in terms of constitutionality (Chapter VII, Article 64, Paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4) – the effect is definitely not an abject veto, but potentially a way around the 2/3^rds override rule in at least some cases.

The cabinet, it should be noted, beyond merely being an advisory and administrative tool, also has the power to initiate bills for submission to the National Assembly (Chapter VI, Article 40) – though the significance of this point in light of the president’s similar power is easy to overstate.

The National Assembly of Namibia constitutes that nation’s legislative branch and primary budgetary-approval organ (Chapter VII, Article 63, Paragraph 1). Specifically, it is a unicameral body made up of seventy-two members whose membership is elected directly by the public using a proportional system (Chapter VII, Article 44 and 46, Paragraph 1 and Article 50). Voting in this body is done, for everything save constitutional amendments, using a simple majoritarian method (Chapter VII, Article 67). Members of the National Assembly can only be removed from office either due to unfitness or through a sentence or commission of guilt in a felony case, or if they take a conflicting position in another assembly or body of government, if they miss sittings of the Assembly for ten consecutive days without having received special leave, or, of course, if they are voted out. The chief of parliamentary procedure in this house is a speaker chosen from among the their numbers (Chapter VII, Article 51).

In the face of Namibia’s strong presidency some, though limited, checks were established in the Constitution. For instance, any person or persons appointed to any position in the government and/or Cabinet may be terminated from their office by a 2/3^rds vote of parliament (Chapter V, Article 39). Also, the National Assembly has the right review, consider, and criticize any action of the president if 1/3^rd of representatives desire to do so, and further they have the right to overturn any action of the president that is otherwise within his or her prerogative with a 2/3^rds vote (Chapter V, Article 32, Paragraph 9). The National Assembly furthermore has the power to ratify (or fail to ratify) any international agreement negotiated and signed by the president (Chapter VII, Article 63, Paragraph 2, Section d).

One of the most interesting elements of the Namibian political arrangement is the ability of the president to dissolve parliament, ostensibly on the advice of the cabinet (Chapter VII, Article 56). This constitutes a sort of executive no-confidence vote. In essence this process allows the president to, potentially, take advantage of changing political circumstances, but not without consequence to his or her person – should the president dissolve parliament, his or her term comes effectively to an end and the president must, along with parliament, stand for reelection immediately. While this principle is relatively common among traditional parliamentary systems, it is far less common among presidential systems in which the legislative body is, as in this case, more than a mere rubber stamp.

The Namibian judiciary is a fully independent judiciary composed of three key levels – the Supreme Court (which has original jurisdiction on constitutional matters and is composed of a Chief Justice and at least three other presiding justices – the number of presiding justices may change over time and in response to unique necessities), a High Court (which is, in essence, a sort of national appeals court and which consists of a Judge-President and an indeterminate number of other presiding justices), and the various lower courts of Namibia which are nothing more than simple district-based courts (Chapter IX, Article 78). As discussed above, justices are appointed by the president of Namibia and may be prevented from attaining or remaining in office through a 2/3^rds vote of parliament.

The boundaries of regional and local governments in Namibia (again, a unitary state) are delimited by a body known as the Delimitation Council, an inter-branch organization consisting of a judge from either the Supreme or High Court and two presidential appointees. Each region is then afforded a regional council whose composition is determined by election (one representative per constituency in the region, with each region being made up of no less than six and no more than twelve constituencies). Each regional and local government has the right to both raise revenue and exercise whatever powers are designated to them by congress and the members of these various units are elected democratically by their inhabitants (Chapter XII).

Namibia also has an interesting consultative body known as the National Council that acts as a go-between agent between regional and national organs of government. Members of the National Council are appointed by the various regional councils for a period of six years – a Chairperson, elected from within their numbers is their head of parliamentary procedure (Chapter VIII, Article 71, Paragraph 2 and Article 73). This body has four primary functions. First, it reviews all legislation passed by the National Assembly and comments on it before it is formally provided to the presidency. Second, it reports on the conditions and opinions of the various regions as bodies to the National Assembly. Third, it has the power to recommend legislation to the National Assembly, and, finally, the National Council may conduct research and investigative efforts if so empowered by the National Assembly (Chapter VIII, Article 74). In the process of reviewing legislation, it may recommend to the president that said legislation is unconstitutional or should be vetoed and, alternatively, it may send the legislation back to the National Assembly with one or more amendments recommended.

Botswana

The executive power of Botswana lies in the president and his or her cabinet. Rather than, as in the case of most presidential systems, being elected by the general population, the president of Botswana is elected by the National Assembly (the lower house of the Botswanan legislature) (Chapter IV, Part I and III). The president, it should be noted, may serve no longer than an aggregate of ten years and, should any circumstance arise that would make him or her no longer a valid candidate for parliamentary service, must withdraw from office. Also, in the event that parliament dissolves for any reason, the president must stand for reelection at the hands of the new parliament (Article 34, Paragraphs 1, 2, and 3).

All this said, in the exercise of power, the president is functionally independent of the parliament which appoints him (Article 47, Paragraph 2) – though, it should be said, parliament may transfer any executive powers it wishes to other offices (Article 47, Paragraph 3). Two key and fundamental exceptions to this parliamentary prerogative, however, exist. One is the president’s exclusive right to the supreme command of Botswana’s military forces (Article 48). The other is the president’s exclusive right to introduce bills having to do with taxation, revenue creating, budgetary payments, and debt (Article 88, Paragraph 1). The president of Botswana also has the “prerogative of mercy”, that is to say the right to pardon criminal offenses and/or to substitute a less severe form of punishment than that imposed by the criminal process (Article 53).

Of course, the Botswanan president cannot be presented with criminal while serving in office, yet upon the cessation of his or her office, the president may be charged accordingly with crimes of which he or she is accused of committing during the period of his or her tenure (Article 41, Paragraphs 1 and 2).

Botswana’s presidential veto power is particularly unusual – it exists not to prevent the passage of legislation so much as to force legislators to reconsider legislation. In the event a particular item is passed, the president may withhold his assent. Should parliament not revisit and once more pass the bill within six months, the bill fails, but if parliament passes the bill once more during that time and the president does not, within 21 days, dissolve parliament, the bill passes (Article 87).

The ministers of the various cabinet-ministries are appointed by the president (with National Assembly approval) from members of the parliament in general, though the president has the right to nominate up to four ministers who are not members of parliament who have skills or qualifications uniquely preparing them for the position (Part II, Article 42). The cabinet’s functions are, simply put, to advise the president with respect to policy matter and to further fulfill the will and orders legislated in the National Assembly – that said, the powers of the ministers are to be specifically detailed by each president (Article 50).

The Botswanan legislature is, at least ostensibly, bicameral in form, though the vast majority of power resides in the lower house, that is to say in the Parliament. Parliament is composed of 57 publicly elected members who constitute the National Assembly, four “specially” elected members (chosen by the parliament itself), the President, and the Attorney-General (who is ex officio)(Article 58). The head of parliamentary procedure for the body is the Speaker of the National Assembly, an individual elected for this purpose by the National Assembly either from among its members or, if it so chooses, from among qualified persons outside that body (Article 59). Each member of the National Assembly is elected from a constituency that is delimited and defined by the Delimitation Commission, that is to say through direct district elections (Article 62). The Delimitation Commission is composed of a high member of the judicial branch (who is chair) and a series of other persons chosen by the National Assembly who are not (and have not been for at least five years) involved in politics in either an electoral or appointed fashion (including running for but failing to acquire office)(Article 63). Members of the National Assembly must stand for reelection if Parliament is dissolved for any reason (Article 68).

The president, it should be said, may dissolve the parliament whenever he or she wishes and, in the event the president does not dissolve parliament, the the members of parliament must stand for reelection at least once every five years (Article 91). The key exception to this rule is that, during periods of declared war the parliament may delay elections for periods of a year at time, though they may do this no more than five times. In the instance of a dissolution the president himself or herself will stand for election by that body again. Alternatively, the parliament may at any time, with a simple majority vote, declare that it has no confidence in the president and his or her government (cabinet), forcing just such a reelection process. That said, four days after a no-confidence vote parliament itself is dissolved and must stand for reelection (Article 92).

The upper house of the Botswanan legislature is the House of Chiefs. The House is composed of fifteen members: the eight Chiefs of the primary Tsowana tribes (who serve ex officio), the four sub-chiefs of Chobe, the North East, Ghanzi, and Kgalagdi, and three persons elected by the other twelve members who, it should be noted, have not been active in politics for at least five year (Part III, Articles 77, 78, and 79). If parliament dissolves, the House also dissolves, though upon reconstitution only the Specially Elected Members are necessarily up for reelection. The other chiefs are up for election according to schedules set up among the various peoples and/or districts the represent, and therefore are not considered in the constitution.

The function of the House of Chiefs is elementary enough. It exists, primarily, to consider bills on the powers of Chiefs, Sub-Chiefs, and Headmen; the powers and organization of traditional courts; and the organization and/or communal property of the various tribes. The House then develops resolutions that either support, protest, or recommend amendments to legislation on these matters and provide these to the National Assembly for consideration before their final votes. Additional responsibilities of this body include to advise any ministers who might seek its opinion with regards to any subject and to discuss the implications of any executive or legislative activity in terms of its possible effects on any of the tribes or the tribal system as a whole. In other words, the House of Chiefs exists only to guarantee that the government is not ignorant of the implications of these particularly influential and powerful interest groups (Article 83).

Aside from this “presidential” system that is really a variation of the parliamentary system, one finds that Botswana has a fully independent judiciary. The judicial system of this state is composed of a High Court and Court of Appeal which, intriguingly, seem to be nearly coequal in many regards, and those various lower courts which parliament deems necessary to for the execution of justice.

The High Court is the supreme court of the land and has original jurisdiction over literally any case it cares to accept (Chapter VI, Article 95). The head of the court’s parliamentary procedure is the Chief Justice who has the power not only to determine where the court shall sit, but further the rules by which the court shall operate, though with the advise of an advisory committee. The president of Botswana appoints the Chief Justice and other members of the High Court, under advice of the Judicial Service Commission from among persons who have already held some other judgeship or position as an attorney or magistrate, or is a professor of law (Article 96). Judges of the High Court may only be removed by the president upon the recommendation of a tribunal of at least three members, all of high judicial office (current or previous), in which they are found either incapable or unsuitable (Article 97. Additionally, in questions of whether or not any election or appointment has been properly conducted, the High Court has the power to adjudicate the matter (Article 69).

The Court of Appeal is also chaired by the Chief Justice; all other justices are appointed or duly removed in a manner indistinguishable from those listed above for the High Court (Articles 99,100, and 101). It exists, specifically, as a high court, though not the court of final appeal, to rehear cases in which there is compelling evidence that error may have been made at a lower court. The constitution, interestingly, asserts that the Court of Appeal may hear cases from the High Court dealing with constitutionality, save in the instance of the constitution question dealing with the election of members of parliament (Article 105) – this in spite of earlier constitutional assertions that the High Court is the supreme court.

The constitution of Botswana makes little or not mention of the nature by which local or regional governments are established. Rather, the form and function of local and regional governmental bodies are dictated by the National Assembly, often through the guise of the Ministry of Local Government (formerly part of the Ministry of Local Government and Housing). In general, local governments are democratically elected or are the product of traditional mechanisms of election, districts are administered by central government appointees, the Ministry and its various organs coordinate between these levels.

Institutional Variations and Similarities

To begin our summation of the institutional differences between Namibia and Botswana, I would like to discuss the key point that both states are unitary in nature. Despite the fact that both states are multicultural, multinational, and ethnically diverse and despite the fact that both states are geographically large and diverse in terms of regional specialization, founding elites in both chose the unitary model – their concern, in other words, was more about retaining political stability and territorial integrity than it was about guaranteeing representation of minorities and ethnic or regional interests. Furthermore, both states have dealt with this inevitable concern through the construction of constitutionally mandated bodies – the National Council in the case of Namibia and the House of Chiefs in the case of Botswana – that have sweeping consultative powers, but virtually no ability to legislate in and of themselves. Though the former draws its membership in a geographic fashion and the latter directly from tribal elites, the effect is the same – to allow regional and ethnic interests (given that minorities in both states tend to live not only alongside majorities in municipalities but also have their own rural, ethnic enclaves) to be heard. In other words, both states guarantee the power of particular political-economic-cultural interests without a meaningful power of veto from minority political-economic-cultural interests, but with a built-in valve for allowing these minority interests to vent themselves.

As to the legislative bodies, regardless of the claims of Botswana, both states are functionally unicameral – their primary difference lies in the method by which their constituent members are chosen. Namibia’s proportional representation, on the one hand, and Botswana’s direct election system on the other, while having the potential to yield substantial policy variances, probably, in all likelihood, have not due in large part to the fact that neither state has truly competitive elections. This is not to say that the elections are flawed, but rather that both states’ legislatures have, since their inception, had only one majority party (in both cases with overwhelming majorities) – SWAPO in Namibia and the BDP in Botswana. Variance in behavior, thus, may largely, at least unto this point, be described more as a product of variance between these parties than variance between their states’ legislative institutions.

With regards to executive power, the situation is simple: Namibia has relatively strong, independent presidency; Botswana a parliamentary system in which the head of government has the title “president” and is, in effect, is a slightly stronger than usual prime minister. Institutionally this is the most important variance between the two states.

Most specifically, this is highlighted by Namibia’s president’s strong veto power and Botswana’s presidents relatively weak veto power and the direct election of the Namibian president virtually the “election” of the Botswanan president from the National Assembly. Of course, in both states the president is both head of state and head of government, not to mention commander-in-chief, and in both the president has the ability to dissolve the legislature and has sweeping powers of appointment, both in the bureaucracy and the judiciary. Also, presidents in both states are immune to prosecution during their presidencies. Ultimately, then, we must state that the fundamental variance between the power of the two executives lies in the ability of their legislatures to see them off – if the Namibian National Assembly dissolves the government, the president has a good chance of returning by popular acclaim. If the Botswanan National Assembly does the same, the odds that the president will return are slim to none (without a substantial change in that same body’s make-up).

Beyond some relatively minor variances in terms of appellate jurisdiction, the institutional arrangements of Botswana and Namibia’s fully independent judiciaries in both states, with fluid membership structures are virtually indistinguishable. Both are founded definitively in the English-Dutch legal tradition, utilizing both common law precedent and Roman code style law (though Botswana’s constitution explicitly forbids the use of common law on capital cases). Also, both states employ relatively fluid judicial institutions, assuming that special instances will inevitably arrive and unique judicial solutions should be available for dealing with these situations.

And of course both states afford both the parliament and the president the right to dissolve the elected/appointed state, though only at the cost of their own position. The result is a system in which both branches of government have a powerful threat to wave at the other, but an equally powerful reason to use this power only in the most significant of circumstances.

fin.

Pretty boring, eh? Yeah. I know. But then, I bet you get didn't even read the whole thing, so no harm, no foul, eh?

Oh, if there are typos, it is cause I haven't edited yet. Geez. This is a blog. Anything political is required to be full of errors and misleading, unresearched crap.

(Eric smiles aside at the camera, having pointed out that people who get their news only from ideologically-slanted, underresearched blogs are making a horrible, horrible mistake)

Also, there's a tapir.

Koizumi

2006-07-05T22:59:00.000-04:00

The Prime Minster of Japan, at Graceland, demonstrates his bad-@$$ air guitar methodology and skills to Ms. Presley herself. Oh my sweet jumping awesome. If only it were accompanied by a photo of George H.W. eating a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich while not-vetoing things.

Scott Vaught Loves Chocolate

2006-06-30T15:01:00.000-04:00

Bocaledonia furrybackmimus (subspecies: fecalis)

The rare and awe-inspiring "Hairy Scotty Bo," alternatively known as the "$#!@ty Bo" is here seen in his natural environment - an awe-inspiring moment never before captured on film. Watch as he consumes chocolatey products until, having attained an unfathomable sugar high, he bolts for the nearest "watering hole" where he will drink until passing out, lounging with his astounding pelt shining in the moonlight where it terrifies both women and children. This particular specimen has been tracked by the reknowned scientist Allen W. Worrell, NBC, FBN, and HorS, for over a decade now - waxing poetic, he once stated about this breed, "they are magnificent, like wild buffalo addicted to candy. . . until you've seen one rip a Wal-Mart to shreds for M&Ms and Reeses Cups, you have never known fear . . . or awe."

Hing.

Also, his pledge name was Chewbacca.

Hieronymus Bosch

2006-06-30T02:07:00.000-04:00

Time to make up for some lost "blog karma." After all, I did just publish an entry about killing animated gerbils for entertainment. Guess I owe the world some higher-order thoughts. So I don't die. Or go to hell. Or get reborn as a largish shrub.

One of my favorite artists is Hieronymus Bosch - yes, the same Hieronymus Bosch I mention below but otherwise ignore. Anyway, Mr. Bosch is the granddaddy of all surrealism, and, I might add, quite by accident. Think of it like this - Dali tried really, really hard to make us all think he was a surrealist and an eccentric. Bosch? He painted what he felt, what he the world to be like beyond his front door. And I mean that in a literal sort of sense. Sure, there is metaphor in his work, but remember, this is a man emerging from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance not in wacky, wild, and wonderful Italy, but in the devout, slightly stodgy (in the best way possible) Netherlands (some things have, by the way, changed). This man was actively trying to portray the universe he imagined existed, a universe full of demons and angels and monstrosities, all within the context of contemporary, up-to-the minute fashion and technology. Makes you wonder if we all shouldn't reread Dante's Inferno (not to mention Paradiso and Purgatorio) again in the absence of professors of literature, doesn't it?

Well, I don't want to bias your interpertation of Mr. Bosch too much - he deserves better than that. I just want to throw a couple links at you and let you check out his work. First, as always, there is Mark Hardin's fantastic Artchive page - in particular check out St. Anthony in Meditation. And, of course, the WebMuseum doesn't let us down - here I recommend spending an hour looking at The Ship of Fools. That said, I have three other sites that have collected a whole jonx-load of images - specifically a lady named Olga's web gallery, Carol Gerten-Jackson's web gallery, and the Art Renewal Center's gallery.

In particular, I think the work of Bosch is fantastic for art history and art education for one key reason - his imagery, which may be favorably called a fine arts version of Ripley's Believe It Or Not interbred with the Book of Revelation, well, it captures your attention, and not just the attention of us artsy-fartsy types. No indeed, here is fine art you can throw up on the projector screen and get high schoolers or, dare I think it, even middle schoolers to look at. Oh, they may not shut up or stop passing their notes and listing to their, um, New Kids on the Block and Vanessa Williams or whatever, but they will absorb it. I mean hell, its tough to ignore a fish devouring a human soul. Probably.

And that is a beginning.

[cue theme song to The Facts of Life]

Beach Bully Theology

2006-06-30T01:46:00.000-04:00

Dude, I was looking for an image for the post below, and what turns up? This animated gif from a Catholic magazine called Envoy. I'm a (bad) Methodist, but I can definitely say this - this is funny stuff, and anything that makes fun of self-righteous, pushy, "beach bully-protestants," well, I'm for it.

"Silly papists." Wow.

Joe Cartoon

2006-06-30T00:44:00.000-04:00

So way back in 1999, when I was in language school for Chinese at Beloit, I thought I was gonna' knock myself off. Stress was high, to say the least. But I had a high-speed internet connection and a dream. So I used both. My second Friday there (yes, I do remember it in that much detail) I was waiting for my pals Ben and Faust, and six or seven other guys (Andy, Joe, Bunny, that blonde guy who thought he was dating Jessamyn, etc.), when I decided to do a search on WebCrawler (yes, I do remember the search engine as well) for online cartoons.

This is how I found Joe Cartoon.

First, let me tell you, this site is screwed up. By that I don't mean that links don't work or the animation is poor or any such nonsense. No. By that I mean it graphically depicts screwed up stuff, but in a funny way. I can't possibly explain it, so make sure the kids are in bed then:

1) dice a frog in a blender,
2) fry a gerbil in a microwave,
3) heave lemmings (that look like gerbils) off a cliff,
4) impale-a-boss,
5) sacrifice a gerbil to the fish-gods,
6) abuse a limbless, idiot canine,
7) kick a chihuahua,
8) whoop the Rainman and his poodle,
9) spank his monkey,

okay that last one, maybe my favorite. So horrible. So ashamed.

10) follow the adventures of A.K.
or 11) study intoxicated drosophilia

That's just the tip of the iceberg, but consider those links the "cannot miss" list. Or don't. Whatever.

Oh, and those gerbils, they sound like what would happen if you genetically recombined the DNA of George W. with that of Bill Clinton. Seriously. Or the Bee. Who was a mascot. And is now a vice-principal.

Also, there's a gerbil.

Dinosaur Comics

2006-06-29T12:21:00.000-04:00

Jay Burns and I were chatting it up online and he said something along these lines:

"Eric, you suck so bad if you don't read Dinosaur Comics."

Oh hellz no. I don't suck.

This is the homepage of Dinosaur Comics. The main characters of these comics are Tyrannosaurus Rex, Dromiceiomimus, and Utahraptor. Minor characters include a car, a log cabin, and a woman.

I'm not lying to you. A log cabin.

These characters usually engage in philosophical and political discussions. They occasionally crush and/or devour one another. It is, frankly, nifty.

A guy named Ryan North from Canada writes this comic about archosaurs and log cabins and police cars and women. I think he went to Bayside High with Screech and Zach and Slater and the three pseudo-feminists.

Also if your patience is simply too inadequate to deal with "reading" comics, check out this fan film - it makes me happy.

Sea Serpents

2006-06-29T00:45:00.000-04:00

I have been to Loch Ness. Let me repeat that for you, because I really like to say it. I have been to Loch Ness. I have ridden across the lake in a boat and I have gazed down at the lake from the top of a centuries old castle. I have stood on the rocky shore of the lake and let the water just barely touch the soles of my shoes then, perhaps instinctively, perhaps neurotically, stepped four or five good paces back. I have been to a place of Monsters.

That is awesome.

All that said, I just found this site on Tinselman's blog. Yeah, there is huge (577 pages) Adobe .pdf file of a late 19th Century zoological masterpiece on sea serpents by a guy with a friggin' awesome name: Anthonid Cornelis Oudemans.

SNAP!

The only man not jealous of that name is Hieronymus Bosch - which is what I'd name my firstborn child if Sarah would let me. But she won't - and we're not even married yet. Damn.

Fatalities

2006-06-28T23:38:00.000-04:00

This is, frankly, one of the most elegant representations of the real impact of war on its participants I've ever seen. Just click the red button and watch.

Stamps of the Soviet Era: 1918-1990

2006-06-28T03:30:00.000-04:00

So, you like Soviets? You like postage stamps? You like Soviets and postage stamps???

HOLY JUMPING SWEET TEA OF AUGUSTA.

Georgia.

Yeah yeah yeah. All that said, here is a site where you can indulge your desire for totalitarian propaganda and philately. You love it. YOU FRIGGIN' LOVE IT.

Wow. Gotta' lay off the Big K Brand Diet Pink Lemonade.

Also, there's a picture of the Mongolian flag.

They Rule

2006-06-28T00:40:00.000-04:00

Before we begin, it should be known - I chose Winn-Dixie because Piggly-Wiggly, the other major hyphenated provider of groceries in these United States of America, was not available.

This one doesn't require very much commentary - its a site that allows you to map the relationships between all the people and corportations that have more money, power, and suits than you. Unless you are one of those people. Or corporations. Of course if you're a corporation that means you're an artificial people.

Damned Frankenstein monsters.

Websites as Graphs and a Band Named Phebus

2006-06-27T01:16:00.000-04:00

This website is totally awesome and also serves little to no observable purpose. Can I hear a buya?

Hit the website, enter your website (or the website of anyone else you want to map, for instance, to allow you to storm it more successfully with your, um, stormtroopers). Then wait for it. Wait for it. Wait for it.

Eventually you'll get maps something like these:

http://www.smithsbluebook.com

http://smithsblueblog.blogspot.com

Oh damn! That's awesome.

The Maker (a jonx named Sala) is, by the by, also a member of a band named Phebus - I am still considering their groove right now . . . reminds me a little of Coheed and Cambria, but only superficially . . . has a real Euro-rock feeling, kinda' like a light U2. I dunno. You can check 'm out here on mySpace.com - also, their home page is here (in German, but WorldLingo translated it pretty efficiently for me) and you can download a song of Phebus' which pretty much rocks off a link from the mapping/graphing site above here. You also might want to check out this promotional site.

Oh yeah. And there is this thing (conceptual artwork). If you're into that sort of thing.

NCAA Football Predictions

2006-06-26T19:43:00.000-04:00

Listen, I can't pretend to be a true expert in football. I consistently am amazed at what I'm learning about the game, both through the process of reading about the game and watching it, not to mention long conversations with men and women far more acquainted with it than I.

That said, I am excited about this fall. Not only do I expect great things from WVU, but I hope Tennessee's program will recover substantially.

And I have cable for the first time in years.

Regardless, I thought I'd share some research I'd done with you: the predictions of a substantial number of experts as to the NCAA final rankings.

ESPN/USAToday Coaches Poll

1. Texas
2. USC
3. Penn State
4. Ohio State
5. LSU
6. West Virginia
7. Virginia Tech
8. Alabama
9. TCU
10. Georgia
11. Notre Dame
12. Oregon
13. UCLA
14. Auburn
15. Wisconsin
16. Florida
17. Boston College
18. Miami (FL)
19. Texas Tech
20. Louisville
21. Clemson
22. Oklahoma
23. Florida State
24. Nebraska
25. California

The Associated Press Poll

1. Texas
2. USC
3. Penn State
4. Ohio State
5. West Virginia
6. LSU
7. Virginia Tech
8. Alabama
9. Notre Dame
10. Georgia
11. TCU
12. Florida
13. Oregon
14. Auburn
15. Wisconsin
16. UCLA
17. Miami (FL)
18. Boston College
19. Louisville
20. Texas Tech
21. Clemson
22. Oklahoma
23. Florida State
24. Nebraska
25. California

Athlon Sports

1. Oklahoma
2. Notre Dame
3. USC
4. Ohio State
5. Florida
6. West Virginia
7. Texas
8. California
9. Auburn
10. Louisville
11. LSU
12. Clemson
13. Michigan
14. Miami (FL)
15. Georgia
16. Iowa
17. Florida State
18. TCU
19. Oregon
20. Tennessee
21. Virginia Tech
22. Texas Tech
23. Utah
24. Arizona State
25. Nebraska

The Sporting News

1. Notre Dame
2. Ohio State
3. Auburn
4. LSU
5. West Virginia
6. USC
7. Texas
8. Florida
9. Oklahoma
10. Florida State
11. Iowa
12. Georgia
13. California
14. Miami (FL)
15. Penn State
16. Virginia Tech
17. Michigan
18. Tennessee
19. Louisville
20. Texas Tech
21. TCU
22. Nebraska
23. Oregon
24. Clemson
25. Alabama

Lindy's Sports

1. Notre Dame
2. Ohio State
3. West Virginia
4. Texas
5. Florida
6. USC
7. Oklahoma
8. Auburn
9. California
10. LSU
11. Michigan
12. Florida State
13. Louisville
14. Georgia
15. Utah
16. Miami
17. TCU
18. Clemson
19. Arizona State
20. Virginia Tech
21. Penn State
22. Nebraska
23. Oregon
24. Texas Tech
25. Iowa

and finally. . .

Street & Smith's

1. Ohio State
2. West Virginia
3. Texas
4. Notre Dame
5. Florida
6. California
7. USC
8. Auburn
9. LSU
10. Oklahoma
11. Florida State
12. Michigan
13. Louisville
14. Miami
15. Virginia Tech
16. Arizona State
17. Nebraska
18. Alabama
19. Georgia
20. Penn State
21. Iowa
22. Texas Tech
23. Clemson
24. Oregon
25. TCU

Interesting stuff, eh? What interests me the most about this is that there seems to be relatively little agreement as to who should be where. . . such unsettlement, in my opinion at least, makes for an interesting season - one full of doubt and high hopes, the combination of which leads to good football.

Being a firm believer that the more informed decisions, the better accuracy we can arrive at (sometimes), I amalgamated the charts through weighting the rankings and averaging them. This is the result:

1. Ohio State
2. Texas
3. West Virginia
4. USC
5. Notre Dame
6. LSU
7. Florida
8. Auburn
9. (tied) Virginia Tech/Georgia
11. Oklahoma
12. California
13. (tie) Florida State/Miami
15. TCU
16. Louisville
17. Alabama
18. Texas Tech
19. (tied) UCLA/Clemson
21. Wisconsin
22. (tied) Iowa/Nebraska
24. (tied) Arizona State/Boston College

Also, Alabama was ranked on only four lists, Michigan and Iowa on only three, UCLA, Arizona State, Wisconsin, and Boston College on only two lists, and Utah and Tennesse on only one list.

Before I sign off, I just want to point out a sad, sad thing. For years the Peach Bowl, one of the great classics of college football, has been sponsored by a major corporation that, until this moment, I had long given creedence as being somewhat "different" from other corporations - by different I mean willing to combine good business practices with a certain level of moral propriety, that is to say a genuine dedication to values (to the the nature of the values is less significant than the fact that their dedication to them). That company was, and is, Chik-Fil-A.

I am disappointed in Chick-Fil-A. They have changed the name of the Peach Bowl to the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. Because, I suppose, the Chik-Fil-A Peach Bowl didn't give them enough air and face time. My disappointment is palatable, not merely because another corporation has decided their marginal gains are more important than keeping a great American tradition about more than money (at least a little). Here is the letter I have just sent them:

Dear Sir or Ma'am:
I am writing not in reference to your restaurant or its products per say - I have long been a customer of your company and have never had any complaint as to the quality of food, cleanliness of facilities, or quality of service at any of the locations I have visited (primarily, I might add, in Bluefield, WV and Knoxville, TN). Instead, I am writing to mention my disappointment with your company's decision to change the name of the Peach Bowl to the Chk-Fil-A Bowl. I understand that your sponsorship of this nearly forty year-old institution is part of your efforts to make an honest profit for your shareholders/owners. That said, I have long been impressed at your company's willingness to sacrifice certain potential profits for long-term customer and employee loyalty - specifically I mention your high-quality of food and your no-Sundays policy. My father is a business man who has made certain sacrifices, though of a different type, on principle as well and I know and appreciate how difficult such sacrifices can be. Yet your company has endured through this without complaint. Yet now your company is willingly sacrificing a small part of a great American tradition for, if we are honest, likely to yield only marginal returns. I make no complaint to your affixing your corporate name and logo to the Peach Bowl's, but replacing it entirely strikes me as unacceptable and, to be frank, as money-grubbing. In a time when corporations are buying stadiums and teams around the world and franchising themselves through those institutions, I never expected yours to engage in such an act.

I hope that you will reconsider your action - perhaps it is a little thing and my concerns are misplaced, but given your company's history, I felt it warrented attention - unlike some corporations, I feel yours is genuinely concerned with the preservation of quality, not merely the acquisition of wealth. My best wishes for your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
Eric Drummond Smith

I sent the letter using the Chik-Fil-A corporate website and I encourage you to do the same - just click here and ask them to please let the Peach Bowl be called the Peach Bowl. Its not a bad company, really, it just needs its conscience "stoked."

Love the football.

Jose Guadalupe Pasada

2006-06-26T17:29:00.000-04:00

You're gonna' wanta' click on these, see them in the large. Consider:

Wow. That's the kind of stuff that makes me jealous.

Here's the gist of things - one of my favorite artists of all time is a gentleman from Mexico, circa the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries, by the name of Jose Guadalupe Pasada. Mr. Pasada was an illustrator, favoring in particular lithography. If you want a general biography, I recommend this one from the Posada Collection at the University of New Mexico - otherwise, let me share some of Posada's work in a style I can only describe as a la BibliOdyssey. In particular however, the art history books tend to remember Mr. Posada for his calaveras:

They're beautiful aren't they? I'm a particular fan of two elements of Posada's work - on the one hand how he demonstrates the universalness of humanity's essential characteristics (our differentiations are artificially and socially constructed, for the most part) and his expressiveness, with particular reference to his use of line and gesture. Sure, his work looks, for lack of a better word, "complete," planned out, not particularly spontaneous, but even amidst that it retains life - the line and form of his works aren't subjected to any sort of iconic tyranny, which is particularly astounding in reference to Pasada's use of traditional Latin and Western iconography. But I do go on.

I've got a few links for you. First, there is the Posada Collection at UNM (where I got not only all these wonderful pics but also the link to the biography above). It has a substantial assortment of images which you can search by subject, description, or number, or you can just watch as a slideshow. Be sure to watch the little calavera drag in the page options at the top of the page - he's the most adorable undead being since Casper.

The ghost.

Artchive has four large calaveras as well - most famous among them, the infinitely reproduced La Calavera Catrina. The University of Hawai'i also has a great travelling exhibit, most of the works of which are online at this great site.

Death's Head Mouse

2006-06-21T00:50:00.000-04:00

So I've been perusing old archives of different sites a lot lately - comes with the sudden, overwhelming access to the internet when I'm trying to calm down for bed, and I found this Boing Boing entry. So awesome - nothing like combining calaveras with the animated delight who is the greatest masterpiece of American popular design. Huzzah!

Oh, and for you jewelry addicts, a search on Metacrawler for images only revealed this additional gem which, um, lacks a gem. Yeah. Bottom of the table.

David Choe

2006-06-21T00:15:00.000-04:00

Rarely do I come across an artist who I decide, almost the instant I peruse his or her work, will be one of my favorites. Favorite is an important concept, underrated often, not because it is different from respect, but because it implies respect with something extra - like the difference between necessary and sufficient in science, perhaps.

David Choe is one of those artists. His work, well, it is amazing, frankly. Subtle and emotional, a mixture of delicately applied pigments, masterfully utilized composition and design, an amalgamation of expressionism and East Asian tradition with primitivism (or at least the non-Western and/or non-Modern artists who inspired Western primitivism). I find myself repeatedly comparing Choe to the man whose work I consider the pinnacle of expressionism - the great, the masterful, the utterly astounding Egon Schiele.

Choe is different though - his work has not only been transfigured by pop art, but furthermore by conceptual and neo-expressionist work - for instance his work utilizes non-traditional pigments, including bodily fluids, a development which seems to be a by-product of a stint in a Japanese prison.

As for samples of Mr. Choe's work, well, we can turn to a number of valid sources. First and foremost, of course is his home page, a well-designed, easily navigable site with a substantial collection of works of every conceivable material, subject matter, and scale. Also, check out a sample of the works he produced in prison with found materials. . . really astounding fine art made with found materials, the epitome of beauty. GuerrillaOne also has some samples of Choe's paintings.

A warning, though, to those with kids or conservative bosses or co-workers. Mr. Choe, like many expressionists and neo-expressionists, frequently portrays sexual themes, often in extremely sensual (that is to say "expressive") ways which often border on the pornographic - again, like Mr. Schiele. This isn't meant to be taken as either vindictiveness or criticism: it isn't. But his work might be taken as NSFW: not safe for work. Or whippersnappers. Trust me - I intend to own one of his works as soon as I have a paycheck that can afford a sample of his work.

In conclusion, I just want to note the Biblical verse Mr. Choe references, Revelation 22:21:

The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Coming from Mr. Choe, that's deep stuff - of course, it was always intended to be, wasn't it?

Energy Fiend

2006-06-20T23:06:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had so much caffiene and sugar, probably during exams, that you start flipping out like Cornholio on a bender? Yeah, me too. You remember when your forehead was pounding and you were like, damn skippy, what is going on? Is my forehead going to blow up? Or something else equally not cool?

Yeah, you do.

Well, this website is for you. You want to know how many delicious Mountain Dews it would take to kill you? Well, it'd take 373 to kill me. I guess really quickly, you know, all the chemicals in the system at once. How many Coca-Cola Classics? 602. RC Colas? 474. And an even 500 Sunkists. Yum!

Of course, if you're more interested in sugary caffiene than, um, caffeine-y caffeine, we, just click here - you might find out it'd take 3,413 Kit Kats to wax you. Huzzah!

Virtual Jamestown

2006-06-20T22:49:00.000-04:00

Earlier I posted an article about a wonderful book, Love and Hate in Jamestown. The other day, just randomly surfing, I found an interesting link about the same the same subject. There are a plethora of truly impressive options available - in particular a substantial set of maps and simulations, including time-scale settlement simulations and not to mention original watercolor images and their etchings. Trust me, the Virtual Jamestown site, well, its worth a couple hours of your day, especially if you're planning a little vacation. To Virginia, not like, France. Or China. Or Somewhere.

BibliOdyssey

2006-06-15T00:56:00.000-04:00

Jumping French-Canadians. I found this one earlier, linked off of Boing-Boing, and cripes and hamburgers its good stuff. In essence, the "author" (or perhaps I should say "editor") collects fantastic pieces of artwork from books and other resources and posts them. The key here, however, is that the work is just the kind of work we all should have access to (and as artists, should have already been influenced by) but have, by the nature of things, never had the opportunity to have been so graced. BEAUTIFUL stuff.

I am going to give this site, and its anonymous creator, my greatest recommendation, for what that is worth.

Thank-you for making the web what it is supposed to be - a bastian of truly excellent, intellectually stimulating, life-enriching data and images. You deserve every award this infernal electronic-communal-just-three-miles-short-of-Wonderland system can give you.

Vaughn will be pleased.

Stefan Landsberger's Chinese Propaganda Poster Pages

2006-06-15T00:45:00.000-04:00

This is one of those websites I have read and reread over and over again, ever since I was back at the University of Virginny. . . heck, I even exchanged e-mails a few times with the good professor, who gave me advice on trying to specialize in propaganda studies and writing my master's thesis (specifically that it was gonna' be tough - it was, and now I study warfare). Regardless, this website, well, its flat awesome. If you're fascinated by how good design can be used to convince good people to do ungood things, well, bam, here you go. I'm always impressed, by the by, by two elements of Chinese propaganda: its utter lack of subtlety or irony and its so-very-odd blend of Socialist realism with classical (popular) Chinese color schemes. I dunno'. I hope you enjoy it.

Historical Anatomies

2006-06-15T00:19:00.000-04:00

I love macabres and calaveras. Love 'm. Am I obsessed with death? Sure, a little. But that is probably to be expected of someone whose first horribly painful near-death experience was at the age of five. Huzzah!

Anyway, ever since I did a paper on Renaissance anatomist Vesalius for my mentor Dean James Dawsey (a truly great man, no joking aside) at glorious Emory & Henry, well, I have become equally fascinated with the artwork of anatomy and physiology. Here is a kind of art/craft that joins science and art more completely than virtually any other (even if the other arts utilize science to an incredible extent).

Well, when I came upon this website, I knew I had to add it to the ol' Blog. Historical Anatomies on the Web, you say? No, surely not! Yes, surely so! But the title, Eric, you're saying, so boring, so "humdrum." Look at the website, I declared loudly.

Whoa. Sorry. . . I was slipping into poorly written drama mode. Apologies.

Anyway, check out the site. I know its a little odd, but if you're not fascinated by the material, well, I just don't know what will fascinate you. Chief.

Factual Material

2006-06-13T18:23:00.000-04:00

Let me start at the beginning. This website that I'm about to review, well, they say some pretty mean things, and they say them while using some pretty foul language. That said, I think its awesome, even if I disagree with alot, if not most, of what they're screamin' - though I know they're using irony like a palette and sarcasm as their brush.

The site, Factual Material, is really a collection of opinions that are, in the author's stated opinions, to be regarded as fact. They use HTML in the most elementary way, giving (I think intentionally) their website that "doomsday conspiracy" look. Awesome.

They really don't seem to like the French. Hmm.

Anyway, when the kids are tucked or the boss is out of town, and you are a little bored, this site (recommended, by the way, by the instant messenger buddy info thingy of my former student, Tricia the Militia) is worth a few minutes. Beware of drinking while reading it - you'll blow soda all over yourself.

Fishbar

2006-06-12T22:38:00.000-04:00

Few things from my time at the University of Virginia warrent as much sighing and happiness as what I am about to link you to. Say thank-you preemptively (like an Iraqi war).

The Fishbar series was developed by Honkworm International, a company who I, admittedly, never bothered to find out what they did. We used to sit in my dorm room and watch them till our guts would pop.

Pop.

Well, one day Honkworm radically changed their website and I was left Fishbar-less. Then, randomly, for some unknown reason, I did a search for Fishbar. This website (by an artist named Shawn Johnson who does amazing paintings that take advantage of organic forms) is what I found.

Be warned, when you go to check 'm out, you won't quit watching till your done and odds are you won't be able to laugh just to yourself. Punk.

Love and Hate in Jamestown

2006-06-12T16:22:00.000-04:00

I know what you're thinking already: Eric, I know you read. We all know it. Why don't you review something other than a book.

I will kids, but I have fallen upon good book after good book lately and I just gotta' share 'm. I hope you'll get in the trust tree with me.

As for the newest one (which I intend to purchase for my brother and Dad in the very near future), its by a fellow named David A. Price (a former reporter for Investor's Business Daily and freelancer) and its about the first foothold of English-speaking culture, economics, and politics in North America to stick: Jamestown, (the Glorious Commonwealth of) Virginia.

Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a New Nation elaborates on the early history of the first permanent British settlement at great length, dispelling myth and romance with every page. "Bad guys" become either incompetent 'gentlemen' or just ordinary people making uninformed political decisions (clouded by inexperience, naivete, or prejudice). "Good guys" (specifically John Smith and Pocahontas, as well as several other minor players), on the other hand, aren't lauded for their mere "goodness," rather, their specific character traits, skill-sets, and so forth are elaborated upon at length.
It is Smith in particular who holds Price's attention, receiving an elaborate biographical treatment that makes me wonder if Smith shouldn't be studied as another Machiavelli or Sunzi (I intend to read his books soon).

All in all, especially with the 400th Anniversary of the Founding of Jamestown approaching in 2007, I have to say this book is a must read. It really illustrates the differences between the intended "British" form of colonialism (every man an Englishman), the actual practices of English colonialism, and the practices of other nations' colonialism (particularly Spain and Portugal's attrocities). Not only that, it does so without pretending the native Americans (specifically of the Powhatan Confederacy) were naive, Rousseau-pot-dream, Smurf-esque, anti-political, charicatures of themselves: native Americans in Price's version of 17th Century Virginia are militarily savy, political involved people, the New World equivalents, in many respects, of Greek polei.

My favorite parts? Well, in this book that's awfully tough to sort out: the entire breadth and length were fascinating. The outlining of Algonquian linguistic concepts, place names, and political structures ranks up there, as do the details of John Smith's pre-Jamestown life. Price's incredibly insightful explanation of the Starving Time (well-known to anyone who has read about or visited Jamestown), as well as his efforts to become a realpolitick scholar (having read most of the realpolitick works extant during his lifetime) also kept me fascinated. Intriguing as well is the analysis of the change in British attitudes away from cohabitation with native Americans and towards more traditional forms of imperialism as a result not of greed, but of a declining idealism following attempted genocide by certain Powhatan tribes.

Want a little more, eh? Sure. Here is a review from National Review and the official book website (which has several interesting reviews and links).

Angry Liquor Store Peepaw

2006-06-10T22:23:00.000-04:00

Robert Jones and I took a picture of this. What can I say?

We went somewhere else.

No we didn't.

Various & Sundry

2006-06-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

It was eight this morning - I rolled out of bed, giddy as a child preparing for the Christmas holiday, rushing downstairs for my treat. Today, today I had cable installed in my house for the first time in three years and the internet for the first time in four. As Stimpy would say, "joy." Needless to say, I've been online all day, rocking out. There has been little or no method to this madness - all I've done is seek out new and rocktastic sites. Let me show you what I've found. I think you'll be pleased.

1. World War II Posters: I love propaganda. I mean I straight up sick love it - that shouldn't surprise you, after all, I am a political scientist formally trained in the fine arts, eh? Anyway, this website, a product of Northwestern University, is really worth an hour or two. Not only is it incredibly simple to navigate, it is also home to detailed, high-quality images, you know, the kind you'd have covered your elementary school social science project backboard with (when printed out in full color from a Kinko's or Kinko's-equivalent).

2. Swarm: Voyeurism of a different type . . . I can't possibly describe this one in an appropriate way, so dig on this quote:

Swarm shows you what websites people are visiting, right now. Swarm is a graphical map of hundreds of websites, all connecting to each other. It updates itself every second with where people are going and coming from. As sites become more popular, they move towards the center of the swarm and grow larger. Conversely, sites that lose traffic move away from the center and grow smaller. Website traffic is symbolized with thin lines. Each time you see a line appear, it means someone has moved from one site to the other. You can gauge how many people are swarming around based on the number of lines.

According to its makers, this site is all about browsing, not searching - read "I'm bored." Plus, chat about any site you find with other bored people. Win friggin' win, baby.

3. Pulse Discharge: How my friend Jay S. Burns will probably leave this earth.

4. Altered Books: Defacing books for art?

5. Aliens and Children: Holy Sar Bradley. Kids drawing aliens. Hooray!

And my favorite (in a macabre sort of way):

6. The Lawrence Hutton Collection of Life and Death Masks: The most direction connection we have with hundreds, if not thousands, of great men and women who have fled their mortal frames is the death mask, models for artists and artisians, not to mention the occasional neophyte. This one won't take you long to look through but darned if you won't find yourself going back over and over again - this one is truly fascinating.

Occidentalism

2006-06-05T16:23:00.000-04:00

I know I don't rock out on the political on here very often, but here I go again. On my own.

I was down at the discount bookstore the other day and found a book I'd never read nor even seen before - it is called Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies (authored by Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit) and frankly, it rocks. Just as works on Orientalism explain why the West felt (and continues to feel) justified in oppressing non-Western cultures, polities, and societies, this piece explains why non-Westerners (and traditional, anti-Modern social conservatives) hate the Modern West. Not only that, it does so without talking over the average human being's head. For instance, dig this review in Foreign Affairs:

In this grandly illuminating study of two centuries of anti-Western ideas, Buruma and Margalit contend that the hostility of Islamic jihadists toward the United States is but the most recent manifestation of a long-running, worldwide reaction to the rise of Western modernity. They call the cluster of prejudices and unflattering images of the West conjured by its enemies "Occidentalism," a phenomenon that originated within the West itself in the late eighteenth century and only later spread to the Middle East, Asia, and beyond. German romantics, reacting to the Enlightenment and the rise of capitalism, expressed it in their rejection of a coldly rational Europe -- a "machine civilization," manifest in imperialism, urbanism, and cosmopolitanism. From there, similar themes appear in Occidentalism's other variants: the sinfulness and rootlessness of urban life; the corruption of the human spirit in a materialistic, market-driven society; the loss of organic community; the glory of heroic self-sacrifice in overcoming the timidity of bourgeois life. Western liberalism is a threat -- to religious fundamentalists, priest-kings, and radical collectivists alike -- because it deflates the pretensions of their own brand of heroic utopianism. Ultimately, the picture that emerges is not of a clash of civilizations but of deeply rooted tensions that ebb and flow within and across civilizations, religions, and cultures. What the West can do about Occidentalism, however, is less clear. The anti-Western impulses in nineteenth-century Europe and interwar Japan were only transitional, overwhelmed by the forces of socioeconomic advancement. Whether the Occidentalism of present-day Islamic radicals will also come to accommodate modernity is the great question of our time. Buruma and Margalit do not venture an answer, but their evocative study shows that, whatever happens in the end, it will play out as a long and violent historical drama.

Hellz yes.

Things not to miss:

1. The explanation of modernity as the separation of religious and political/economic spheres (6)
2. The explanation of the Third Reich as an anti-Western movement (8)
3. The contrast of Orientalism and Occidentalism (10)
4. The metaphor of the Urban as the prostitute (18)
5. Occidentalism as a manifestation of threatened traditional elites (30)
6. Anti-Semitism as anti-urbanism/anti-modernism (33)
7. The explanation of anti-modernism as an expression for a desire for meaning through heroic acts (52)
8. Alexis de Tocqueville's explanations of the limits of democracy (55)
9. Militarism as anti-democratic/capitalist (57)
10. The Japanese emperor cult as a flawed interpertation of Western institutions (63)
11. The comparison of Osama bin Laden's beliefs with Nazi fanaticism (68)
12. Anti-Modernism as Utopianism (72)
13. The West as soulless (75)
14. Romanticism as reveling in emotion and failure (79)
15. The discussion of anti-rationalism (94)
16. The rise of the concept of Protestant "individual conscience" (127)
17. The veil as a sign of wealth (131)

Oh snap. . . get on Amazon and rock out kids.

Basically, this work is brilliant not only because of its ability to explain the subject, but because it demonstrates that social conservatives in all states, including the United States, are children of the same monster - reactionism and anti-individualism. To hell.

Yoko Kanno

2006-06-02T16:22:00.000-04:00

I don't know if you know what I know, but I do know that I know that Cartoon Network has been at the root of many, many wonderful discoveries in my life. I won't pretend that it's prefect, but darn if they don't set this blue tick to sniffing. And stuff. For instance, there is this one show, Cowboy Bebop, that is just frigging brilliant. Combine friggin' great jazz and blues with tremendous animation and well-written plots (the kind of scifi where the scifi is a distant second to character development and theme development, dig) and bam, you got magic. Well, there I was, at the cabin, everyone else asleep, when the "cable" came up and said, "hey Eric, you bastard, guess what I got for you. I got some Cowboy Bebop. Drink up." And mansakes if I didn't slurp that magic up like a Dairy Queen chocolate shake in mid-August. Amen.

As the credits rolled I was struck by some of that magical "logic" I have sometimes. Crazy, eh? Well, this "logic," it told me to look for the band that did the theme-song. That's right, click on that little blue theme-song link. I'll wait.

Good stuff, eh? I know. I don't make this stuff up. The band listed in the credits is named the Seat Belts. Well, I though, hot dog, lets put'm on the blog. Then I get a hold of a computer and bam, nothing's easy anymore.

The first site I open is this one, which I later find out is an incredibly well-done fansite . . . samples of most of the Seat Belts' music is available for a quick listen. That said, I also find out that the Seat Belts are/were a band created simply to produce music for this show by someone named Yoko Kanno. From what I can tell, she doesn't have her own website, so I will refer you to the following. First, there's the Yoko Kanno Project . . . dig in here for a plethora of samples, and a general overview of her career (including Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade, one of my favorite movies). Second, there's the Yoko Kanno Database, with links to tons of stuff including a great discography, and then I found a Yoko Kanno interview on EX:clusive.

Last, but not least, I dug up some mySpace sites for you: dig 1, 2, and of course, 3. These bits, you should know, lean more towards the electronica/earthy side than the jazz side, and definitely more Japanese/less American than her work on Cowboy Bebop (in general), but they are still worth a listen. See. Er. Yeah.

Hillbilly Savants

2006-05-24T18:15:00.000-04:00

Just so you know, in case you've never met me, the photo stage left, that's me. Three languages and ten years of higher education and I still don't own a shirt or know how to spell "moonshine" on my jug. At least my formal hat has a tassel, you know, for faculty parades.

I know I haven't been posting at full speed recently. That should be changing soon. Reason being, we have this puppy going full trot now. I have been waiting to throw it up (ha) for awhile. . . I wanted to make sure we had it rocking really hard.

We do.

This is a website that several of my friends and I have started. Its called Hillbilly Savants and its about Appalachia and being Appalachian. Dig on this part:

This blog is about our Appalachia - the real one, not the Hollywood-stereotype nor the third-world nation-esque stereotype being sold by do-gooders, or even the neo-Romantic sylvan stereotype that Rousseau would probably buy into. It should be interesting.

I wrote that. Nifty, eh?

Regardless, check us out. We have plenty of musings, artistic, cultural, and political, to keep you busy, and we've been adding to it pretty frequently. If you're interesting in joining our loose association of literate mountain people, drop me some knowledge. Por favor.

Gogol Bordello

2006-05-24T16:55:00.000-04:00

I don't know who it was who first recommended Gogol Bordello to me.

For some reason I think it might have been Mr. Phillips.

Moving on.

I looked Gogol Bordello up online. I was tense, sweating (primarily in the "palms" region). And then, BAM. Nuttin'. I thought the Diety might have been displeased with me for doing so, for my access to the magical, mystical "internet" immediately and catastrophically ended.

Demonstrating my incredible intellectual powers, I did what anyone maintaining a blog which is obsessed with bringing fine arts to nearly seven readers. I forgot all about Gogol Bordello.

Sigh.

A month, maybe two passed (its hard to tell in Knoxville, where we have only two seasons, contruction and acid drizzle). I loved. I laughed. I danced quietly at night in the back of my house, surrounded by ancient tomes.

Sorry. I like the word "tomes."

Then one day my friend (English) Hannah and I were rocking and walking out on Broadway. Not New York. Regardless, we walked into Target to acquire bottled water and there, at the checkout aisle was a DVD for the movie Everything is Illuminated. I'd seen a preview for this flick at the arts theater recently and was entranced. So I bought it.

I watched the entire, truly excellent movie (laughing and/or crying alternatively, which is nice). I was satisfied, full to the brim with delicious happy-joy. Then, as the credits ran, a song entitled "Start Wearing Purple" began to play.

I don't use crack or meth or any other highly addicitive, exceedingly illegal materials. Not my style. But damn Skippy and $#!@@^ Joseph if that tune didn't take over my head. It was like some insane European had taken traditional gypsy music with thrash-happy punk rock. I literally was dancing. I literally was singing the refrain. I literally rewound the credits and listened around nine or ten times. Hell, I dreamed about the song that night.

This song, damnable, its like pure happiness was distilled by truly excellent moonshiners from Franklin County (the Glorious Commonwealth of Virginia), fruited with the fattest, most perfect blackberries, and then consumed en masse beside a fire three times too large to be safe.

Hell, I'm listening to this song right now, by the by, and I am seriously rocking out, much to the chagrin of the meemaw and peepaw across from me.

Oh, and my original appraisal, yeah, accurate. Gypsy ska punk. Who friggin' knew? (Don't tell me globalization doesn't have its bright spots).

Let me drop you some knowledge. I know you want a fix before you do anything else - mySpace is a quick remedy, eh? NPR has numerous giga-stimulating qualities in this respect as well. And an interview. Speaking of interviews, check this jonx from Stinky Records. And check out http://www.exeromai.com/gogol.htm. They are so rock solid it is killing me! Of course, the first comes last (Preacher Paul said) and damned if it ain't the same here - dig on the Gogol Bordello home site. . . truly interesting, tons of stuff, including numerous downloadable mp3s and links to relevant cultural sites. Oh snap!

Thomas Dolby

2006-05-11T09:00:00.000-04:00

I was on my way to work this morning when the XM delivered my post to me, via awesome.

His name, it is Thomas Dolby. You will know him only by his masterpiece, "Blinded Me With Science" if you're American.

I know I am.

What else has he been up to? Other than be forcibly deprived of his vision by potential lovers utilizing technological breakthroughs, I mean.

Well, he is the owner of the most successful ringtone corporation in the universe, which is nice (and not really as surprising as you'd think it would be).

Also, he has some new jonx coming out soon as he gets ready to go on tour. . . not the least of which is a song on the soundtrack of Mission Impossible III (which I've seen and, well, hit it at a matinee. . . if you've seen True Lies and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, well yeah, you've seen MI:3).

Regardless, if you like techno and/or New Wave, particularly techno and/or New Wave that embraces the concept of the geek, well, you'll love his work. If not, heck, steer clear. Key links include his homepage (check out the blog for samples), his mySpace page (where you will be only partially visually incapacitated by the research process that precedes practical engineering given his incomplete sample), and the Thomas Dolby Unofficial Fan Site (which has an impressive discography and lyrics setup). VH1's bio is pretty cool too - for instance, I had no idea that Dolby was responsible for the soundtrack to Howard the Duck, a movie so awful it was awesome (based on a comic character that I hear is vaguely cool - ironic in a time when irony was only appreciated when uttered by our Lord or Michael J. Fox).

Your life probably won't be changed, but hopefully your perspective on one hit wonders (in the eyes of Americans) will be. Sigh.

Yello

2006-05-09T12:12:00.000-04:00

Saturday evening Trev and I were in South Kakilaki introducting Sarah's parents to Dad, and vice-versa. It was adventurous.

Before the event, we watched the undeniably magnificent Ferris Bueller's Day Off. As it ended, and the theme music poured through the soft, velvety speakers of the cheap hotel TV, Trevor asked me to check on the "internet" for the team responsible for the movie's theme song, "Oh Yeah."

I found 'm. Cause I know how to use a "search engine."

Their name is Yello. They do, primarily it seems, musical soundtracks and riffs for DJs to build upon. They do some other things - they have online some stuff from an album. Its all pretty cool, definitely worth looking at.

In the end, though I can recommend this site for one thing and one thing only.

Secret Office Raves (SORs).

[Dancing while holding a bottle of water and chewing on a glowstick.]

The Inevitable Robot Apocalypse

2006-05-09T11:56:00.000-04:00

I won’t lie. I am fascinated by dystopias. Camus’ The Plague, Orwell’s 1984, hell, 1980s television-produced The Day After Tomorrow. Love ‘m. Call me sadistic, but it is true. Heck, even the Bible has a messed up version of the future, pulled out of a toga-wearing preacher’s nightmares: “Revelations.”

Listen and hypothetically learn. Here are my favorite simulations and/or guides of and to the inevitable obliteration of humanity – on the net.

Alien Invasion: WHAM! SPLODE! QUASH!

Meteoroid Strike: BAM!

Thermonuclear War: SQUAL!

Zombies Outbreak: ZAM! DAMN!

Robot Uprisings: ZIP!

Epidemic: POP!

Jesus: WHOOP!

Awesome: GOSH!

Also, three E’s.

Exit Mundi: DUTCH!

The Economist: STAUNCH!

Ebaum’s World: FRANCH!

Soda Pop

2006-05-02T12:37:00.000-04:00

I love soda pop. Call me an American (which is awesome), but I just flat love soda pop. I was thinking about this and decided to put together this list of links. I think you'll like it.

The Great Soda vs. Pop Controversy: That's right. Arguably the best non-scientific survey ever.

Jones Soda Company: You know how Cartoon Network saved the short cartoon? So it is with Jones Soda Company. In particular, check out their labels, Jonx.

Royal Crown Cola (That's RC Cola to the "laymen" amongst you): Yup, its 101 years old. Grab a Moonpie and kick off your Berkinstocks, you hippies.

Mountain Dew: Before it was "extreme," Mountain Dew was that nice brand of bellywasher that was invented by river in Knoxville as a mixer for the good stuff, and by that I mean the White Lightning and by that I mean the shine and by that I mean the stuff you can clean your engine as sure as your guts with. There's another site you're gonna' want to peruse, MountainDewBottles.com. That's right. Trust me, you'll read for way longer than you think.

the soda pop blog: Its pretty new, but its interesting. . . inspiring some might say. I keep thinking I should start a food comparison blog, but all I can come up with is the destined to failure "chile verde" blog. The author has another blog, the Root-Beer blog, but given that I don't like root beer, well, it gets a secondary link. Sorry Christopher.

Stephen Colbert

2006-05-02T10:53:00.000-04:00

I love political satire. I love it. I believe that I fell in love with it the first time I read Jonathon Swift's Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal, back in Mrs. Hart's English class my senior year in high school (circa 1994). I love The Onion, I love The Daily Show, and I won't apologize for any of it. In fact, I think you should too.

Stephen Colbert, formerly of The Daily Show and currently of The Colbert Report, is the epitome of satire. He is, frankly, a genius. And he is one of the bravest fools I know - I've never heard a man roast people of such power to their faces as he did recently at this year's Annual White House Correspondents Dinner - famous for its comedy, granted, but never this quality, in my humble opinion. Check it out. Trust me, it'll be the best 20 minutes of your day.

Soul Coughing

2006-04-27T13:20:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure when I first heard Soul Coughing, but I do remember when I became obsessed with them. It was my first year at Tennessee and I was in my apartment back on Gallaher View. I was eating a pepperoni pizza, drinking a Peroni, and watching Cartoon Network. And bam. There it was. A video that integrated the song "Circles" from El Oso with a Betty Boop cartoon (an intentional moment of insanity which reminded me of an unintentional moment of ultrasanity involving Massive Attack's "Karma Coma" and an episode of the original Mickey Mouse Club while playing poker with Neal, Papaw, and Vaughn G.).

My mind was dazzled.

Well, yesterday I brought up to my friend Chris how I had just ordered all the Soul Coughing CDs for my collection (I have had El Oso stolen from me twice) and how I wish they were still around (the broke up a couple anos ago, much to my eternal angst and dismay) so I could link them to my blog and actually include some content. Well, that's when he whips out his iPod and lets me dig on some of Mike Doughty's vibes. And damnation they're sweet. So let me try and drop some knowledge worth knowing on you.

First off, you should know that Soul Coughing is not unlike Counting Crows, except they were interested in far less conventional themes and their repertoire of sounds, riffs, beats, and compositional elements was radically more complex. They represented one of the most truly unique sounds of any recent music, in my opinion, and I'm stickin' to it. Point of order, you might say they are like Counting Crows if Counting Crows had been influenced heavily by acid jazz and some of the smarter European techno, not to mention a subtle, almost hidden gospel sensibility. Yeah. . . all that.

So, let me drop some knowledge, cause they're actually interesting in this case. VH1's has a pretty super duper bio, but no fun tidbits. Not a problem - like always, if you want the bonus lights and buzzers, you hit MTV. There are some videos there, which is always nice.

You all know how I'm a little hesitant to throw up links from Wikipedia, but damnation if their discography on this one ain't pretty good - again, if that's your jonx.

Now you're nerding it up; you want more and by Gawd, you'll have more. Try SCUG. . . that's Soul Coughing Underground. Neat as Wes Boggs' room when it comes to downloads, and they have a tape-sharing section. . . that's pretty groovy. Also, its a touch obsessive. But awesome.

I ain't too smart, but I know that if you want to find music that's easy to hear and high quality, you probably have to hit mySpace. Hit THIS one and THAT one THAT ONE OVER THERE. Listen to every damn song. Now. But especially "True Dreams of Wichita." A song so beautiful I can't listen to it and drive at the same time. Seriously.

As for the what those guys are doing now, I got you some more. Mike Doughty's (the former Soul Coughing lead singer) homepage is awesome - plenty of samples and one of those rare blogs worth reading. Mark de Gli Antoni has a website called Horse Tricks. The former Soul Coughing keyboarder et al.'s site is, well . . . okay, I haven't really looked at it too much, but it seems, well a little crazy - he seems to be working more on soundtracks and their ilk now - but I did watch this cartoon linked from it in which everyone chokes except the chicken. As to Sebastian Steinberg and Yuval Gabay, well, there are rumors that they've formed a band named "U.V. Ray," which I have no reason not to believe (or believe), but I can't find'm on the ol' Net. Anyway, dig around explore, yatta-yatta-yatta. If you don't find yourself a Soul Coughing fan, well, I hate you.

Sorry. That's just how it is. Jerk.

Neil Scott Johnson

2006-04-27T13:05:00.000-04:00

So there I was, in New York City, in Smith's Bar & Restaurant, surrounded by my students, about fifty assorted Northern-folk, three women from Louisiana, and a waiter named Denis from Siberia who apparently is a fan of Mexican liquor. We're debating leaving and we're debating staying, when a band starts to set up. The band's name? The Neil Scott Johnson Band.

They played Southern rockabilly country-rock.

In New York.

I don't know how else to characterize it. They're live show is great. Their recorded music, which you can hear or buy here (I have the album 5), is pretty solid - definitely worth a listen - its pretty good stuff, nothing that'll change the world, perhaps, but good all-around.

The website only has a clip of it, but don't miss, in particular, "Last Call for Fools in Love." I dig that jonx.

My only complaint is that they didn't know George Jones' "Yabba Dabba Doo," a song that might of well have been written for their style of play. Hawg wyld.

Invader Zim

2006-04-25T10:46:00.000-04:00

First, right-click to download here.

That's right. I'll wait.

Now play it. I use Winamp, you can use whatever you want. It's America.

Let's continue. I love good animation, especially if it is original, if it is smart (e.g. by Mr. Jhonen Vasquez), and more to the point, if it involves potential annihilation of the human race. Invader Zim, enter stage right.

Of course, such a thing can exist no longer than a year-and-a-half thanks to the deprediations of "network executives."

Yeah, it got cancelled. Cartoon Network, from what I hear, wants it - though Nickelodeon is afraid to sell the rights and, thus, be shown the overwhelming error of their . . . um . . . error.

Regardless, Zim is a tiny, angry, idiotic alien whose incompetence is overwhelmed only by that of his assistants and the human FILTH!!! he is trying to conquer. He has a yelling problem.

Zim's creator(s) are obsessed with moose and pigs. And meat. And gnomes. And poop. Heh. Poop.

Zim's "people," the Irkens, have a political economy and sociology which are developed far more than any sci-fi animation ever before.

Zim rocks. The animation is beautiful, really astounding. The soundtrack (by Kevin Manthei - his site has substantial music available and a solid audio interview) is equally astounding - Go to the video store and BUY ZIM. My veins demand it. THEY COMMAND IT.

Yeah, so, all that said, check out Zim. It is one of those shows worth buying on DVD - you'll watch it endlessly - we're in the trust tree.

Also, there's Ultra Peepi.

Anselm Kiefer

2006-04-24T10:44:00.001-04:00

Its been awhile since I posted the work of a visual artist and frankly, well, I'm all torn up over it. Well, I spoke with Vaughn this weekend and that reminded me of our old debates as to where the lines of expressionism should be drawn, and that in turn reminded me of the German chap who, in my mind at least, has saved painting from the dustbin of history. His name is Anselm Kiefer, and most of his work is aimed at critiquing warfare and German political culture, particularly the Nazi regime (and more particularly, the German general acquiescence to said regime at the time). His work is thick, covered, often, in found objects (tar, hay, etc.) and your just want to touch it, even as you're repelled by it - also, he has an explicit grounding in classical artwork, drawing many of his themes from European and Egyptian mythology. His two series that have moved me the most over time - his works on Icarus and his "monuments to the unknown artist(s)."

Okay, enough talking. I have put together a set of links here for you to help you get a good idea of the man's jonx. Dig:

Straight outta' the NYC we have three sites: MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art), the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art, my personal Mecca), and the Guggenheim.

The German National Gallery has only two Kiefer pieces (at least at the time I wrote this blog) on their site, but one of them is a really freaky sculpture. . . worth a glance.

The Broad Art Foundation has a great example of Kiefer's architectural style (Germany's Spirtual Heros).

As to the online museums, I recommend Artchive and WebMuseum - both have quite substantial Kiefer holdings.

Finally, well, Kiefer's more recent work, which is a bit lighter and oftentimes focused on China, is a bit harder to find. That said, the Museum of Fine Art, Houston has a really beautiful piece entitled Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom, where Kiefer is dealing with the legacy of Mao that is deteriorating as quickly as his statues.

Enjoy.

Zachariah

2006-04-20T10:26:00.000-04:00

This one is going to be weird. I mean, more than usual.

You know I love zombies. Its a fact. Submit.

Well, I was in Abingdon a few weeks ago. Yeah. That's the ticket. So, there I am in Abingdon and my brother wants to go to K-mart. You remember K-mart, that species of superstore that roamed the earth in the millenia before Wal-Mart and Target. Regardless, I'm in K-mart, and there, before my eyes, is a zombie flick I've never heard of. Its called Dead and Breakfast and its supposed to be (emphasis on "supposed") the American answer to the brilliant, hilarious, dare I say it, uproarious (?) Shaun of the Dead. Hell, the credits listed Portia de Rossi from Arrested Development, arguably one of the five or six best comedies ever. So I bought it.

Dammit.

Okay, don't see the movie. Or do, if you want just good ol' goofy zombie blood-jonx. But if you're looking for a smart flick? Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeahno.

All that said, there's this guy, Zachariah, who, along with his band the Lobos Riders (not to be confused with "Los" Lobos [non-riders]). Who cranks out the majority of the soundtrack. Which ain't half bad. How to characterize it. Hmm. California-interpertation, Western country (as opposed to country Western), white-rap-infused, rockabilly. Yeah. That.

It is insane. It is pop (not quite bubble-gum, harboring around, I dunno', Twizzlers - chewy). And frankly, it ain't Mozart. But it is entertaining (hell, it got me through that entire movie). So, check out their homepage - there's quite a bit of groove-juice there, though admitedly the quality is less than ideal. Also, they're on mySpace (doy, I suppose - oh, and the samples here are of a much higher quality, though there are fewer of them). Don't demand traditional country music and you'll be pleased. Maybe. I dunno'. Don't miss "We're Coming to Kill Ya'" (that's right) or "Tuscon Afternoon."

Also, he looks like Trivia-Guy. Inside joke.

A Journal of the Plague Year

2006-04-18T15:09:00.000-04:00

Arguably the first true work of historical fiction in the English language, Daniel DeFoe's semi-fictional, semi-autobiographical A Journal of the Plague Year is as much a story about the City of London during the Plague as it is a story about being a Londoner during that time. Set in 1665, it ranks as one of the key precursors to all modern "apocalypse" literature (and other artforms) in the English world as well. At times it is humorous, at times its deeply disconcerting, and at times it is absolutely chilling. DeFoe's work comes off as a report, yet the vinettes and asides that deal with real people and their particular experiences or the rumors they dealt with, as well as the explanations of what we might call "plague culture" fill out said reporting, drawing you in and giving you a sense of having not only read a history but of speaking with survivors. Frankly, its beautiful, and if you like any one of a number of literary genres (e.g. 17th Century literature, horror, romance, historical fiction, and so on), you'll enjoy it, even if its heaviness requires some occasional respite (I had to put it down three or four times for a week or two at a time, admittedly, and recover). And if you're short on pennies, well, Project Gutenberg has come through again - read it or, and this is kinda' cool, hear it in mp3 format.

Holy enormous wigs, Batman.

Tyler's Blog Spot

2006-04-18T14:56:00.000-04:00

I won't go into too much detail here, but let me drop you some knowledge. If you're a regular reader of the Blue Blog, well, you've read about Tyler G. Kidd, or as many call him (especially the FBI when referencing his file) TGK. Well, he's got a blog now, so I decided to drop him a link. Its still in the early stages, but its coming along nicely. . . give him a look-see, especially if you have a political bent to you. And I know you do.

Bloooooooooooooog.

(That's onomatopoeia.)

Also, there's a beaver.

Faron McNeal

2006-04-18T14:09:00.000-04:00

Yeah, so, I've been in New York. That's a really big city north of Knoxville. By a ways. Sorry, but the net was $8.50 a minute there and I had some stuff to buy. Dig.

So, I get this e-mail the other day, and yeah, this e-mail has a link to a website, and yeah, the website has the name of a former student of mine from the ol' U of Tennessee - Knoxvegas. His name is Faron McNeal. He got a pretty good grade, as I remember, and he's in the Air Force ROTC, and he's Celtic. So, he's got that going for him. Which is nice.

Alright, alright we're getting their. Mr. McNeal lists his influences as, and I quote:

". . . Jack Johnson; the musical genius that is John Mayer; Maroon 5; Shawn Mullins (one of the greatest musical story tellers of all time); Dave Mathews Band; Garth Brooks; Third Eye Blind; Jason Mraz; Ryan Adams; Bryan Adams; Five for Fighting; The Eagles; Weezer; the soul full [sic] lyrics of Third Day; Train; the genuine rocking of Ben Harper; and Will Hoge. "

Hmm. Interesting mix, eh? I say, if you really want to know what yer' getting into, note in particular influence of the two Jacks, the Ben, and the Shawn. Mr. McNeal's music is early spring in Charlottesville (Virginia) music (I heard it, I think, at just the right time) - you know, when you're at a restaurant serving pasta al fresco, sitting outside under a viney trellis, preferably with Angry Brian and Computer Rob, an hour after it stopped raining, maybe drinking a nice amber beer (I'm thinking Peroni) or a really mild white wine, and you can smell the flowers and everything is green, and well, a band sets up, and you think, hmm, maybe I should leave, then you remember you don't have anything to do that night, so you order another beer. And you don't leave till they stop playing, which is too early. The song-writing is still developing, but it is entirely pleasant.

More to the brass nails. The production on the sample music is good for a young artist, though there are some weak spots. You can listen to his jonx on a number of pages. First, his homepage has a slew of such-have-yous, five quite good songs (note that with "Tangerine" there is a bit of well-intentioned pre-music conversation that you have to get past before the music starts, so be patient). McNeal's also got some ear-data available on the all-pervasive mySpace.com and on the semi-pervasive but visually less annoying purevolume.com.

DJ Intel One

2006-04-06T13:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, so there I am, making fun of Natalie Portman. Nothing new - granted, she is beautiful, rich, and famous, and I'm a dumpy hillbilly halfway between impoverished student and impovrished scholar, but damn. Regardless, I'm making fun of her and I decided, for whatever reason, to check her out on IMDB, see what movies she was in. Frankly, it was more than I had thought. Who cares.

So, there I am looking, and I see this little link for trivia. Now, I'm a sucker for obscure, worthless knowledge (look at this site and you'll understand why), so I check it out. And there, before my wondering eyes, is a tidbit too disconcerting not to investigate. Let me quote it, "Has a CD named after her by Chicago-based DJ Intel One. The CD was done for charity, given away, and titled 'Love: A Tribute to Natalie Portman.' It featured songs by Shelley Duvall, Common, The Roots, and others."

Okay. Wow. Two thoughts came to mind. One, "somebody has a stalker," and two, "Intel One?" He named himself after a computer chip. Oh no he didn't. No.

But he did. And I looked him up to be certain.

Alright, here's the part of this I'm ashamed of. Sorta'. He's pretty damn good.

You can listen to his jonx on mySpace.com . . . everything he has posted pretty much rocks. As of this post, well, his homepage wasn't entirely set-up. But it looks nearly complete, so I'm including it for later consideration, and you can download jonx from it, including a zip file of "Love: A Tribute to Natalie Portman" (which I haven't listened to yet, but probably will, despite myself). Dig.

Muse

2006-04-06T13:19:00.000-04:00

So, Mr. Phillips, one of my students over here at Maryville College, had some time to burn between courses so he and I spend a solid half-an-hour discussing music and movies. He specifically recommended a British band by the name of Muse to me. Let me pass it on to you. The consumer.

Muse is a techno-influenced rock band. Some of their songs are more techno, some more rock. Sometimes they smell like the Gorillaz. Sometimes like Rancid. Occasionally like System of a Down. And even more rarely, like Queen. Damnation. In other words, they're pretty hard to pin down. Regardless, if you feel like a little rock-action, well, hit up either one of these sites: their home page (click on the album player for headbanging delights) or their mySpace.com page.

Oh, and above all else, don't miss their song "Time is Running Out." Imagine the Gorrillaz did Fight Club's soundtrack. Yummy.

Mogwai

2006-04-04T16:30:00.000-04:00

OH MY SWEET JUMPING DEITY!!!

DON'T THROW WATER ON THAT BIPEDAL CAT!!!

DON'T FEED IT AFTER MIDNIGHT OR ITS METABOLISM AND GENERAL PHYSICAL MORPHOLOGY WILL RADICALLY TRANSFORM, LEADING BIOLOGISTS EVERYWHERE TO AWE AT ITS PHENOTYPICAL ELABORATENESS!!!!

DO NOT SHINE BRIGHT LIGHT ON IT OR IT WILL SCREAM LIKE ANNE MURRAY ON SOME OBSCURE CANADIAN HOLIDAY!!!

Er. Wrong mogwai. Sorry.

Mogwai is a band, straight from Glasgow (Mother Scotland). I don't really even know who to compare them to (I keep thinking Dredj but far to few people are actually familiar with them, so, whatever). Just think instrumental rock and roll of the heaviest type, the kind that makes your head weigh down in the front when you listen to it, like lead in your sinuses.

Bad metaphor. Let it go.

Regardless, look for a rich musical experience-notice carefully that when I use the word rich I use it in the same way I would with a food-to imply that it is thick, full of flavor, and if you're not careful a bit overwhelming. You can hear a ton of their work on their homepage, or you can hit myspace.com and rock out. Either way, just catch "Friend of the Night."

The truth will set you free.

Hisashi Tenmyouya

2006-04-04T16:06:00.000-04:00

I don't get enough East Asian art. It is true. I have long loved both Chinese and Japanese painting (its tough to be an expressionist and not, of course), and I became deeply acquainted with it back at the ol' University of Virginia when I took courses from Dorothy Wong and Yunsheng Huang, both of whom I highly recommend. Regardless, Mr. Echols dropped me some serious knowledge in the service of rock and roll when this metaphoric atomic device rolled staunchly across my brow. Bizzyzam.

How do you describe the work of Hisashi Tenmyouya? Um. . . think traditional Ukiyo-e meets H.R. Geiger. I know, you're weirded out. Maybe even a little nauseous. Trust me. Get in the trust bus and ride to Dollyvania. Bam.

What? Look at Tenmyouya's site. Ignore the rest.

Letters on England

2006-04-02T13:01:00.000-04:00

I know I said the last one was the last one of the day. I lied. Sue me. I forgot I'd finished a book.

Voltaire's Letters on England. Basically, its English life, science, art, and politics from the perspective of an 18th Century Frenchman. Other than his gross underestimation of the English playwrights, well, it rocks. Specifically, it is quite funny and its utility as a primer on political philosophy is relatively high. If you understand the debates between traditional and social contract theories of political legitimization during the Enlightenment, well, you probably won't be surprised. If not, well, maybe you will.

Enjoy.

Citizen Cope

2006-04-02T11:56:00.000-04:00

Okay kids, last one of the day.

Mr. Cagle and I were talking one night, say a year ago, and the subject of my love of musical groups that not everyone has heard of but, by all rights, should have. He mentioned Citizen Cope.

I got on the net and have been a fan since, so much so that I realized yesterday that I hadn't added Cope to my blog by virtue of my (incorrect) assumption that everyone had heard of him.

I won't go into too much detail with Cope except to say that if you don't like his music then you just don't like good music. I'll stand by that statement for the rest of my life. If you disagree, well, I guess it must suck you not liking good music and all.

His own website describes him as a melancholy balladeer. I'd describe him as jazz with an indie feel. Whatever. You'll love him. Check out his jonx on myspace.com, check out some of his videos on his homepage, and you'll be ordering his CDs faster than dancing could permanently incapacitate me.

Neko Case

2006-04-02T11:24:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm not a constant reader or anything, but if you pressed me, and not too many people where around, and I was drunk, and I was tired, and I had a headache, and I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and I had an infected razor cut on my right "jowl," and I had just found out Michael Nesmith was an avid reader of my research, well, I might just admit that from time to time, at other people's houses, I read and enjoy GQ magazine.

I do not read for the fashion tips. That's Lee.

I read because they often have some of the most insightful reviews and interviews available - granted, they are buried in a horde of advertisements featuring men who have never eaten red meat, but they're good when you find them. That is how I heard about Neko Case.

I don't know a lot about Case yet, but I do know that she has a distinct accent which, GQ tells me is Virginian (Alexandrian to be exact), ANTI- tells me is Northwestern, and I think is kinda', I dunno', American. She seems to be deeply interested in the visual aesthestics of flesh-consuming mammals. She has associated with one of the up-and-coming indie supergroups (irony intended) The New Pornographers but remains on the free-trade list. Whatever.

So, her music is awesome. That's it. I'm not certain how best to characterize it, but the closest I can come is to say: imagine Loretta Lynn was born in the '70s, was heavily influenced by art rock as well as good ol' mountain music and bluegrass, and then have her spend her musically formative years in Canada. Bizzy-zizzy zam.

You can hear it yourself in a number of key venues - first and foremost Case's homepage and secondly ol' reliable NPR has a couple from her album Fox Confessor (ditto but different here).

In closing: if you like rock and classic country, you should like Case. If not, well, perhaps you should. Jerk.

The Bloggies

2006-04-02T11:02:00.001-04:00

Damn! I cannot be contained!

I won't say much on this one, cause frankly it doesn't need much to be said. So listen up, children.

The Bloggies are pretty much the award for blogs. I will never get one. That said, the only reason I care is the links. This site is, to be frank, just one of those places to go when you know you want to surf, but you have no legitimate reason to be online. You'll love it.

Best I found so far? The ultimate PostSecret and the magical Daily Dose of Imagery.

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog

2006-04-02T11:02:00.000-04:00

Look at the title. Now look at me. Look at the title. Now look at me. Yes. That's right. Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog.

The ultimate p-i-m-p Trivia Doug Big W (little lllllls) just dropped me a link to this blog. If you're like me, well, you'll find yourself revisiting sophomore English and madness of Chaucer, who, despite what we all pretend in those self-same classes, did not speak "English" so much as "headache inducing insanity." Regardless, it is funnier than the pig-devil in January (particularly "abbreviaciouns "). Sally forth and observify, thee electric deevice yeomen.

Fischerspooner

2006-04-02T10:47:00.000-04:00

Okay, as I sit here taking advantage of my little brother's high-speed connection, I have decided to throw up like, eighty entries. Well, at least three or four. First on the list is a little band Mr. Echols introduced me to - they're name is Fischerspooner.

If at first you're thinking, hey, is that a new type of artificial fish lure, well, you're not alone. Probably. I mean, I didn't, but probably some one else did.

They're techno, they're a little awesome, and they're music is highly produced and ultra-slick. Like most techno that's worth more than a pop of X and a serious flip-out session (or a six-week stint as background jonx at a hockey club), well, its heavily dependent on creating original sound and beat combinations as well as interesting and complex lyrics. Check out some samples (not full-length, I'm afraid) of their jonx at the Echman recommended site, or check out their shizzle in a broaded, but related context here.

MC Chris

2006-03-30T13:45:00.000-05:00

To all of you who love fine music with delicate undertones, well, I suggest you just move along. This entry? Not for you. This one's for the mentally uncoordinated.

To all of you who watch Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, well, you won't be surprised.

Therefore I might say this entry is for everyone who likes suburban, white-boy, high-pitched rap and cartoons. And Star Wars. Did I mention Star Wars? Oh, and anyone Chris Carlton ever called "sophomoric." Yeah. You.

His name is MC Chris. That's right. MC Chris. Not Kris or Xris or even Chriz. Chris. He often contributes music and his signature voice to animation. And damnable if he isn't a crazylicious rapper.

Trust me, hit his website, mcchris.com. Click on "raps." That's right. Raps. Then just listen to the magic of his mp3s. My favorite, from here to eternity, is "#$%^&* Up My Christmas." Its not classy, and yes, it is potty-mouthed. But that doesn't make it any less awesome. Or sophomoric.

The Killers

2006-03-29T13:26:00.000-05:00

Okay kids, I don't know a plethora about the Killers and I don't have a plethora of time (I am headed for a little chop of the mop) - just be prepared to open your ears. They have a four album discography (I only own one, the Hot Fuss special edition album). That said, they rock. Their music is solid rock and roll, spiced with flavors originating in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The ecclectic feeling of it, if not the music itself, reminds me of early U2 and contemporary OKGo and Prince - well-educated brilliant work.

To add:
1) In many ways, the Killers are like Cake or those albums by the Dave Matthews Band that get less radio airtime: you have to listen to each song three or four times before your brain goes, ho ho ho. . . Merry ^&%$#@ Christmas!. Give them the chance they deserve.
2) Listen to "Mr. Brightside" first. Trust me. You'll listen to it twelve or thirteen times in a row immediately after that first time. I know I did.

Okay, as to links: you can get their videos and discography from their home page (though I'd imagine their homesite is murder to navigate without a high-speed connection - just a warning). Further, they''ve got four fantastic songs on myspace.com. Enjoy.

The Apology & Crito

2006-03-29T12:42:00.000-05:00

I have long prided myself on being relatively well-read when it comes to the classics. That said, I am still aghast at my ignorance in comparison to the average scholar of the 19th Century (I read works by Westerners prior to the 20th Century and I feel humbled constantly). So, rather than resting on my metaphorical laurels, I continue my quest to improve myself by reading the great ones. I am still working my way through part of Tacitus, and currently I have three other books open - a collection of pre-Socratic Greek philosophical tracts (I admit, I am utterly disinterested in most, since most tend to be obsessed with describing the natural world absent human beings), a collection of the great speeches of Cicero (the Roman statesman), and a collection of Plato's Socratic dialogues. Last night, as I worked my way through the latter I finally found the opportunity to read the Socratian Apology and Crito (as written by Plato) in its entirety. Let me tell you a little about it.

First, the Apology is named ironically. Socrates is pointing out that he's been falsely accused, his accuser (Meletus) is a corrupt fiend, and that if the Athenian jury (of 501 men) finds Socrates guilty, well, they are corrupt too. Well, let's just say this makes for great rhetoric, but ol' Socrates, well, he was found guilty nonetheless.

I won't try to explain why Apology is important in purely philosophical terms - I'm not smart enough and I'm certainly not inclined to do it.

That said, in practical political terms, Apology matters because it demonstrates the practical use of religion in legislation and/or judicial proceedings - to justify the manipulation, disempowerment, disenfranchisement, and/or "elimination" of political, economic, or social competitors. In other words, it is the quoting of scripture to enforce tyranny. Praise Socrates and Jefferson.

As to the Crito, well, this is a much simpler text. Socrates has been condemned to death. His friend Crito has come to beg him to flee Athens rather than submit to his punishment. And Socrates insists on following the course, becoming a martyr, and thus guaranteeing his survival in the future, including inspiring such great men as Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. (not to mention presaging the greatest pacifist in Western history, Jesus). You've got to read it. Its beautiful for entirely different reasons than the Apology.

I went to a used bookstore and went crazy, spending $1.50 for the complete dialogues of Socrates (again, as written by Plato) and the Apology in book form. Also, you can download them from the net, thanks to the great Project Gutenberg, for free.

The Martian Chronicles

2006-03-28T11:22:00.000-05:00

I first read Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles when I was in seventh grade, way back at Graham Middle School. Arguably it has been the most influential fictional book of my life - I read it probably six times before I started high school just two years later.

Written over the course of the late 1940s and early 1950s, The Martian Chronicles is a collection of short stories and vinettes that cover every imaginable topic even vaguely assocated with imperalism - the psychology of those being colonized, the morals of colonization, the rationality of patriotism in light of weapons of mass destruction, genocide, the freedom of the "frontier" (think of it as the anti-Heart of Darkness), and religious conversion to name a few. Not only that, Bradbury writes each episode in a powerful, heartbreaking way - you understand virtually everyone, and the one or two characters you find yourself hating, well, you ultimately find yourself pitying in short order.

Specifically, check out "The Earth Men" (it still gives me chills).

Read it. You'll thank me.

Big Neal

2006-03-28T10:21:00.000-05:00

So I was reading the news this morning and on BBC I found a story on "Big" Neal Saunders, an American soldier recently returned from Iraq. He's a rapper, and he and some friends produced an album in Iraq about their experiences fighting there.

They're kind of angry.

They're angry at policymakers who don't have any priorities. They're angry at the generals who trained them for the wrong mission. They're angry at a national press that pumps out mass-consumption-oriented fluff. They're angry at the Iraqis who don't appreciate the American soldiers' sacrifices and efforts to improve their lives. They're angry at American peacenik hippies.

Angry.

I won't lie - as a man who studies war, I get real tired of hearing nothing but academic, stark, emotionless jibber-jabber or fluffy "we-don't-want-to-hurt-anyone's-feelings" journalism or "salute-the-flag-and-don't-question-our-leaders" patriotic "journalism. Its nice to hear this sorta' thing. If by nice you mean refreshing properly painful, like really, really cold water.

As to the music, well, hmm. . . think angry, angry gangsta' rap. In the Middle East. You can hear samples on CD Baby (don't miss "24 hours" and "Behind the Screens" in particular).

The albums is being produced by 4th25 (pronounced "fourth quarter") - their homepage features not only a blog and tons of thoughts on the war and its coverage (and they media's coverage of Live From Iraq, Big Neal's first album), but it has a collection of real video from Iraq (aimed, I can only imagine, at dispelling illusions about the nature of the solider's life).

You want some other interviews? Try On the Media's (note the really troubled interviewer) or, oddly, Stars & Stripes's story.

Steve Smith

2006-03-21T15:32:00.000-05:00

I'm not gonna' say much, cause whatever I say is going to be heavily tainted with personal bias. That said, my Unca' Steve pretty much is awesome.

Bluegrass, gospel, folk, and traditional Latin (specifically greater Mexico). That's it. There it is. You'll love it. A plethora of mp3s are available to get you familiar with his sound.

Don't miss "Billy the Kid," "Shady Grove," "Distant Lands," "Bacon and Bread," "The Queen Anne's Revenge," or my favorite, "Anna Mae."

Our Goblin Market

2006-03-21T15:18:00.000-05:00

Below I've mentioned my boy Vaughn Garland twice. I figured he deserves an entry of his own. So here it is.

Vaughn is an artist. That's right, a real, live artist. MFA and everything. Likes to paint. He and I still bat around the idea of multidimensional expressionist-impressionism. That's what I said. You don't understand it because he I haven't written the grant to do it yet. So deal.

That said, I got an e-mail the other day that said, "So I have started a blog. I really do not know why." Ultimately, this ma'am-a-ja'ma is a joint for VG to edjukate the proletariot on images and art theories in a whim-based mode. Look at it. Its brand new, so throw him sound counter-digits. You love it.