My MP3 Player Loves Elvis

Music is something with which I've always struggled to identify. I can appreciate a catchy tune about as well as the next person, but that is the limit of the depth. I spent most of the 90's, and thus my childhood, simply listening to what other's liked. My sister's insipid and repetitive pop music, my dad's aging rock, and my friends' alternative music. Can't help but wonder to what Green Day and The Offspring were supposed to be an alternative. Of course these days Green Day is punk. Or neo-punk. Or pop-punk. Who knows? Can you imagine walking through a music shop that was actually divided into all of the self-gratifying and ego maniacal sub-genres that musicians are constantly inventing?

Nothing against music or musicians per say. I just tend to dislike anyone who buys into their own hype or views their own work as being more pivotal and groundbreaking than it actually is. Kanye West and The White Stripes, I'm talking to you.

I do enjoy certain music. Stone Temple Pilots is my favorite band and I do enjoy Green Day and The Offspring despite my genre ignorance. Flogging Molly is also quite remarkable. I tend to evaluate music based upon whether I can appreciate the lyrics while also enjoying the accompanying noise. Seems like a silly thing to say but when so much out there is decidedly unpoetical, to say the least, it becomes a necessary statement. There is a lot of music out there that doesn't seem to have anything to say. Unless it is a purely instrumental piece, I think that's a problem. I also understand that most music tries only to speak to a very specific audience, and that is perfectly acceptable. I'm just not in very many audiences.

Patriotism

I consider myself to be a patriot.

The thing is that I'm one of those patriots that rarely sees eye to eye with the government. One of the issues with democracy is that you almost always are going to have a narrow majority whose views are going to be pressed on the entirety of the nation. (Better than the views of one person or of a very small minority being pressed on the masses, but still.) Even then it's just the narrow majority of the registered voters who actually make it out for an election. I'm also of the mind that people who whine but do not actively participate in the democratic process are no better than those people whose views include taking away freedom and use the system to do so and find so little resistance in their quest. Those freedoms include a right to marriage for all, freedom of and from religion, and the freedom to control one's own body.

There shouldn't have to be laws saying who can marry who or other such nonsense. Especially in a society where less than fifty percent of marriages last. In the making of those laws no mention of God or gods should ever come up. Yahweh, Allah, Jesus, Mohammad, Thor, Zeus, Buddha, the Flying Spaghetti Monster and all their friends should not be used as an excuse to oppress. Beyond the religious implications there is no valid argument for banning homosexual marriage and in a secular nation a religious argument should not be one at all.

I'm a patriot in that I believe in the United States Constitution above all else. Take the flag and the pledge to said flag and throw them away for all I care. They are not what matter. They are not the foundation of our country. They are not what ensure our freedom. They are not what the President and every member of the Armed Forces swear to uphold and protect. So when someone like Barack Obama comes along and does where a flag on his lapel, that's okay. The words coming out of his mouth show he is a patriot because he speaks of living up to our Constitution. Decorations do not matter.

Patriotism is a belief in freedom for all in all facets of life, a belief in the founding principles of our nation, and belief that we as a nation can find our way out of the dark to again become the beacon we once were.

Unpleasantries

Once again greasy food has proven itself to be the bane of my existence.

I've gotten sick every single time I've eaten from KFC. That keeps me from actively pursuing it as sustenance, but has always failed to keep me from ingesting the tender, fried morsels while in their presence. Who's to tell if my curse would ever be lifted?

Today's episode was due to some greasy, delicious pizza that ripped me apart royally once inside. One does not discuss such things in polite company, suffice to say that I will be spending at least part of my day tomorrow cleaning my car door.

I am Jack's Tension Headache

Spent most of these three days that I have off trying to find a job. Thursday through Sunday I'm spending in Asbury Park, doing my best to build Benny Go Home into something more than a slogan. It's going pretty well, but it is, as it always has been, a labor of love. That's how I always describe BGH, though when I talk about love, I'm not just talking about BGH, I'm talking about my home. It's awesome to be doing something that people appreciate, that they can get behind whole-heartedly.

But alas, I gots ta get paid. Thus I am seeking outside employment that I can use to pay the bills. I'm perfectly capable of doing everything that I need to do for BGH and holding a full time gig. Hell for the last semester of school I did what I needed to for BGH, held a part-time job, an internship, and went to school full time. I like to stay busy, keeps me focused. I have way too much time on my hands right now and would love to sacrifice 40 hours a week to the higher cause of paying bills. At least I'll be working for the weekend.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday with my first being Christmas and third being Independence Day. Not surprisingly, this correlates with my list of favorite things: gifts, food, and explosions.

Not only is Thanksgiving the start of the holiday season, which while being the most exploitative time of the year still manages to hang on to its "most wonderful time of the year" label, its the only holiday that is completely food oriented. With no birth of nations or messiahs to get in the way, food takes center stage. People obsess over their meals and it seems that no matter how many times people cook a Thanksgiving dinner, they're always unsure about it. That means that every year something turns out different, even if the menu never changes.

Not to mention the fact that I love turkey and it is the one day out of the year that I get to eat it home cooked. Some people luck out and have it for Christmas too, but I usually get stuck with dry, salty ham. The rest of the year it's either "It was just Thanksgiving" or "Thanksgiving's around the corner" and the turkey drought continues until the following November. At least I still have a few days of leftovers before gravy soaked breast meat, marshmallowed sweet potatoes, and savory sausage filled stuffing become just memories for another long year.

Lament of the Comic Nerd

This is probably the angriest I've ever been after coming home from my weekly trip to the comic shop.

Normally I come home looking forward to diving into one of my favorite books, but not so much this week. I'm home empty handed. There was not a single thing out this week that was worth my time and money. Why?

Let's start with Captain America: The Chosen #1. This is the story about the last days of Captain America and is supposed to be like the Spider-man: Reign mini-series which was supposed to be like The Dark Knight Returns. There's a huge flaw with this book and that happens to be its timing. It comes out months after Captain America was killed off in a way that is nothing like this book. "Captain America is dead! But here's another way it could have happened..." No thanks. Any weight the story may have had is gone thanks to the whole 'killing off a dead character' angle.

Next we have the beginning of the end of J. Micheal Straczynski's way too long run on Amazing Spider-Man with Amazing Spider-Man #544. Sure his run started out good and for a while featured the awesome art of John Romita Jr. but fell off pretty quickly due to his seemly stubborn refusal to use classic Spider-Man villains in a way that didn't involve them sleeping with the long dead Gwen Stacy. Now we have poor old Aunt May on her death bed since Civil War and Peter Parker's been crying ever since. Her death has been dragged on for months and any impact it may have had was scraped off miles back up the road. Not only that but this whole "One More Day" story has been hyped for so long I feel like I've already read the damn thing. Guess what? Apparently Peter and Mary Jane won't be a couple anymore or whatever. Marvel chose to use the ends this "event" is supposed to accomplish as a way of promoting it thus removing the point of telling the story. I'm just looking forward to the next arc which will be JMS-free and may actually feature some of the witty banter and awesome villains that makes reading Spidey worth while. Oh and one more thing. Joe Quesada is a douche-bag. He's the one drawing "One More Day" and while he is a great artist and decent Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, that little "Still Only $3.99!" tag he slapped on his cover is not in the least bit funny. "This issue is over-priced! Isn't that a stitch?" Must be hilarious to the folks collecting the dough but it's a slap in the face to those on the other side of the equation.

Post-Modern World Rant

As of late, I find myself increasingly infatuated with a time long passed. Like a little girl dreaming of being a princess in the days of knights and dragons, I wonder what life was like for my grandparents when they were my age. Romanticizing about a time when men were men and all of them proudly wore fedoras unless they were bathing, sleeping or fornicating (and I’m sure sometimes even then). A time when actors of the silver screen had grace and poise despite their rampant substance abuse. A time when America’s greatest enemies stood under a foreign flag and not in her highest halls of power. A time when skirts were long and pants were higher than the crowd at a Dave Matthews concert.

Today I sprayed myself with Old Spice and tried to imagine it being an alluring scent to all women and not a stench associated with old men and colostomy bags. I also bought a fedora and am hoping that people will understand that I believe it to be a classy, practical hat and not ask me if I feel “Justified” in wearing it. I’m not trying to make a fashion statement, I’m trying to make a cultural one.

Once upon a time people had passion. I cannot think of anything that shows our world’s lack of passion more than text messaging on cell phones. Here we are with the power to contact our friends and loved ones with the push of a button, location be damned, and instead of choosing to speak and hear each other’s voices we send a brief short-hand message. I doubt a single person in our generation is capable of producing anything as heartfelt and passionate as a Civil War letter or even a WWII letter.

They say letter writing is a lost art, but it was never an art at all. At the time it was just another communication medium like talking on the phone is today. We look back on it and see it as art because of how well-written and meaningful it is and how dreadfully mundane our own interactions have become.

It was once considered rude to take a phone call while interacting with another person. Now people will whip out their cell phones and start texting without hesitation or excusing themselves. People will only grow manners when it is absolutely necessary. Unless you have control over someone’s job or sex life you can expect them to be as polite in front of you as they would a toilet.

Perhaps these problems will solve themselves in time, but as long as people continue their lives in a self-centered manner it is doubtful. People used to treat each other with respect simply because they were another person. I myself feel that respect should be earned, but when I look around and see teenagers being berated for not knowing every little detail about every product their mall job carries I can’t help but rethink that philosophy. I don’t know these people and don’t know whether or not they deserve respect, but wouldn’t a positive upbeat person assume they deserve respect and wait to be shown otherwise? Maybe that’s how people used to think but now we all think we’re so damned important and special that we feel everyone owes us for gracing them with our presence.