"WTF?" A poem.

I wrote a sort of poem-like thing for you. You're welcome.

WTF?

We tell fables
wanting to feel
we're truly free.

Well, that's finished.
We're totally fucked.
Welcome to fascism!

(image credit -- KC Green, Gunshow)

Can't we just...

...give peas a chance?

(And a collective groan is heard all 'round the blogoverse.)

Country

The Zombie, in a comment on the previous post mentioned a country singer coming to the Vancouver Folk Festival. While country isn't really one of my favorite things, I got to thinking about the "country" stuff I do like, and that had me looking through my music collection and stumbling on Eric Taylor (I may get a chance to see him soon). I'm not really sure if he's folk, or country, or singer/songwriter or maybe even more of a writer that happens to play what he writes. Anyway, I do like some stuff that might classify as some kind of "country" -- but absolutely nothing they play on the radio.

Here are a few songs, the first is a studio recording:

This second one is a live session from 2001 doing a Townes Van Zandt song -- the bearded guy is Steve Earle, the guy playing slide is another favorite of mine, Kelly Joe Phelps:

These next two are more recent, and have him doing a long but interesting intro to his "Hollywood Pocketknife" song that details how he wrote it. The "song" itself doesn't really start until about five minutes into the second video if you want to skip it:

And finally one last live song, recorded last fall and showing that he has a more upbeat side as well:

Someday I may actually get around to writing something rather than just posting a bunch of filler. Maybe.

The Adventures of Jeebus and Satin

Here we have a new "feature" whereupon I draw a shitty cartoon that seemed funnier in my head and then make you look at it.

Click to embiggen. Or not, whatever.

Ha Ha!

Oh no, we won't be able to read Friedman or Brooks! Boo hoo, whatever shall we do!?

Yay Oregon! Part Two

BREAKING! URGENT!*

After yesterday's post about GMO wheat, Another article out today with a bit more detail. The telling bit from there is this:


"STREAMLINED" SYSTEM

Heavy criticism has already hit Monsanto, including a lawsuit filed Monday by a U.S. farmer who is alleging the seed company was negligent in allowing its experimental seed to escape its control.

Monsanto countered that its wheat development program was "government-directed, rigorous and well-documented and audited."

The field trials were conducted under a streamlined system known as "notification," which is more lenient than the tightly controlled permitting process.

Under the permit process, companies must establish buffer areas around field trial sites to help avoid contamination of neighboring fields; to use only dedicated machinery and storage facilities for GMO material; and train personnel. Annual inspections are required.

Under the notification process, there are fewer field inspections and regulators rely largely on developers like Monsanto for evaluating and reporting the adequacy of their controls.

Over time, more and more field trials have come under the notification process and it now accounts for the vast majority of field trials on biotech crops.

In light of the discovery in Oregon, USDA should assess its review process, said U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

"This incident underscores the need for an agency review of field-testing practices to determine how to avoid this situation in the future," he said.


(emPHAsis mine)

Again, who could've possibly predicted that allowing massive corporations to police themselves would result in anything but glorious positive outcomes and rainbow sparkleponies for all? Inconceivable.

Also, thankfully we have an actual progressive Democratic Senator now in Merkley that isn't in the corporate pocket like his predecessor Smith was, and isn't a traditional, wishy-washy, centrist, Paul Ryan-lovin' "normal" Democrat.

(*Note: not urgent at all)

Random Music Wednesday

My musical history, like your mom, is pretty broad.

My dad is a professional musician and was always playing bars/clubs whether he had a day job or not. He encouraged me to listen to mostly whatever I liked, as long as it wasn't "crap." So I once I was able to buy my own records I ended up with mostly stuff from The Stones, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, The Who, etc. As I got older I moved onto a bunch of harder rock and heavy metal -- Blue Öyster Cult, Iron Maiden, etc., and went through a brief punk phase, mostly stuff like Black Flag, Bad Brains and Dead Kennedys. I also started listening to other random stuff and generally expanding my horizons. While I never could stand any sort of contemporary Country music, I liked the old traditional stuff and got into a bunch of the old country clues and bluegrass and stuff. I also started enjoying all different kinds of jazz especially Miles Davis. Anyway, I also went through an early techno/electronica phase. Tangerine Dream...

... and Jean Michel Jarre:

...made all my '70s childhood "space age" dreams seem possible, and were just the thing for a geeky, computer obsessed, very stoned teenager. Somewhat ironically, I still have that stuff on vinyl, but have never converted it. Haven't listened to them in ages.
So, to the present. While browsing around eMusic last night needing to use up my monthly credit, I ran into the new Daft Punk album. I'd seen it mentioned and the iconic cover art was familiar, so I gave it a try. This song:

Reminded me of all that stuff.

Ah, nostalgia.

Oh yeah, and this is my 100th post. Woo.