Drive-by posting

Still working my danged fool head off, but taking a small break here to check in. So what's coming up that you are excited about?

The Punch Brothers (featuring Chris Thile, previously of Nickel Creek) finally decided to grace Austin with a gig... technically two, one right after the other on the same night at the Cactus Cafe, so I had to scrape all my pennies together for the finest mandolin player on earth (in my very humble opinion) and a great band as well. That show is in mid-September. Here they are playing "Wolfcreek Pass"

As for movies, my cousin has one out now, but I haven't seen it and have to say it doesn't look that good to me. Swing Vote. Kevin Costner is my 2nd cousin once removed (more about that here) but I must admit I haven't seen much of his stuff since Waterworld. {sigh} Has anyone seen Swing Vote? Star Wars: The Clone Wars, this brings another deep sigh. I was very disappointed in the latest Star Wars Trilogy (eps 1-3), and this one looks will be seen by us on DVD while pretending to be 10 years old. Tropic Thunder looks much better, but Burn After Reading (out in September) is the next one I'm psyched about.

Music this week: We will try to see Paula Nelson at Central Market on Friday (that's a free one), and Grupo Fantasma at the Nutty Brown on Saturday. Probably maybe on those.

Back to running in the wheel. Too bad I can't use the motion of the mouse to send power to the house.

Finishing this drive-by with a completely off-topic left-field comment, and I have previously given my opinion about his campaign in light of the recent revelations, and now think that this is not news anymore: anyone in the media who claims to care about the feelings of a woman with cancer (and also claims to somehow embody family values, talking to you, right-wing nutjobs) should stop harping on endlessly (over the airwaves and on the newsstands) about the sordid details of her husband's extramarital affairs. The woman already hurts bad enough.

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music

Getting out and staying in.

Sonny Landreth with guest Cindy Cashdollar at Zilker Park, Blues on the Green, Wed. night.

Sonny Landreth is one the greatest guitar players out there, and he put on a fantastic (free) show this week. Austin's own steel and dobro master, Cindy Cashdollar, sat in for a few, and it was an extra treat... not to mention the three encores that he did! He's also got a great new record out.

On Friday we went to Waterloo Records to see The Dedringers, they are a very young roots rocks band, up-and-coming, as they say. Also, while at Waterloo Records, we learned that Waterloo Video around the corner from there is closing this month. Everything in there is for sale right now. We ended up buying three DVDs. (1) Performance (1970, Mick Jagger, Edward Fox). I've been wanting that one for awhile. The Alamo Drafthouse is having a special screening of it, and I decided to spend less than we would by seeing it there and just buy it. (2) the special Director's cut of Troy (2004, Brad Pitt, Eric Bana) (pipe down, we liked that movie!), and (3) got a used copy of Black Sheep (2006) for $6 that played perfectly. It's a fantastic B-movie, very funny, very realistic special effects (by Weta), and what's not to like about evil baaaad sheep? That's right, nothing. ;-)

I didn't ask the clerk why they were closing. I hated the idea of being the bazillionth person to ask that and further rub it in by making her explain it yet another time. Video stores are struggling anyway, and rents in that area are going up. I hate to see the independants going away. I really do.

Tomorrow (Sunday) there is an afternoon benefit for cancer, and it being put on by our friend John Grubbs, a.k.a. Rockslide Photography. Entertainment will be The Belleville Outfit and the Greyhounds. 
Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music

Edwards should not have run

[LINK] This whole John Edwards business is really unfortunate. First, I want to say that things like this should only have to do with your personal life should not matter in politics, but the fact is that they do matter, especially when it comes to elections. Don't EVER think that you are going to be able to keep it a secret, that is delusional and naive on your part. If you are lying to the media about it (even the tabloids -- and don't lie to the tabloids, for crap's sake -- lying is their job and they are going to twist your revealed lies into something you never even imagined!), it is going to eventually make you look like a dirty rotten liar, even if you have fixed the problem with your family and all involved.

Now, John McCain... he also cheated on his wife after he returned from the war, and they divorced, allowing him to marry Cindy. Republicans don't seem to be bothered by that sort of thing as much, unless your cheating partner is the same sex that you are. It hardly even gets brought up.

If you are running for President, and you are a Democrat, they are gonna getcha for that one. Don't think for a minute that it will be OK. And don't ever think that saying you didn't love the other person or that the child isn't yours will help. It just makes you sound worse because you are just trying to smoothe down and neutralize something that is not neutral. It's the equivalent of getting caught red-handed and responding with "this is not what it looks like." No one is ever going to believe you again.

If Edwards had gotten the nomination, we would now be looking at the coming election as a train wreck about to happen, and that's not fair to all of us riding on a shred of hope that maybe, just MAYBE, this election will bring change.

Furbaby Friday - these are not my cats

The birdbaths is the front yard have become a favorite hangout for these two, but not at the same time. They've been spotted there in the early morning and sometimes night, but during the day in the record-breaking hot summer we are having, they are probably down in the storm sewer or sometimes laying under a car or truck. They are free-roaming alley cats, not only looking for a cool drink of fresh water in one of two birdbaths, but for the birds themselves, plus toads, lizards, or any other free snacks they can find. I have blogged the black cat before, and wondered if he might be related to the former alley cat that we took in, Jax.


Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at Mind of Mog - Cats - Catblogging

Good band name?

After the steaming pile from the last post, looks like this blog is developing a theme. It's not. This post has nothing in particular to do with McCain's campaign.

Found at Treehugger, where you can read more about the construction and function of the box, including the location of the Willy Flap.

Buy yours at the Brown Corporation.

Yes, really. They even have a Shit Box blog.

Steaming Pile

McCain (the candidate who says he represents traditional family values) suggested that his wife should enter this contest for Buffalo Chip queen.

OK, on the one hand, I am not opposed to beauty contests, but I really wish they would be more honest like this. Does anyone really care about their singing/dancing/juggling abilities, or having them lie and say that their greatest desire is for world peace?

I think that banana-sucking would be a more popular and relevant contest, as demonstrated here, in a pageant that is reported (by ESPN) to be often topless and/or bottomless. And please give us a male version too!

On the other hand, I am trying to imagine the media and public fury that would result from Obama making a similar suggestion that his wife participate in that pageant? Barack Obama would never do that, even in jest, and Michelle Obama would not put up with it either. That's what I think.

From TPM, and do go there for more details on the Sturgis event, via AmericaBLOG.

MiLkDrive

MiLkDrive is starting to create some buzz in the acoustic scene here. If you are local, you probably already know them, sort of. They are a spinoff of the South Austin Jug Band, which are still very much together. Switch out one guy for another one (and the other one records with SAJB and often tours with them) so it's an extended family but with a very different sound. Enough yacking, just listen below.



The band is Dennis Ludiker, Brian Beken, and Matt Mefford from the Jug Band, and Noah Jeffries (who is with Jason Boland). I am doing some logo art and getting a simple website together for them, and no CD until next year but in the meantime go here, here, and here for more tunes.

I got to expose Ellie to them on Sunday (and Ellie, if you're reading, I wish I'd known you were here earlier in the week, you could have come down and caught Jake Andrews playing his blues at Momo's with us on Wednesday).

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music

Church based on hate is hated. Duh.

Well, they seem to think hate is such a great thing, then they complain that other people hate their religion. Funny part is that they've complained to the Attorney General that they are the victim of a Hate Crime. Is your head spinning like mine?

God Hates You and Pretty Much Everybody Else - Westboro Baptist Church catches fire

"There is evidence that hatred of our religion was the motivation, in part at least," states a "Civil Rights Hate Crime Complaint" written by pastor Fred Phelps Sr. to Attorney General Michael Mukasey. In a recently released YouTube presentation, Phelps also blames law enforcement, judges, and the "filthy, fag-riddled military" for what he considers an assault on his First Amendment rights.

Meanwhile, a neighbor is suspicious that the fire is a hoax meant to intimidate her into giving up her property. "They keep claiming that this property is theirs, and it is not theirs," said 91-year-old Leona McQueen. "They keep wanting to buy me, but I don't want to sell it. I don't know if whether they are trying to push me out."

[...] No picketing signs were harmed.

hmmmmm...

Killer weed

Celebrity chef Anthony Worrall Thompson recommended in a magazine article that henbane weed (a.k.a. stinking nightshade), made an excellent addition to summertime meals.

[source] Henbane, or Hyoscyamus niger, is toxic and can cause hallucinations, convulsions, vomiting and in extreme cases death.

[...] Henbane, a close relative of deadly nightshade, was used by Dr. Crippen to kill his wife in 1910, and is thought to have been the main ingredient in the poison Romeo took in Shakespeare's play “Romeo and Juliet.”

The chef had intended to refer to fat hen, a weed rich in vitamin C, that is edible, media reports said.

It too can be harmful because of its high level of nitrates, but cases of poisoning are rare, Garden Organic said on its Web site.

When it comes to food, I generally avoid anything containing the words "stinking" or "nightshade." The chef has apologized for any confusion he may have caused.

Alarmed!

One day last week when I got home in the middle of the day, there was that awful telltale beeping of a smoke alarm with a dying battery. About once a minute there's a shrill BEEEEEEEEP that is intended to hasten you to fix the situation pronto.

BEEEEEEP

Jax, who is usually catching some ZZZs is scurrying around and giving me a look that says, "Pleeease make it stop!" I run for the earplugs first, then get the ladder from the garage and carry it upstairs as it is apparent it's one of those.

BEEEEEEP

Call MrB at his office, since he's the smoke alarm installer guy and I don't really know how to take this thing down without breaking it. I am getting frantic. I am pulling and twisting on it.

BEEEEEEP

Now I see a hole in the ceiling and the wiring. Plaster is falling in my face. I'm trying to follow the instructions I'm talking on the phone, but NOT calmly. If this doesn't work, I am trying to imagine putting up with a shrill beep going off once a minute for the next 4 hours.

BEEEEEEP

I am yelling now. HOW MUCH WILL THIS COST TO REPLACE IF I BREAK IT? I'M GETTING THE HAMMER IN ABOUT 2 MORE SECONDS!

BEEEEEEP

OK. I got it down. Now where's the danged battery? I can't find it!! He says just twist it open. It's not working!! He's says just put it outside for now. [sigh] Now why didn't I think of that? I stick it out on the front porch. I won't hear it out there, and it may discourage Jehovah's Witnesses. Relieved, I come back inside.

BEEEEEEP

Wha? Something up there is still beeping? I run back upstairs. Have to wait until the minute rolls around. Must be the one in the bedroom.

BEEEEEEP

It's not! It's coming from upstairs... in the bathroom... just a few feet from the smoke alarm on the landing that I just yanked down there's a CO detector in the bathroom. It says "Err" on the front panel. I unplug it from the wall socket. No more beep.

MrB says that the whole scene would have hilarious to watch. I say it would have been a lot funnier if I had smashed the smoke alarm with a hammer.

August 4, Obama turns 47

Your soundtrack is above. It's Wynton Marsalis doing a really nice improvisation on the birthday song. There's some talking at the beginning and a little in the middle, not too much. I picked it because it was recorded on August 4, 2007.

Barack Obama is my "friend" on MySpace, and when they notified me that one of my friends was having a birthday, and it was him, I stopped by and left a Happy Birthday comment (something I would do for darned near anybody). So then I see the above in my Inbox. It's a donation promotion asking for $47 contributions. Click the graphic on the right to go there. I was thinking how much more it would cost supporters of McCain to do that on his birthday.

Does Obama really represent HOPE? He may not be the candidate who represents my views exactly. He is, and always was, more centrist than I am. That candidate was Kucinich, a man who never had a chance of being the nominee from Day One -- he's too liberal to get broad support. But Barack Obama is going to be the Democratic nominee, and considering the other option, he not only represents hope, he's our ONLY hope. He's a fragile thread of a lifeline and the only chance we have to bring change to the Executive Branch of these United States... even if it fails to happen.

Ministry of Pie Plates

(Anyone know Latin? heh, heh...)

I've been offered the position of Minister of UFOs in DivaJood's administration, and I intend to do a heckuva job. I was born in the Air Force, the organization which was in charge of keeping UFO files for many years (known as Project Blue Book). Here's an actual UFO Detector which you can purchase here. If you are traveling with it, just tell the nice Homeland Security folks it's a UFO Detector, and you should be all clear for boarding.

I'm watching "They Came From Beyond Space" as I write this. Part of the research. I have also seen a UFO. More on that later. There are a couple of topics that I got very interested in when I was a lot younger, read a stack of books on the topic, just trying to find some truth, and came away with some background on the subjects but no answers - only a few loosely-formed opinions and lots of speculation. One subject is the JFK assassination and the other is UFOs. They are deep dark mysteries that will never be solved.

The X-Files was a great show partly because Chris Carter and the other writers were so versed in both the popular and obscure UFO mythology that they were able able to weave their own conglomerate out of it... which is just what happens in non-TV-land. I can see a lot of myself in Mulder, Scully, and the Lone Gunmen too. It's good to be able to laugh at yourself, isn't it? Unlike Mulder, I don't want to believe (or disbelieve either), and unlike Scully I no longer have beliefs I cannot leave behind.

I can hardly begin to scratch the surface of all the different UFO topics, but here's some great old historical stuff from my collection.

It starts with Roswell:

Maj. Donald Keyhoe was an Annapolis grad who became an aviator in the Marine Corp. After retirement he became a writer of articles for "True" magazine, and was appointed Chief of Information for the organization that became the FAA. He was one of the first UFO investigators. The first so-called flying saucers were reported in June of 1947 (with the fabled UFO crashes at Roswell NM), and he wrote an article called "Flying Saucers are Real", which was so popular it was expanded into this very book you see here, published in 1950. I believe it's the first book ever written about flying saucers. In 1957, Keyhoe became the first director of NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena), and ultimately became convinced that the CIA was covering up information. [Keyhoe bio]

The Harvest Has Begun:

This book, "The Interrupted Journey," (1966) as far as I know, was the first book that dealt with alien abduction. It's about Betty and Barney Hill, who experienced missing time and other phenomena while traveling on an isolated road in 1961. Eventually they went through hypnosis, and they recorded those sessions. I listened to them on cassette. It's fascinating. There was evidence, including eyewitnesses and a police report. There was even speculation that the aliens selected the Hills because they were a bi-racial couple, very rare in the year this happened, and that the aliens were wanting to examine 2 races and genders at the same time. I'll bet that the human population was a lot more concerned about what used to be called a "mixed marriage" than the space people would have been. It all still remains a mystery. Of course, after this there were more abduction stories than you can shake a stick at. Another author, Whitley Strieber, wrote about his own perceived abduction experiences in the book "Communion" (1987), and that's the book that really caught the public eye because of the popularity of UFO topics in the 1980s.

Was God an astronaut? Did space aliens help build the pyramids? What's up with Easter Island anyway?

Another popular UFO mythology has to do with "ancient astronauts" and feeding the flames of that was this work of Erich von Daniken, "The Chariots of the Gods." (1968) Lots of questions and no answers. Even the book's title is a question. I gotta respect that. This series of books will really give you a lot of stuff to think about. Did man become so advanced in the future that he could go back in time and help early man? Were there really an Atlantis? Did man spring from Martian seed? Some stuff to discuss over the campfire. Far out. No... really!

Space aliens can't exist so they must be demons or angels (bad ones):

This article in the Conservative Voice, UFOs, Aliens, and Christianity, written by someone whose name is Babu, (cool name) is a commentary on former Apollo 14 astronaut, Dr. Edgar Mitchell, who claims that aliens exist and that NASA officials have had contact with them. It goes on to debunk the idea of alien species existing because because the evolution needed to be able to live "out there" would have been too lengthy and drastic to have happened. (The writer accepts evolution as only possible on the scale that makes one dog breed different from another). It goes on to say that even though God could have created these beings, it's much more likely that they are fallen angels or demons of Satan. It's a much more logical and believable explanation because it's in the Bible, which doesn't mention space aliens. [graphic is a t-shirt of mine]

Well we didn't even get going on the alien bodies from Roswell, Magestic 12, the Bermuda Triangle, cattle mutilations, Area 51, black helicopters, crop circles, the UFO in the Mona Lisa, all the admitted hoaxes created with pie plates and such, and my own UFO sighting which will have to wait for another post.

That's it for this installment of The Ministry of UFOs fireside chat. Here's my favorite alien hybrid, David Bowie, with Starman to play us out.


As for the Latin on the patch, it says "tastes like chicken." More about those patches here. Always remember and don't be fooled, "To Serve Man" is a cookbook.

Tags: UFO - demons

Furbaby Friday - Safe kitty, safe birdies

Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at Life from a cat's perspective - Cats - Catblogging