i just had a funny thought. here, in the world of the intarweb, there are sales folk, and design folk, and then the lowly developer. the developer actually produces a workable product — and when he/she does, or he fixes something, he/she is treated with great aplomb — because something REAL has finally been produced out of the great process. however, how real is what he/she has created? it’s just ones and zeroes.

Everyone is tensing for war over here. According to the liberal news media (heh — I just love saying that) anti-war sentiment is on the rise in the US, fueled by a lack of a credible argument from the Bush administration, and also possibly because much of the recent loss on the NYSE and NASDAQ are due to war fears. Well, tonight is the State of the Union address from President Bush. The proposed war and the economy (oh yeah! I forgot about the economy!) will be topics for sure.

There have been a good number of anti-war protests around the country (and the world), and no doubt the Bush administration will seek to ‘galvanize sentiment’ for the war. One thing that I personally have been clamoring for is some sort of proof from our own government that Iraq does indeed have these weapons of mass destruction (despite the lack of incriminating evidence from UN inspectors). Well — according to this CNN story — the US is to declassify intelligence on Iraq very soon.
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This intelligence release is well-timed — with the State of the Union tonight and a full invasion force in the Gulf by the end of February — I am interested in seeing this intelligence, and also interested to know why we couldn’t know this earlier. A clearer argument for war would have certainly helped the administration a few months ago. I don’t claim to be an intelligence or public relations expert, but I know I don’t appreciate a government who threatens war without a clear purpose that a majority of its constituency (or allies) does not support.

I don’t ask for a whole lot — I just want to feel like my government acts according to the principles it claims to support. As Americans we are hold true the tenet of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ — and I try to hold myself to that as best I can. I cannot merely assume without knowing — especially if people that I know and love could die.

Does this make me seem anti-government or anti-military? I hope not. I am thankful that I grew up and live in a country where I can speak my mind and question my government without repercussion. I am of the belief that war only breeds war and that peaceful means lead to peaceful ends. Therefore, I believe we should be charged with attempting peaceful means at all costs. Yes — there are times when prevention will not work and fighting is the only resort — but I do not think this is one of those times. Rather than to be besieged by a handful of countries in war — Iraq is and would be surrounded by an allegiance of far more by peaceful means.

Sigh.

Back during the Great Vacation of 2001 I picked up a ridiculously cheap sampler from Fat Possum Records — Not The Same Old Blues Crap II. This is, hands down — one of the best various-artists albums I own, and all for $5. The blues I heard on there were so far removed from the Stevie Ray Vaughns , B. B. Kings and Claptons of the world. They were raw and rough and full of soul — with a good beat behind them. Well, since my new-years resolution of listening to more good music has come in-line, I’ve stumbled upon The Black Keys (Jackson mentioned them, methinks) — who are also on Fat Possum, and do not let down the rest of the FP roster! For being my age, these guys (there are just two) sound like they’ve been busting rocks for years, and when they do get out of the pokey all they’ve got to look forward to is sharecropping in the Mississippi Delta. Well, maybe that is a little overboard — but the soul and swagger these two put into their music is rarely heard among blues musicians today.

They’ve got a new album (“Thickfreakness”) due out the 8th of April, and they are touring with Sleater Kinney in the coming months. What, you want MP3s? Oh, I guess.

i think that if i had the choice, i’d actually suffer through the film Final Destination if i never had to see, much LESS mouse-over this ad for Final Destination 2 that is currently on the banner at Ain’t It Cool. Wanna know something? IT AIN’T COOL.

update: in my re-editing of the above link to the CORRECT ad, i in fact moused-over the ad no less than 6 times.

and while Gold Star chili IS important… I got an email from a “cincinattian” today who informed me that there’s more than a riot goin’ on in Cincinnati… ;-). she mentioned WNKU, the NPR-news havin’ roots-rockin’ alternative to 97X, CincyMusic – a good place to check out cinci bands and possibly book a show if you are a travelling band, and lastly the Midpoint Music Festival — a big music festival with bands from all over the US and otherwise.

you know — from the tone of the email i received from this Sarah Hawkins, I somehow figured she was in public relations in some fashion. not to say i wasn’t excited to get the email, but i wondered. well, as it turns out — my hunch was correct. :) no one expects the google inquisition!

So, somehow I had never heard of WOXY 97X FM in Cincinatti. WOXY bills itself as “Modern Rock”, but what they really play is a good slate of indie stuff — most of which I haven’t heard. Right now, I’m listening to a little Zwan, and earlier there was a little Cat Power (which I’d heard of, but never heard), and up soon — Rainer Maria! Yaay!

Oh yeah, they are family-owned, none of this WQMF-style sellout to ClearChannel here! Also, they have a great sounding MP3 stream (48kbps), as well as a couple other streaming formats.

m@: an actually good rock radio station?
BenCorvus: shocking, i know!

after seeing Bowling for Columbine a few months back, i felt something that i didn’t expect after seeing such a brutal indictment of the US’s violent culture — I felt patriotic. Not that I’m not normally patriotic (which is something that is very relative). I consider myself to be extremely patriotic in that I believe in the idea that a vast, vast majority of Americans are peace-loving individuals that can be spurred to do amazing things. “Bowling” paints a pretty decent picture of the Canadians (at least compared to our seemingly rampant gun-fatality numbers here in the states), and more and more I hear people around me (hence, meaning ‘close to my political leanings’) mentioning that Canada doesn’t sound like a bad place to live.

However, I refuse to give up on this country. I refuse to let a small group of people lead us down a path with Iraq that is clearly not respected by the rest of the world, and a good number of American citizens. Is it unpatriotic to seek peaceful means until the very end? I should hope not.

I just finished up watching the rest of Band of Brothers. You know, when I was a kid, I loved the thought of the Army — guns and tanks and blowing shit up! Though, today, in no doubt a large part due to extremely graphic (and what I assume to be realistic) movies such as Saving Private Ryan and the Band of Brothers series I take a more reserved approach. It’s hard for me, at times, to watch those scenes without becoming visible disturbed. I can watch the goriest of movies with monsters and chainsaw-wielding psychos — but to see someone horribly mangled or die in the defense of their country is another thing all together. In World War II, we had no choice but to aid in the defense against a madman. In the Gulf War, it was in defense of a smaller nation. If we go marching into Iraq without the full support of our Allies, what does that say about our American values? In the scope of the world, me must stand united with our Allies, else we fall — a tenet that stands at the base of our culture. I cringe of the thought of American servicemen and women dieing in defense of something that most Americans do not support.

So, while at the Red Bull-sponsored Project Improv show, we all joked about how bull-semen or some bull-testicle related substance was included in Red Bull. I said that “I doubted” if anything of the sort was true. Eve, on the other hand, stated something that I have come to find very true — you never know about some foods, and if you are a vegan as she is, it pays to be cynical. Hunter, sitting between us and realizing that my simple mind is no match for the Vulcan-like logic that Eve possesses quickly interceded.

However — I made a mental note to figure out what WAS in Red Bull. A quick googling found that Snopes, as per usual, is a good place to start when attempting to dispel/prove most any rumor of this sort. Snopes states in this article that Red Bull does NOT include any animal products, “even the taurine is synthetically produced”. It also states that it does not include a banned Vietnam-era substance called glucuronolactone. However, not one to rely on only one source, I searched out other references.

One vegan on the vegan-l yahoo list gives us a link to the Red Bull FAQ which states that “Red Bull® Energy Drink is suitable for vegetarians. Red Bull® Energy Drink does not contain any animal products or substances derived from animals.”

Here is a Business week article briefly stating a doctor’s opinion of the stuff. Interested in this whole synthetic taurine thing, I found a number of links to vegan pet foods, including this one, which states “All pet food manufacturers use synthetic taurine, being both easier to use and more economical. I use synthetic taurine in my vegan cat food.”

In my estimation, Red Bull appears safe –
HOWEVER — all of this does not save Red Bull from smelling and tasting like the bile of the Stay-Puf Marshmellow man. It is sickly-sweet, and frankly I’d rather have a cup of coffee which a) costs less and b) probably has more caffeine. Or maybe just some bathtub crank. After all, if you made it in your own bathtub you know whats in it.

Trogdor the Burninator will destroy you!

friday night, the 17th, Jackson, Jason and I went up to beautiful Newport, KY to see Interpol at the Southgate House. Imagine your grandmother’s house — then imagine if she had been dead for 50 years, and then and only then would you get the true feeling of the Southgate House. There are two bars, one upstairs, and one down, at least three different venues of varying sizes, of which the main one has an upper and lower seating area. Also, this was the house that “Thompson” of the “Thompson (Tommy) Gun” was born. But enough about that — the showed rocked ($3 good bands for $11!).

First up was Mallory, some local talent from Cinci — and they put on a great show replete with German silent films playing in the background, to which they applied the soundtrack, and rocked. Next up was Calla, who put on a decidedly soft, but interesting set that was hampered a little by some audio problems. From what I heard, they were good, but I think they may be better when listened too..

Interpol came on and immediately got right into their groove. They aren’t a dynamic sound, by any means, and their music isn’t “groovy”, but the rhythm section turns out a great driving beat that I think the songs would be lacking if without. Anyway, more later perhaps — gotta go!