The Cruise Industry and the Messiah

Most everyone I tell I work on cruise ships responds with a smile. After almost ten years I have to ask myself do I still like the work. When I first began working in the cruise industry I could only think having a job on the ocean in the entertainment industry must be delightful. The travel is the highpoint. Having to “Greet and Smile” every single crewmember and guest within a ten foot radius all day long is a chore. If it does not feel like a chore, then you become brainwashed to believe this is real life. As soon as you return to the states shock will set in, unless you simply ignore your environment and continue with your learned protocol. In this situation you can be a good influence on America. The United States Armed Services providing this service to the Middle East is suspect. Where in the historical philosophy of America did our military absorb the role of Christian missionaries? While Ronald Reagan favored a large defense budget, I’m not sure this would have been his view. Star Wars was a satellite-based missile defense system intended to protect the continental United States from a rogue nuclear attack. The operative words are National Defense. Currently our military is playing National Offense. Strategically playing strong offense can be the best defense, but it is more expensive. The media currently says the United States is involved in three wars. Recognizing missionaries in full combat dress must be confusing. It is liberal. It is bleeding heart liberal. Being involved in three wars in the Middle East seems Islamic. Using the United States military as Christian/Islamic missionaries seems Obamic. Is it correct many of the opposition to President Obama’s policies pointedly refer to his middle name Hussein? These realizations seem to mark the President as a prophet. Is that what we need in a President? Does America further need to empty her pockets as a closet imperialist paving the way for Republican globalization? Has Haliburton suddenly grown an ethical partner exploring a new way to drain the pockets of other countries? It is a complex issue. When I see American military leaders communing Christianly with the indigenous peoples of countries with which we are at war, it turns my stomach. Isn’t war ugly? How can we promote peace with the local populaces and still effectively defeat their insurgencies? Suddenly Donald Rumsfeld’s military strategy for defeating Saddam Hussein doesn’t seem so bad. It was a war. It was dirty and ugly and brutal. Mercilessly we bombed strategic points of Iraqi infrastructure rendereing their country impotent of maintaining civil life. All the while Haliburton was poised to save the day and fill their pockets. Whose pockets will be filled if successfully we are able to democratize Afghanistan? Who will reap the rewards of all those poppies? Who will harvest their vast supply of natural resources? Who currently is tapping those destroyed oil wells in Iraq? The media doesn’t seem to have much to say about Iraq these days. What is going on there? Formerly the French and the Russians maintained successful oil contracts with Iraqi suppliers. Christian/Islam beliefs although meritorious to man don’t work in times of war. What happens? The wars linger on in an attempt to breed American allies overseas. What happened in Korea and Viet Nam? President Nixon masterminded our exit from the Viet Nam war, and little subsequently was heard about the evil regime of Pol Pot. The decision is made and we wash our hands of the altercation, such as Iraq. I for one in belief in the concept of war feel it should not be painted over with happy tidings. Rebuilding countries from within within our construct is nothing more than Imperialism. We can act the Messiah when doing it, but is Christianity and Islam the right path for war? It certainly is the most expensive.

An Obituary

In a heartfelt shout out I must express my sincere condolences for Mr. Seagate Barracuda 9.2GB Ultra SCSI 3.5LP Internal Hard Drive purchased from MacMall in Memphis, Tennessee at a cost of $242.94 on December 29, 2000. On April 27, 2011 this worthy piece of gear humbly passed away quietly ceasing to exist. It flawlessly produced 12 CD projects of my own in a home studio driven by an Ohio State University surplus PowerMac 7100/80. On a shoestring budget I was able to piece together a professional MIDI/audio production tool seamlessly integrating digital audio and MIDI sequencing. With the help of Digidesign’s Sound Designer ll, Mark of the Unicorn’s Digital Performer and Unisyn, SampleCell ll, Adaptec’s Toast, and a Sharp MD-720 Mini Disk Recorder I was able to create music as good as any professional commercial recording studio. It kicked hard to the end scanning over 70 pieces of music on an Apple One Scanner lost with its demise. While I still possess several other SCSI hard drives, one possibly with Apple’s OS 8.5 still installed, I could recreate my personalized suite of music software. With tomorrow comes the task of retrieving my original install disks and CD-ROM’s of audio files. With a little luck and patience I may be able to resurrect this worthy computer-based audio/MIDI production system. All is not lost, because I have been diligent to upgrade this software with each purchase of a newer Apple laptop computer. This seemingly archaic combination of hardware utilizing NUBUS technology made producing music a snap. Maybe my removal and storing of the MOTU Micro Express MIDI interface was too much for it to handle. It felt the loss and decided it could not stand alone. Somehow in a stroke of good fortune I saw fit to copy my FreeMIDI setup to a floppy disk. While Mac OS X seems not to recognize these worthy files, still the archiving may be fruitful. Ten years is a reasonable existence, although many of these years were spent sitting idle in a box. The years it functioned saw great demand for its product recording digital audio flawlessly. Never once did I have a problem with this hard drive, and I will keep it as a token of my appreciation to the Creator for blessing me with the ability to compose, perform, and record music.

America, To Be or Not To Be?

The Republicans still are in control. The initiative of the political campaigns leading up to November 2012 elections should be regaining control of the House of Representatives. The Democrats need 25 seats to regain a majority of 218 out of 435 seats. This is reasonable.

Recently President Obama said there was no easy fix to rising oil prices. This is the answer. Without Democratic control of both the Senate and House of Representatives, no successful economic legislation is possible. Somehow the President pushed through a Health Care Reform. In pure Republican fashion opponents covertly urged judges on the state level to declare the legislation unconstitutional. This is prime example how the Republican party works. This is how George W. Bush won the presidential election in Florida against Al Gore. (It is interesting the insightful and telling HBO movie “Recount” about the event remains cloaked.) Republicans manipulate the system in their favor with a savvy and thorough understand of the law. It doesn’t hurt their party was privy to the inception of some of the legislation. Much like negotiating a successful contract, it helps when you design it. If Democrats would step up to the plate and embrace the intimate relationship with the law in America, they would have a better chance. If you can’t win with the preexisting rules, then change them. This is how winners are made no matter how unscrupulous. The task first is to win back the House.

The rhetoric on television is so spun it is difficult to hear the truth. No one really knows what anyone thinks, and the immediacy of digital news media is to blame. Any sound bite that is “dropped” is exaggerated in pure immediate gratification. It would be best to turn off the television and read a newspaper. Gaming philosophy is not appropriate for news coverage.

An example of healthy television network competition lies in the production of these show.

Arts and Entertainment- Storage Wars, Flip This House

The History Channel- Pawn Stars

The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel- Orange County Choppers

HGTV- Holmes on Homes

Animal Planter- River Monsters

These shows exemplify American ingenuity and integrity with no spin. It is no mystery they rate high for the Nielsen Corporation. These are reality shows at their finest, and each network has conceptualized a production formula that works for their aesthetic. Somehow in the midst of a plural stage, they are able to integrate a singular viewpoint giving heart to the situation. Telling a story with a formula works, as long as you understand the formula. Jerry Seinfeld might have been the first star of the TV Sit-Com formula. While the vehicle has been around many more decades, Seinfeld openly explored and utilized this small form. What can you do in 22 minutes to present a comedic exposition, develop it, and provide often a sentimental denouement to end? This tried and true formula is not really a formula, or is it? Formulas are crucial, as they represent the very humanity of man. They are time-tested vignettes reinforcing what man has learned over the centuries. They can change as the evolution of jazz has shown. Also they cement the humanistic premises of man. Currently with the instability of America’s political and economic structures, there is nothing to represent these complex and often chaotic existences. Pop music knows this, because the world of commercial music yet has offered an artist with the ability to understand, synthesize, and creatively comment on America. Bob Dillon and Joan Baez had a better go of it. There is no escaping the influences of Islam and Eastern-based musics. As jazz showed with its nurturing of the Avant-garde, America’s pop music will have to open itself to Abstract Expressionist ideals. Traditional tonality must be expanded bursting the commercially built bubble of tertian happiness. American’s fully are capable of experiencing stark, real, meaningful life issues cold turkey of the anodynes of popular television. They are waiting, as we are waiting for oil prices to drop.

Is it Live or Memorex?

After accidentally watching a snippet of the television “news show” Nancy Grace, I was shocked to hear a fabricated phone call intended to be an actual call from a menacing killer. It almost slipped by me. First I wondered how her program could have gained access to a private phone call. Blatantly then I remembered past President George W. Bush’s unconstitutional wiretapping legislation. It expired a few times. After Congress let it slip into oblivion, Bush personally contacted wireless phone companies and demanded their records. Pressured by the ruse of the federal government they obliged. Maybe it wouldn’t be so difficult for Ms. Grace to call Verizon and ask for a recording of a personal voice mail. It wasn’t a voice mail. It was an actual call. Then I realized it must have been a “dramatization.” These are rampant on television today. Drama is a large portion of television’s programming. The bothering thing was that although many people know shows of her type are meant for entertainment, it blurs the boundaries between actual news reporting and television fodder. For a brief moment I was confused. Was this a real news show, or was it a sitcom? Ms. Grace said the call was authentic. She said it was the actual call. Then a bogus voice over repeated the words of the culprit. It was done so poorly no one could believe it was a real crank call. No one could believe it was a stalker. Was it? The issue in my mind could be representative of the entire media debacle unfolding around us today. Where are the boundaries? There seem to be none as the web appears on phones. Text appears on phones. You can pay your bills with a phone. It seems like almost any human need can be met by cross-platforming any wireless device. Is it a video game? Is it the iTunes Music Store? Many gaming companies’ goal ten years ago was effectively to disguise the boundary between real and cyber. Newspeak. Newspeak. Newspeak. Fabricating the news for political gain. Who can we trust? Who can we believe? I can’t even look at the news anymore. It one more rogue African or Egyption nation launches a rebellion or attempted coup, my head will spin. It is not uncommon, but like television it is a vying for top media time. I thought I never would say it, but Rupert Murdoch’s NewCorp actually upped the bar for news reporting. After lobbying fiercely to regulate Internet news reporting or make it a pay service, annotations of source have begun popping up in news articles online. This is a good thing. The Internet is the bubble of American freedom. Slowly we will see its emancipation quashed by corporate America, but amazingly lawmakers still are protecting its anonymity. Still in my mind I tell myself I can’t believe anything. The “spin” factor is in effect, and I have forgotten it. Mr. Obama says there is no easy fix for rising oil prices. There is. All of the corporate deregulation that has occurred over the last four decades could be reversed. The gouging could be stymied. That’s an easy fix. He must have been referring to the continuing stalemate in our federal government. In the last minutes before a government shutdown, the democrats and republicans reached a compromise. Mr. Obama could not have a government shutdown on his watch. Was that real or was it a “dramatization?”

The Current Shite State

The cobwebs in my mind are getting dense. It feels like I am getting dense. The television news is so negative it is difficult to follow. Should I feel guilty for not conceding to the lowest level of human suffering? Today is Maundy Thursday, the day of Jesus’ Last Supper with his Apostles. Certainly His crucifixion is worthy of our utter empathy. We know Easter Sunday is a day of epic celebration of the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead. Toeing the line between mania and depression, between utter sadness and glee, or between death and life is a delicate balancing act. Without the enlightenment of the concept of human loss there can be no real soul. As we attempt to keep our heads above the rising water of what seems to be an impending end of the world, where is the healthy balance between religious conscience, artistry, and humanity? Is it appropriate like some affluent World War ll era families to ignore the bombs reigning down and continue to celebrate life? Is it more appropriate to become sullen, introverted, and laden with guilt at the thought of pursuing human happiness? The death of Jesus in Christianity always was meant to provide its soul. Jesus’ sacrifice by his Father was meant to be the quintessential example of Christian love. Still it seems the bulk of humanity seems not to be cognizant. When Time magazine publishes in issue questioning the integrity of Christianity, America is in trouble. When we abolish scripture from public building and monuments we are in trouble. When we abolish prayer in the classroom, even on a menial level, we are in trouble. America cannot rely upon organized religions to provide her piety. One only has to remember the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. Only has to remember the massive financial settlement of the Catholic Church attempting to cover the dirty penises of their pedophiliac and homosexual priests. It is an atrocity. What also are other American atrocities? The continual preening of an over-extended military deployed thousands of miles away in a country whose political importance is unbeknownst to most Americans. The continual subsidizing of these soldiers in an attempt to cover their war wounds both physical and psychological. The allowance of the oil industry and Wall Street to drive up the price of crude oil to line their own pockets. This is where leadership is called into play. There is a huge hypocrisy brewing in America, and the epithets keep flying. The only way to lance the cyst is to cognitively understand the presence of these unacceptable issues and attempt to find logical solutions. The conversation between current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and past Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Charlie Rose’s television program was a start. It seems after several years of floundering without an appropriate public persona, the ghost of Madeleine Albright as risen. Hillary is beginning to recognize and understand her role with the emergence of the Egyptian coup. The centuries old Israeli Palestinian conflict was a bit much to conquer on her first term. Past President Bill Clinton cut his teeth on the Bosnian conflict, so there is a history of success in their genes. No one is more capable of steering corporate America in the right direction than Mr. Obama. Unless he steps up to the plate and deals with the oil industry, it would seem America is on the brink of her own coup. Americans seem unwilling to sacrifice their personal automobiles. It will take a massive effort from somewhere to propose and begin to implement a socioeconomic change downgrading the cash cow of the automobile. Oil companies do not want this. Also the ridiculous Socialist construct of the American Military Complex must be restructured and reduced. B.R.A.C. or Base Realignment and Closure is not working. From first hand experience in Fayetteville, North Carolina our town completely is incapable of handling yet another influx of G.I.’s. The urban sprawl all ready has overtaxed roads. With our federal government's immediate axing of federal highway funds, how will America’s current transportation infrastructure maintain? If villages, towns, and cities continue to build a system with reliance on the automobile, how will American’s ever make the change? The decades long squeeze of the oil industry on our federal government has to be loosened for a change to take place. Otherwise Americans simply will continue to go into debt fueling their cars. Maybe another energy crisis is necessary to provide that soul to the American people. As no one seems to remember, there were automobiles being produced in early l980’s that were capable of achieving 70 miles to the gallon. Where are they? Do any of the new hybrids accomplish this? Obama needs to step up to the plate. The current state of affairs completely is unacceptable.