Tesla and the Mine Collapse

On an episode of Orange County Choppers which aired a year ago, a phenomenon occurred that had the shop in disarray. An expensive and unfinished custom chopper that was designed and being built by the Teutul Clan inexplicably fell off the rack. The Paul’s were mystified, confused, and concerned. The bike, representing their livelihood, was in jeopardy at the whim of some unseen and misunderstood force. How could such a thing (Murphy’s Law) enter their shop and like an aeronautic gremlin wreak havoc on their highly coveted creation? What force had the characteristics necessary to make a bike weighing hundreds of pounds move and then fall off of its perch? What force could make a bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota? What force could cause the earth to move creating a cave in in a mine in Huntington, Utah? While other forces in nature could be responsible as well as the neglected necessary maintenance by man, it is more plausible the combination of a natural force irresponsibly misunderstood by man and his failure to manage it could have caused these things. The government has always known magnetic fields are not healthy for human beings. An electro-magnetic wave is a duality, a combination of an electrical charge and a magnetic field being propagated in the air. To look at a diagram of one of these waves should raise doubts, because like the windings in an AC induction motor, they just look demonic. It has taken man a long time to harness the power of the Tesla-derived AC induction motor. It was not until the early l990’s that General Electric, in cooperation with Siemens, began to mass produce low frequency drives for use in rail, marine, and industrial applications. The first example of their mainstream use could be represented by the “Taos Hum.” General Electric, undercontract by Molycorp, Inc., designed and built an underground conveyor system to haul molybdenum ore from the mine to the refinery. This replaced an existing DC rail system with a slow moving conveyor belt powered by these new AC drives. Unlike traditional DC motors with mechanical “brushes” whose speed is controlled by amperage, AC drives emply a rotating electro-magnetic field to turn the rotor with no contact between the stator and the rotor. The stator requires a complex series of “windings” to produce that magnetic field. The speed of these motors has always been the problem. It was not until the advent of the (P)ersonal (C)omputer a suitable method was found. A software program processes the electricity after it is rectified into DC. Then it is “inverted” back to AC with a new and complex circuit called an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) or Thrysistor. The frequency of the processed AC current becomes the speed of the motor. In essence when the drives are turning slow, which is their main use and strong point, the AC power feeding them is the same frequency. Because there is a tremendous amount of residual electricity being “resisted” in the circuits, it creates a hum. I am not sure if these rotating electro-magnetic fields could be the corresponding source of low frequency electro-magnetic waves, or only if a radio transmitter oscillator can produce these. It would be worth researching. What is known is “The Hum” is being heard because its source is underground. Sound not only travels more quickly through solids than air, it also is a manifestation of radio waves. Otoacoustic is a term used to describe sound produced in the ear by a means other than external sound. It is most commonly thought of as radio-produced. There have been documented instances where people have been able to “hear” radio waves by the resulting otoacoustic sounds they produce in the human ear. Tinnitus may be the best examples of this. Phosphenes similarly are visual effects “seen” by people from increased electrical activity in the retina of the eye. It stands to reason radio waves at any given frequency are not going to produce positive effects in the human being. It is all ready common knowledge certain frequencies of electromagnetic waves are dangerous to humans. Ultra-Violet, Infra-Red, X-Rays, and Gamma radiation are examples of these. How could low frequency electro-magnetic radiation be any different? If infrasonic frequencies of sound are the most destructive could it not be extrapolated these parallel frequencies of electricity could produce similar effects? Magnetic waves pulsate. The brain uses electrical waves for thought and emotion. The human heart beats. Any extraneous waves effecting these systems could be detrimental to human functions. How could electro-magnetic energy effect a bridge and the earth like the human body? The universe is made up of space filled with rapidly oscillating atoms. If they are disrupted by another force that is also oscillating, then their all ready existing documented characteristics could be weakened. Just like the appearance of visible light could be being effected by modulation of its frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum, the properties of elements in the periodic table could be being adversely effected by electro-magnetic waves. Humans crave “stability.” Bombarding our elements, our bodies, and therefore our minds with extraneous electrical energy is unmerited. The powers of the mind (creativity) can not be unleashed when “the power” is “empowered” by artificial, irresponsible, man-made means.

Today's Top Ten Most Desirable Hollywood Divorcees

1. Christina Applegate

2. Kim Basinger

3. Halle Berry

4. Lisa Hartman (just kidding)

5. Jennifer Connelly (just kidding)

6. Meredith Baxter

7. Linda Hamilton

8. Christy McNichol

9. Gretchen Mol (?)

10. Jennie Garth

Musical Shakespearean Tragedy

The “Eutaw Gang” in junior high school consisted of Joey, Peanut, Forrest, Pat, Tye, and me. Each of us down to earth guys had a motorcycle. My abused l971 CT-70H trail bike had seen better days. The front forks had been replaced, so the traditional folding handle bars that allow the machine to be tossed in a trunk were gone. The wiring didn’t work either. It did start and run most of the time. After mentoring sessions where my parents had to be present for the riding session, I finally graduated to freedom riding! They were strict that I obey the local laws, while the rest of our gang freely rode in the streets. You had to be aggressive, elusive, and quick to avoid getting caaught by a cop. I did not have these skills, and I did not have the majority of other skills necessary to be cool. I began to learn. Although I was “Junior” in this particular gang, I had been “gang leader” in our neighborhood before junior high school. Steve and Dwayne were in my gang, but they were younger than me making me “Senior.” I was “Paul Sr.” back then, but now I am “Paul lll”. My father, “Paul Jr.” is “Paul Sr.” My grandfather, the real “Paul Sr.” is dead, thank God! Don’t get me wrong. I miss him, but enough is enough. Although my father no longer works in music his reputation proceeds him. That has made it difficult for me to make my mark in the field of music. He still is clinging to the last remnants of his past musical existence, and that means there will be no “passing of the torch” until he has kicked the bucket. How I ended up back in my hometown being perceived as his child is beyond me. How can social strata in a particular town be so staid? I didn’t ask to be thought of as a child and therefore treated as such. It is just your existence as a child also was a major part of their existence as adults. You must not be able to ask aging people to learn how to relate to you as a grown adult. Until you staunchly proclaim yourself an adult and conquer their previous roles with force, they never will concede. This is the definition of “Old Money,” of which I hate so fervently. Welcome to the American South. Because it is far easier to fit in and, “Do as the Romans do,” it is unlikely to happen. “Until death do us part,” is more applicable. I lament and sob at my inability to become actualized as an adult in the eyes of my parents. How can you when the kingdom is so well guarded by their posts as guards? They consider me a failure, yet they keep me at bay by not allowing me to become who I am by exposing my love of music. My love of music does not coincide with my fathers, and that has always been his secret weapon in life. This is not how it was and should be in their eyes. Children are supposed to love their parents above everything, even if that means they become a failure in life. Your effort in music was always a gift for them, and this is what they expect it to be now. There is no room for personal indulgence. That is not allowed, because your areas of probable happiness are in direct opposition to theirs. They have no real happiness, but their eyes are upon you for using your life to provide that happiness by living their past lives through you. What a tragedy it is that your nurturing parents will never be able to understand, appreciate, and enjoy who you are through your own music. The ego is so big, that it won’t allow any other purveyors of the craft of music. What a tragedy a man thinks his son is the enemy, because it is a fight to the death to retain your own happiness.

William Shakespeare.

(not really)

Time to Move on...

What is oppressive about the American South is they live a sheltered existence. Evolution seems to have stopped below the Mason Dixon line. It is emotionally stifling to live in a place that offers no upward mobility in spirituality. Tradition must play a large role in this stance of the Bible Belt, and I’m sure wealthy conservatives want to keep things just the way they are. Unfortunately as an artist nothing could be worse than the prospect of “no growth.” Reliving the same experiences over and over in an outdated traditions may provide stability and happiness for some, but for the rest of us that have yet to begin our lives this feels like death. Nostalgically harking back to the days of yore is a waste of time. I learned this lesson the hard way. It is better to pick yourself up and move on. That is why I feel no specific loss at not owning a house or a wife. Those things are a lot of responsibility, and in today’s housing market the value of a wife may drop just like the Dow Jones Industrial Average. “Feed me!” The only thing I find loss in is the seeming unavailability of a future. When everyone is so set in their ways, you must leave to find your own destiny. (By the way, I am so tired of listening to the Goddamn droning of 82nd Airborne planes. Can we get the fuck out of this war? Why is it they must do their runs at night?) Emotional stagnation is a curse, and if your whole life exists around trying to resurrect the past you are doomed to misery. Intimacy is nice. Having someone to talk to could be nice. You can learn to live without them with the aid of music and a blog. It’s time to move on….

Kateland

My relationship with Kateland was exemplary. Having experienced two years of destitute, violent, and unpleasant existence, like the Jews who escaped the gas chambers of Hitler’s Nazi German I envisioned and created my own future. Their vision became Hollywood, and my vision was my future relationship with Kateland. I fed and nutured this entity, and I summoned her to follow me. I taught us how to succeed in love. I also taught us about sex. The interesting thing about this was I turned the tables on my junior high school years. For two years I was manipulated by the system and its women, until I developed the skills and personality traits necessary to create my own reality. This was the bubble in which I lived for the next eleven years. I have one person to thank for my awareness of sexuality. It was “the girl next door.” Although I was experiencing pain and frustration at school, I was honing my skills looking and being cool. This neighbor was the first one to notice and respond to me. It was peculiar, because she was my sister’s best friend and was four years older. This was socially unacceptable, so she covertly managed her campaign of seduction and manipulation. I was receiving sexual favors from her, so I did not mind her mental abuse. This process is what taught me how to become the manipulator, and I extrapolated that in my future relationship with Kateland. In the process of seducing her and with a great feeling of revenge, I punished Stephanie for her past cool disinterest and abuse during our junior high school years. As my body and mind evolved into a more sexual package, Stephanie was finally effected. This is what she had wanted all along, but it was too late for us. I had moved on and taken over her role as the desired one. Somehow I knew what it took to fuel romance. There was a formula. It meant having to have a good time. It meant providing positive feelings. It meant spending your money. Whence you invest comes your reward. You get what you pay for, whether it in the short or long term. We went to the movies every weekend. I filled her jewelry box with tasteful bling. I bought designer pajamas and monogrammed sweaters. I taught her on how to be a sophisticated women. This I had learned from being the member of an affluent Episcopal church. While this bubble lasted a long time, it was destined to pop. Twenty-two years later although positive reminiscence comes and goes, I no longer think of Kateland. She is married children. The many trinkets I have saved that remind me of her are all neatly packed away. The problem is my mother can not forget this bubble. She still thinks it is a possible reality. Those years were a sizeable part of my growing up, and they became a part of her. I have moved on spiritually and emotionally but she, living in that same house and realizing her relationship with my aging father is dying, she is not capable of moving on. As a result I am forced to live in this past chapter that she longs for and sees as desirable. Unfairly but without knowing she projects her loss upon me, subconsciously blaming me, because I do not have that now. Upon feeling outdated and chronologically out-of-date feelings it is confusing and stressful. Who wants to re-live the negative aspects of your past? It appears my parents have lived vicariously through the experiences of their children. This cannot be appropriate, is it? I have sympathy, because I have had the experiences necessary to understand what is happening. In a time of your own emotional weakness their feelings can become superimposed over your own creating depression and neurosis. Who knew being in a family was this difficult?

Peanut Snarper and Desegregation in the Public Schools

Kateland was my first love. While I was in first grade America implemented de-segregation in the public schools. While attending Belvedere Elementary School in Fayetteville, North Carolina token African-Americana students were brought to our school. It must have been difficult for them, having been plucked from their own neighborhoods, bussed across town, and transplanted to a predominantly caucasion school. Who could imagine that feeling except the student who experienced it? African-Americans have been experiencing similar things throughout the history of the United States, because the appearance of the black man in America was a product of slavery. What a burden to have to carry your whole life. After three years of being the majority at Belvedere the tables got turned. I became the transplanted student being bussed across town to Ramsey Street Elementary School. (Back in those days we used the words "black" and "white" before Political Correctness had even been invented. Black and white were straightforward words we all understood.) I didn’t have strife at Ramsey Street Elementary, because the students were not old enough to understand racism. Kids were just kids, and they were not concerned with trivial seeming issues such as race. Being a kid was hard enough. Why stir the color of your skin into the stew of pubescent problems such as pimples, greasy hair, being fat, and having crooked teeth? Luckily I had all of these, and they appeared appropriately and ironically during junior high school. Junior high in addition to fostering these complications, it turns out offered the same social injustice provided by de-segregation. Unlike my experience at Ramsey Street School, Washington Drive was a tough black school in the middle of an urban downtown. (In retrospect it could have been considered "inner-city.") I learned immediately what it felt like to get dropped off in a place facing a daunting, indifferent, but offensive schoolyard of strange black faces that seemed to have no interest in accommodating what appeared to be a weak white student. I became "vic" for continued attempts of extortion of my lunch money accompanied by threats of violence if I didn’t comply. As a twelve year old I was at a loss for not having been schooled in how to handle it. This was my first introduction to the art of politics, and little did I know it meant being an effective talker. This was a street education, and it was thrust upon me without my choice. With surprise and no desire to experience it, I resisted hoping for a better enlightened situation. (This came only after becoming involved in the music program playing in the band) Over time and with continued strain my thick head finally realized I had better use my street friends as role models for accommodating these urban African-Americans. ("When in Rome you do as the Romans do...," as the song says.) My best friend Peanut Snarper was the most successful. Like James Dean he all ready was interesting as a person. He possessed all the necessary characteristics to be be popular. He was aware of these things and worked on the aspects of appearance and personality. A cool haircut was necessary. Long hair finally was reaching us in suburban/urban America in l977, so your haircut went a long way to keep away bullies. This is when I had to let my hair grow out for the first time. Who new hair had such magical powers that its study merited becoming a Broadway musical? Sampson rules. Peanut had a flair for dressing cool. You couldn’t just wake up and pull something out of the bureau. You needed a theme in your clothing. My first girlfriend although resistant and abusive used the "athletic" or "warm up" suit as her tool of survival. When you are not that attractive or well spoken, something must become your tool of survival. This item represented that you had your life together. Something was providing happiness, so the utter despair of being in a tough, poor, urban, ghetto school the majority of your day didn’t depress you. Although the principal announced "sweats" were not appropriate school attire, she pushed the envelope and wore these colorful striped cotton and polyester warm up suits anyway. Peanut cut the sleeves off of his sweatshirts and wore a flannel shirt on top of them. He even had a motorcycle in junior high school! (Incidentally this is when my own personal quest began for acquiring a motorcycle.) When I became aware of these cool habits, I was summoned to follow for the sheer sake of survival. I was tired of being bullied. I taught myself how to draw using Peanut's drawing as my model. He drew the Peterbuilt and International trucks. His father was a truck driver that was gone most of the time, so he was exposed to these things. His mother was German. I learned how to draw these things along with the Panzer tank. We branched out and began using our own creativity as a guide for subjects to draw. I started an underwater empire with interesting submarines and artillery pieces. We learned how to draw warfare with explosions and flames coming from muzzles of the guns. We also had a game we invented where with the flick of a pencil you could destroy an enemy by drawing straight line from your man to theirs. These were survival techniques that allowed you to rise above the ignorance that surrounded you. I tried to get the girl, but my body was not muscular enough. Skateboarding fixed this, because I was able to shed unwanted pounds of accumulated baby fat around my middle. This is why I hold skateboarding in such high exteem. It allowed me finally to “get the girl.” After two years of living in fear, I was poised to devour the rewards for such a destitute existence. Enter Kateland. Upon attending a mostly white, affluent, highly respected high school where both my parents taught, an attractive and sexually confident girl bumped me with her hip at the pencil sharpener in Mrs. Shaw’s American history class. I’ll repeat that. She bumped my hip with hers. There was no precursory talk. There were no fond glances. There were no love notes. She made the first move, a calculated strike for what she wanted. I didn’t respond immediately, because with my new-found popularity attributed to Peanut and weight loss due to skateboarding, I had multiple choices. My long hair, newly thin body, and agility on a skateboard were appealing to middle-classed girls. I didn’t have to do much but be cool. They approached me. There was Laura Lambert, a charming down home beauty with a voluptuous body to match. There was Candice White, an avid talker with braces and an ample and well defined breasts. There was Janet Beard, the girl I had chased the majority of elementary school. Back then I did not have the “talk” necessary to gain the affections a woman. Still we flirted. She sat in the back of that history class. As the years evolve the posse that was in vogue at Washington Drive was not the posse in vogue at Terry Sanford High School. My old clique quietly faded into oblivion, smoking pot, drinking Tuborg Gold beer, and making below average grades. They were replaced by a budding, adolescent, heterosexual love. Is there any better kind?

Today’s Top Ten MIL(TSITN) List (Mother I’d Like to See in the News)

1. Julia-Louis Dreyfus

2. Elizabeth Perkins

3. Katherine Zeta Jones

4. Anne Archer

5. Elizabeth Hurley

6. Jacqueline Bisset

7. Kelly LeBrock

8. Elizabeth McGovern

9. Natasha Henstridge

10. Halle Berry


P.S. Jennifer Connelly (Be-yatch!)

A Netanyahu...

What do you call a Likud-active Isreali living in the Australian outback who crochets for peace of mind?

The Evolution of Musical Creativity

Moving away from Columbus the first time was one of the most difficult decisions I have had to make other than deciding where to go for college when I was 18. I had picked myself up by the bootstraps and up and moved 500 miles away to a strange and distant city full of the prospect of doctoral studies and music making. It was not an easy transition, because I found the music composition department at Ohio State in a state of chaotic disrepair upon arriving there. Things were awry and amiss, but because I was paying ten large in out-of-state tuition I stuck it out. More than ten years later I ended up moving back to the South, and I regret it. I did not finish the degree, but that chapter is not over yet. Why did I move? After having cornea transplant surgery and dropping out of school, I had to make a living. I began playing music full-time, and for the period of one year I was able to make a living as a performing musician. It took a lot of “driving your shoes” around, but with various venues in which to play I made it work. We worked at the Hyatt Regency in their lounge. I played jazz gigs at Barrister Hall. I played with Yumbambe at the Columbus Music Hall. It was a good year, but suddenly and without warming it came to a halt. Two prodigious piano players moved back to their home town of Columbus rendering me gig-less. They took back all their old gigs, so my skills were no longer needed. “Columbus helps its own.” I still believe this statement. It didn’t matter how good you were. What mattered was there was a finite amount of paying gigs, and only the “in crowd” got to play those gigs. I used to play at Lindy’s in German Village. I used to play at Hyde Park Bar and Grill. I use to play at the Statehouse. When this happened I began playing in the ghetto. A change was imminent, so I joined a predominantly African-American, “Old School R&B,” Hip/Hop band. For two years I usually was the only white person in the club, and I got used to it. No one really cared about your skin color. They just cared whether or not you could play good-feeling music. That requirement I met and did well. I worked hard on that gig, and it was a challenge. We played in a variety of keys. People sat in. You had to know various styles of music. Foremost I had to have the right “rig.” Piano it turned out did not satisfy the requirements in this kind of musical environment. The keys were too heavy, and the sound of the instrument didn’t sustain long enough to have a strong enough sonic impact. Organ was the proper choice with synth patches. I designed and put together a small, portable, 2 keyboard system based on the architecture of the Hammond B-3. It consisted of two 5 octave non-weighted keyed synthesizers controlling a 6 space rack of outboard gear. I had the best sounds possible in a small visually unappealing package. It yielded stereo mixed keyboard sounds with digital reverberation and chorus. I would put one amplifier on either side of the stage and position myself in the sweet spot. I used an organ module with 7 drawbars that had a Leslie on/off switch controlled with your foot. I also used a volume pedal. With that particular set-up I could effectively play this music. Since working on ships for five years, I have been back at the mercy of weighted-action digital pianos. I always have to program these instruments. They are capable of creating great sounds, but they do not come with them from the factory. When technology permits I carry a little memory card with my presets on it. MOTU’s editor/librarian Unisyn doesn’t provide the necessary “profiles” needed for the instruments I play. Being able to carry programming data from ship to ship on a laptop would speed up the process of performing well, since you will never sound good on a bad patch. The second generation Yamaha DX-7llFD with a Gray Matter expansion board is still my axe of choice for quality of sound and versatility. There are adequate sounds for a variety of different musical styles, and the sounds have a wide expressive band width. That means they are ‘fat!’ Keyboard playing has become a lost art, and the majority of my rigs are in storage. From time to time I like to reminisce and remember what it was like to play keyboard-based music with a group that truly knows styles of music and “how to swing.” It is unfortunate pop-based, sequenced, guitar-oriented music has forced many good keyboard players to quit cruise ship gigs.

A Declaration of Electoral Revolution

It is interesting and timely the “credit bubble” has finally popped. This irresponsible campaign by credit card companies all but ruined the stability of the United States economy. What a bad habit into which to get, spending money that you don’t have. Eventually reality would be the mediator, the Moses of the U.S. economy. What has become the basis of the stock market, smoke and mirrors rather than the true performance of a company, just couldn’t last. Why has it become passé to value a commodity fairly? There can be no other answer than simple greed. Price gouging, which best could be represented by oil companies posted their highest returns in history when gasoline soared to three dollars a gallon, is unconscionable. It reflects anachronistic periods of European history where “court” or the ruling class just got too big for their pants and the common people revolted. In pre-Soviet Russia emancipated Serfs rebelled against Tsar Nicolas ll, because although they had been freed they were still reliant upon landowners for their survival. The idea that those who worked the land should own it became paramount, in stark contradiction to the buying up of land in the United States by Big Business with eyes to make large profits only for themselves. It seems our country slowly but surely will reach the same fate. Although our Constitution implies certain freedoms are being upheld, covertly under the Republican-led Bush Administration our individual freedoms are regressing. Nothing could better represent these miscarriages of legislation than “Eminent Domain,” the taking of land from common citizens for PRIVATE use. Think of the thousands of misplaced residents of New Orleans which by the fate of a naturally occurring disaster are being exploited and face their losing their property. Instead of the federal government protecting the rights of these average people, Big Business is attempting to coerce their property from them with the prospect of more corporate-produced, cold, calculated, industrialized resort communities. Most middle to lower class wage earning citizens can’t afford to stay at these places having been reserved for the elite wealthy. Should this trend of attempted rule by a private but government-backed totalitarian regime be allowed to continue? It certainly can’t, and we have the historical facts from two other countries experiencing similar circumstances to prove it. Wikipedia’s definition of the French Revolution best sums up this sentiment. “1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Enlightenment principles of democracy, citizenship, and inalienable rights.” Why is it that the United States engaged in a similar movement of revolution from the British Empire from l775-1783, but today our fundamental rights and freedoms penned in the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution are being assaulted by lawmakers on a daily basis? This can only be a gross error in the election process of our ruling body. The American people thus are summoned by the survival of their own country to cleanse it of this grievous wrong-doing of loss of personal freedoms in the name of the wealthy.

Polacks Can't Play Jazz

Why is it that Polish men just don’t know how to play jazz? From now on I am going to call it “Polish Sausage,” because for a lot of post genocide men, there is NO excuse for not knowing the “feel” of jazz music. As evidenced by Roy Hargrove on his Japanese sessions, the Japanese know how to play jazz. So do the French… and some Scandinavians. But the Polacks. Holy Christ. They do not know how to play jazz. I have been plagued by fucking Polack hacks for going on five years. “Get a fucking clue!” People don’t call you Polacks for no reason!

Today’s Top Ten Prostitute Price List

1. Ridgefield, New Jersey: $270.00

2. Manhattan, New York: $200.00

3. Nassau, The Bahamas: $150.00

4. Acapulco, Mexico: $150.00

5. Bridgetown, Barbados: $70.00

6. Cozumel, Mexico: $62.00

7. St. Nicolas, Aruba: $60.00

8. Casa De Campo, Dominican Republic: $50.00

9. Puntarenas, Cost Rica: $40.00

10. Montego Bay, Jamaica: $40.00

"Old School" vs. "New School"

The aesthetic of skateboarding had changed from the Old School to the New School. I have a vintage board collection now of twenty, but none of them reflect the New School. I have spent a large amount of time studying skateboard design history beginning in the 1970’s. I still need to collect a few more boards from the 60’s, but the golden age of skateboarding didn’t occur until the late l970’s. New School boards so it appears are ambidextrous. They are popsicle sticks that are reversible, so whether riding switch or not it does not matter what end of the board is pointed forward. Likewise the traditional kicktail has grown from the nose of the board. These elements have drastically changed the surf-style of skating popular in the l970’s. It was based upon the move of carving, which is a stylized turn created by throwing your weight. It requires a different stance than New School skating, because the Ollie had yet to be invented. Incidentally Alan Gelfand created the Ollie vertically, not horizontally like most of today’s skaters use. It happened at the top of a vert. ramp when kickturning to rotate back down the ramp. On vertical Gelfand found you could propel the board into the air by pushing down the tail and using it as a catapult. This later was extrapolated to horizontal skating, but shows the true lineage of skateboarding. New School came from the original vert. skating created by Dogtown’s Z-Boys. Slalom was also a crucial part of “Old School” skating, but it unlike the New School requires different technique. It would be interesting to see if today’s New School skaters would be interested in a slalom or downhill run. I think they would, but Ollie tricks have become the norm at skateparks and for competition. Old School boards differ drastically in design than New School boards. The center of gravity has been lowered considerably on New School boards. They have eliminated riser pads in between the board and the trucks, and the wheels have shrunk both in width and length. This makes the board more stable, because it is lower to the ground. Because the board is symmetrical, it can almost be said New School skating is more akin to riding a balance board over a central roller. The feet tend to stay in one place over the front truck and back truck eliminating the carving aspect of technique created by Stacy Peralta et al. He controlled the turn of the board by shifting his weight on the ball of his back foot creating a pivot much like slalom water skiing. I never could do this as a kid, but learned how by studying the Z Boys style of skating. Likewise the knees are bent most of the time and you pivot your hips, so there is a specific form in use. Steve Caballero had good form, as did most of the members of the Bones Brigade. Old School skating relied heavily upon the kind of truck you were using and its bushings, because the bushings were what dictated your carve. There were two basic kinds of trucks. The original was Tracker Midtrack. It differs today from the original, because it took into consideration both the Venture Truck and the Indy. The original Tracker had a squat barrel joint upon which the bushing sat. It was mostly vertical. Indy came along and tilted that barrel or the angle of the kingpin and placed a large washer underneath to hold the bottom bushing. This smoothed out the carve creating a less “tippy” turn like the original design. Both are pleasing to ride. Stock trucks whether they are quality are not almost always come with substandard bushings. You have to know the different durometers of urethane and know which bushings to use for your style of skating. Tracker for some reason offers very different bushings in their trucks. Flex was important in a carving and slalom board, because it allowed your to pump into and out of a turn providing momentum. Flex it seems has all but been eliminated in New School boards, with 7 ply maple being the standard. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a 5 ply Santa Cruz board that looks more like plywood. Amazingly enough it rides well, because it has a rocker. A rocker is the opposite of camber which is an arched design upward. The rocker is all ready in the right shape for maneuvering through a turn. That board is set up with Indy 169’s and classic Bel Air Bolts wheels. Gordon and Smith is not offering the 3 ply laminate original Fibreflex anymore. What I ended up buying was a Teamrider re-issue which was five plies with Bowtuff fiberglass on the top and bottom. I like it and it is my primary board, but it doesn’t flex like the older Fibreflex. Recently I cut down a Mike McGill Jet fighter re-issue to the shape of the older Santa Cruz, and it is nimble, light, and springy. I am trying to make it into a combination New/Old School board. Right now it has Tracker Six Track imitations, which I just found out yesterday are actually Powell/Peralta trucks built as demos for their own boards. It came on a Lance Mountain Dough Boy deck with Powell wheels. It has taken a while to figure out how to use them, because with that original vertical barrel joint housing the kingpin, the axles just tip to the side instead of pivoting nicely. Tracker Ultra-Lites in the same size have PLASTIC baseplates. Although I have these on the Mountain board replete with the original copers and newer stiff bushings, they are useless for turning because the baseplates flex. A word of advice for good truck operation. The kingpin has to be solid and not move, because it is upon what the axles pivots. Without a stable pivot point, the truck will always seem out of control. I have had several pairs of cheap trucks including the Nash X-2 that have loose fitting kingpins. You can never get performance out of these trucks, unless you put some liquid weld on the bolt head to glue it to the baseplate. New School trucks seem to be “lows” and “highs.” We looked at a pair of these in the local skateshop and it appeared everything about both truck was the same except the height of the bushing. I received a new pair of Venture 5.0 lows in the mail, but I have yet to be able to ride them to see what is up. It will be interesting to see how they perform in a carve.

The Arts

In Columbus, Ohio nestled in the heart of the Midwest money was not the only reason you became well-respected. The severe boundaries between income brackets didn’t seem to exist. It was a more homogenous society, and as a result was more artistic. Success in life, enlightenment, wisdom and talent came from achievement, not necessarily money. I as a poor graduate student earned respect from the community with diligence, talent, and hard work in the field of music. The word “doctorate” is powerful. When I went to OSU I was not sure I was capable of getting a doctorate. I didn’t know what it took, and as a result I was uneasy. I knew there was a language requirement, and that would be a stumbling block. I took four years of Spanish in both high school and college, but you have no real need for Spanish in music composition. Italian, French, or German or more appropriate languages, seeing as these countries and Russia were the major areas of proliferation of musical creativity. The first Viennese school was in Austria, and Mozart, Beethoven, and Hayden all traveled and used a variety of languages in their musical composition. Spanish wasn’t one of them. When I first got to OSU I used the availability of its music students to get my music played. My first piece was a small orchestra work called “Toote Suite for Orchestra.” It had a concerto grosso-like quality with only two instruments in the Concertino group, piano and C trumpet. The Ripieno group was a pared-down orchestra. The work was based upon three preexistent songs written in a jazz-like style. They didn’t qualify as “jazz” works, because they didn’t include improvisation. I thought it appropriate to orchestrate them. That would be an appropriate introduction to composing serious music in orchestral style. The piece was very successful, although our Composer’s Workshop was always poorly attended. Like UNC nostalgia played a major role in musical tradition at OSU. The chorus and bands always had a good following, because there were using entertainment as an element in their music. They did not lose their following, because they were not pushing the boundaries of traditional music like “New Music” composers. Composers of new music should and do attempt to thwart the expectations of the listeners. As Dr. Robert Kehrberg so eloquently put it, “We don’t go for the bleep bloop music here at Western Carolina University.” What? Bleep bloop music? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. After completing all the coursework for a D.M.A. in serious music composition at OSU, the Chairman of the Music Department was telling me they did not appreciate or understand modern music. Bleep bloop is slang for atonal or 12 tone serial music. It is often pointillistic, which means the use of extreme ranges or tessitura in music. Put those two definitions together and to an untrained ear it may sound like “bleeps” and “bloops.” What they were looking for at Western was nostalgia. When I heard the demo CD they gave me upon leaving my interview it was obvious for what they were looking. Western was a “feel good” school, and to them the Manhattan Transfer was jazz music. Happy entertainment was the requirement for music production rather than the exploring of serious issues in life with intellect. It was very appropriate I did not get hired, and Pavel Wlosek did. Although I was equally qualified as this Czech composer, the feeling in his music was similar to that of the record label EMI, when “New Age” was their staple. Keith Jarrett and Jan Gabarek really invented this form of semi-pastoral contemporary jazz. It has a loving feeling underneath. The emotional profile of the Midwest and Ohio specifically is different than most places, and it took me quite a few years to become accustomed to it. There are melancholic overtones to everything, because Ohioans are acutely aware of the “abyss.” The abyss is the big black cavern into which one can easily fall in life if you are not careful. Until you have “hit bottom” you may not know what the ‘abyss’ is. Ohioans demand you have understanding and respect for the abyss, so there is no room for a shallow “pop-like” existence. Although OSU let me bring my Southern roots to the Midwest, they would not allow to keep them. As my doctoral advisor said, “You all ready know jazz music.” (Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk were from the South) I had to put jazz music on a shelf in the closet and open myself up to the new experiences of European-based orchestra music. This I did with open arms, and it changed me. My voice became that of a budding young American composer influenced by the feelings of Aaron Copland, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Bela Bartok, and Charles Ives. While I can play good jazz on the piano, real jazz is mostly a lost art form as Wynton Marsalis explained last night on public television. He was saying the feeling of jazz music is difficult to find these days, and I agree. After working on ships for over four years, I have yet to find one group that plays real jazz. My last swinging piano trio was in Columbus, Ohio with bassist John Rivers and drummer Reggie Jackson. At least in Columbus they knew how to swing. The Vaughn Weister Big Band reinforces swing music on a weekly basis. When I play jazz piano I like to evoke the feeling of Antonio Carlos Jobim. While many students of jazz like to play his Bossa Novas, none of them really understands the root of his music because they have not heard it. The obvious reason this feeling is absent today is because we are at war. That may seem paradoxical, because during World War ll and the Great Depression music flourished. Glenn Miller became famous touring the country in a time war was smothering good times in America. One has to look to the decade of Viet Nam to understand what is happening now. It was a period of Civil Unrest. The country is every bit as poised to feel the same things, but the populace is being frightened and brain-washed into believing our state of affairs is okay. Do we even remember what a protest is? Another modern art form must be devised to represent what the country is feeling today. I feel the Grunge Movement from the l990’s is still the real message of the United States, and it is being stifled by the ridiculous shallow optimism of bubble gum pop music. Likewise the Expressionism of the l920’s still is viable. Because a small faction of spoiled children are allowed to digress on national television does not mean their indulgences represent the main stream in art. It has been well known for a few years the main stream has become so cloaked no one can understand what it is. Until something or someone comes along and sums up America’s feelings “as a whole” the country and the arts will remain weak.

Southern Society

Living in the American South is a challenge. Not only is one faced with the history of slavery, white trash, and plantation life there is a colloquial dialect in place that no longer carries the torch for Southern hospitality. Upon hearing the brogue one can only think the people that live in the American South are ignorant and sheltered from the realities of the rest of the world. Take Mike Easley for example. Like his predecessor Jim Hunt Easley looks like a doughboy. Why is it lawyers from North Carolina must resemble Sam Bowden from the movie Cape Fear? That “Old School” southern lawyer stereotype is doing nothing but hurting the image of the South. Traditionally they might fly a Confederate flag, hang a shotgun in the window of the truck, and yell “Yee Hi” at the top of their lungs. Actually that is a description of the lower income bracket in the South by Jeff Foxworthy. Southern lawyers are more likely to go to the country club, play golf, and have lavish parties at their mansions. I was exposed to this way of life early, because Fayetteville, North Carolina, this little cloistered town stuck on Interstate I-95 had a rather large contingency of elite wealthy. I went to school at the University of North Carolina of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where this societal tradition was longstanding. One only has to look at past Chancellor William Friday as the model. When I began playing my first paying “society” gigs, I quickly learned these were the people for whom you would be playing to make money. They had the money and could afford to use a live band. There was a formula involved musically, and it took my bass playing-friend and I a few jobs to learn it. He is now the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC. It seems that societal way of life for him was appropriate. I on the other hand learned the formula, played the game, but rebelled against the faction of people that had money. I did this because growing up in Fayetteville, I went to church with this same group of wealthy elite. Their children were delinquents who knew nothing more than to drink, smoke, and behave badly. We did not get along well with them, because we were disciplined middle class students working on a variety tasks. We sang in the Episcopal church Youth Choir. I played the trumpet at almost every Christmas Eve and Easter church service. I was taking piano lessons. There was a variety of things around to keep us occupied. These children were neglected by their “mover and shaker” parents, because they were out making the money. I didn’t like their familial model, and their parents were stuffy and conceited. Playing good music for them went a long way in bridging the gap, and I came to understand and appreciate society. Today I must reject its traditions, because it is based upon the sacrament of marriage. I am not married, so playing music for couples about love is difficult for me. It is a challenge to feel feelings that don’t apply to you. As in the case of most love-themed music, there is a great deal of heartache and heartbreak. I have only had that once in my life, but the time I did was sufficiently strong enough to @#$% me up for almost four years. That is why I went to Ohio State University to pursue my doctorate. I was at a loss for what to do next. I siphoned all that misplaced love into music fully and whole-heartedly. It was not until four years later I was able to move on. It required an emotional profile that changed. I had to dispense with that Southern model of society and become more progressive. That antiquated model is quite capable of providing severe disappointment when one does not fit in with the preexisting society. Not everyone is meant to own a “trophy wife” and say things like, “Yes Jim, would you like to go to the country club and play golf?” leaving your job at midday. To survive the disappointment you do not have these things, you must become rebellious against them based on the reason they are inappropriate for the average person. Simply that is what makes society elite. There are only a privileged few that are worthy of being part of the club. As in the case of SLC Punk you must start your own club. Living in Fayetteville between cruise ship contracts is difficult, because this is that model. At age 44 and being single, there isn’t much to fit in with. My parents ask me why I have no friends here. It is because I graduated from high school in l981, twenty-six years ago. I have lived with them on and off during that period, but not long enough to make any new friends my age. People suggest you go to singles parties at local churches, but what could be more humiliating that broadcasting to the world you are desperate? The Midwest, while it was not a simple transition, offered me a new identity and emotional profile that left the dangerous components of loss of love clearly in the dust. I learned how to have love in an empowering way with none of the doughboy weaknesses that are so evident in the American south. Those emotions are what create Southern hospitality, but at the same time they can ruin you when you do not fit into its strict requirements for life. While the role model of a southern gentleman doesn’t seem unsavory, and it is ensconced rather deeply in my soul, it no longer serves my purpose. I am empty-handed in Southern society. Its tradition has left me alone. When observing that anachronistic model the spineless manipulators of the law seem worthy only of being part of their own boys club. “Can you being me a mint julep while I bribe this judge?” That way of life is is so incredibly selfish, burrowed deep in plantation land hiding from the rest of the world behind Spanish moss laden oak trees and bayou swamp water. “Would you like a cold class of ice tea on your front porch?” The gentil demeanor, weak speech, and worse a weak face suggest homosexuality. It was only recently that the shock of an existence of well-to-do gay society men jolted my existence. These men have power, because they have money. Their obtuse sexuality is empowered by their place in society. Only the money they make could be attractive to a woman. It seems appropriate Max Cady pulled the wool over his counselor’s eyes and taught him a lesson by trying to screwing both his wife and his daughter. In this age you better have passion for what you want, and that means straight men better step up to the plate and begin rejuvenating heterosexuality in America. Let’s dispense with the “Ninja Sluts” and bring back the traditional role model of a sexy woman with vulnerability. Where have all the Marilyns gone? I guess they are all in re-hab. Maybe if they were getting screwed by real men they wouldn’t end up drunk and in jail. “Keep it gay, keep it gay, keep it gay!” Not. “Keep it straight, keep it straight, keep it straight.” Seven brides for seven brothers is the model. Who would think the home of the 82nd Airborne would carry such feminine overtones? “Don’t ask, don’t tell?” While Bill Clinton’s policy may work in the military, the idea of hundreds of men going down on each other on a long C-130 flight to Iraq is disturbing.

O.C.C

It’s funny how symbiotic the United States is. Nothing goes unnoticed. What? Does that mean all those new telephone poles laced with electricity, cable-vision, and telephone have built in Big Brother devices that constantly monitor your personal activity? What would be so appealing about your personal life that could interest the federal government? It seems John Lennon was on the “list” for surveillance, before he was murdered by Mark David Chapman. He was considered a political malcontent, and with an entity like the "Electoral College" power hung in a balance. The transfer of power of Orange County Choppers from The Discovery Channel to The Learning Channel seems to have had a rocky transition. The transformation from “artistry” to “entertainment” never will be a smooth one. Musica Reservata best describes this event, where the needs of the masses exceed the artistic ideals of the few. “That’s Entertainment,” or so we are supposed to believe. That is, “Shuckin’ and Jivin’,” or “Smoke and Mirrors.” The most recent episode of “OCC” documents that process clearly. The “end” circumvents the “means.” The bike has all ready been built, just as Emeril’s casserole has all ready been baked. If compassion, true feeling for the audience, and humanity have been included in the pre-conceived production then the contrived performance will transcend barriers and meet the producer’s and fan’s needs. Is it appropriate to fabricate a mock crowd-produced bike, when in reality the bike has all ready been made in the name of “good entertainment”? In the case of OCC the Paul’s had enough heart and love of their discipline to transcend the “entertainment requirements” superimposed by Simon Cowell. The crowd was not as humane as the one in Europe. They seemed only to want to have a good time. “Was it infatuation?” Evidently the formula worked. Give away a well-built chopper? Prince is doing it. So did drug dealers in the James Bond movies. Giving away a product kills the competition, because prices fall like the Dow Jones did today. We must quit using “smoke and mirrors” to fund the infrastructure of the United States.

The Illustrious Mr. Potter

Most jazz fans know Chris Potter. Whence did the wonder boy come? While I was teaching at the University of South Carolina and playing second trumpet in the USC Left Bank Band, there was a kid playing lead tenor. It seems it was Chris Potter. He was maybe 13 at the time. Rumor had it he picked up an alto saxophone and a few short months later he was playing like Bird. Chris, unlike most of the students in the band, all ready was a seasoned musician and improviser. Talent like that knows no boundaries for key signatures, transpositions, and playing in various styles. There is just something there that allows him to do all those things. After I started my own Jazz/Fusion band, Chris was the only logical choice to play saxophone. I was writing all my own tunes, and they were not always easy for the tenor player. I wrote with different grooves and in different tonal centers. Chris was the only one that could handle the material and make it musical. I’m not sure he enjoyed playing in the band that much, but he did it. His father would drive him around, even when he was sick. We played the Main Street Jazz Festival, the Harbison Jazz Series, and the variety of clubs in Columbia. Chris was under the tutelage of Dr. John Emche, who was the Coordinator of Jazz Studies at USC. He had gotten his doctorate in composition at Ohio State, and that is the sole reason I went there later. John could play good-feeling jazz piano. He was personable, laid-back, and everyone liked him. He was the perfect example of what major universities want in their professors. There is a considerable degree of personality involved with being a jazz instructor. He had a great influence on Chris, and his mentoring I’m sure helped Chris become the player he is today. I entered my band Quintessence in the Hennessy Cognac Jazz Search. We had to have a studio recording, so I paid the guys to go into Eddie Wooten’s house and record three of my tunes. I sent the tape to Hennessy, and a few weeks later I got a call from an elated women wanting us to travel to New Orleans and compete with Doc Severinsen as a judge at Storyville. We went and won and later flew to California to compete in the finals for an appearance at the Playboy Jazz Festival. Our Jazz/Fusion mix did not sit well with the mostly Hennessy- employed patrons at the competition. Also we had to perform first, because our bassist had a fear of flying and had to make his train. That hurt us, and we lost to a very entertaining straight-ahead jazz group from the area. I knew instinctively that this was the time to record an album. I arranged six more tunes and brought the guys back into the studio. It, like most studio work, was a hassle. Eddie’s parent’s house smelled like burnt pot roast. His dad would often wander into the living room and interrupt our sessions, but Eddie had an accurately equalized control room. I knew our final mix would be right on, so it was worth putting up with the hassle. It took about 2 years and 5 grand to finish the recording, of which I am extremely proud. It was completed in l991, so at sixteen it is an interesting representation of Chris Potter's playing at age fifteen. Our rhythm section in particular played well on Crystal Raindrops, and the tunes are all varied and unique in groove. One day maybe the world will get to hear it.

The EMF Spectrum: Physics

Bad things are happening in the electromagnetic spectrum. While we as a world have tried diligently to circumvent the use of nuclear weapons because of their dire effects on the human body, it seems we are blind to other more subtle effects of overuse of the electromagnetic spectrum. What possible phenomenon could cause the most dangerous form of skin cancer, melanoma, to rise 40% in the last decade? The destruction of the O-Zone layer over the South Pole by the United States Navy may have something to do with it. It hasn’t been proven that the newest 40% of people contracting melanoma lived at the South Pole. Why has the sun not caused this damage before now? Has our food, water, and air supply suddenly become tainted with toxic chemicals causing skin cancer? There is a simple answer to this question which to the human eye is invisible. When something is invisible it tends to be represented by the phrase, “out of sight, our of mind.” It is due time the Environmental Protection Agency took notice since the FCC continues to loosen its regulations on the “licensed for communication” bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. When microwave ovens first came out people speculated they might not be healthy for our food. What effect does electromagnetic radiation have on human tissue? Crank up the frequency to gamma levels and/or take a look at the film footage of the United States’ dropping the bomb on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The body simply melts from the heat. There were accounts that said living human beings had nothing but blobs of flesh for heads. There were no orifices, because the soft tissues just melted. Although radio and television signals seem not to have created dire consequences for the human race, it may be prudent for the EPA to take more action monitoring and regulating electromagnetic emissions. Luckily a court in California ruled against the United States’ Navy’s mid frequency SONAR systems. They have been proven to disoriented and beach certain species of whale. The decibel levels the Navy was using certainly could cause harm to marine life, considering sound travels faster through water than through air. If there has been a 40% rise in skin cancer in only the last decade, then one must look at things that have been put into place that were not there a decade ago. One obvious choice is the “wireless communications industry.” With every new product that comes onto the market, there is more electromagnetic energy being transmitted through our air. I haven’t studied physics to know if electromagnetic waves can exist in a vacuum without air or other gases. I assume they can, but we as human beings must share our air with these waves. One thing that clearly suggests bad things are happening in the spectrum is HOW the world looks today. Digital media has changed the way things look because of less use of analog recording media. Does digital photography look as good as tradition film-based photography? Is digital video as aesthetically pleasing as celluloid film? Analog media smears frequencies of sound and image causing them to mix in a way that is pleasing to the eyes and ears. The recording industry found out the hard way upping the resolution of recording systems and eliminating ambient sound produced stark sound that may not be as pleasing to the human ear. How has a similar process occurred in the electromagnetic spectrum? If we are using more and more frequencies that once were deemed inappropriate for use by the FCC, it stands to reason the modulation of these frequencies by one another could be producing ill effects. I feel the world does not look the say it did ten years ago, because the visible spectrum of light is being subtly modulated by other frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. Things look more harsh to me, like the result of the bleaching effect used on the film in the sci-fi movie Pitch Black. The once vibrant and pleasing hues found in mother nature are being suitably effected by invisible electromagnetic pollution. This could also account for the 40% rise in melanoma levels in the last ten years. Pundits always have said with substantial medical documentation, electromagnetic energy is not good for human tissue. I bought a case study from the government on low frequency radio wave pollution, and it clearly showed damage to human beings at the cellular level. Because hydrofluorocarbon emissions have not risen that dramatically in the last decade, there must be some other reason these adverse things are happening. Since the advent of the OBDll emissions test for automobiles, the automobile industry has lessened their emissions in the environment. Seeing as I have to spend hundreds of dollars each year to pass my vehicle inspection because of this test, something good must be resulting. Evaporating fuel vapors are being trapped by a charcoal canister later to be injected into your automobile’s intake manifold improving gas mileage. How could it be that the decade of the 70’s did not document more ill health effects when the catalytic converter did not even exist? While I believe the burning of fossil fuels is not good for the environment, I do not think they are the sole cause of Global Warming. Electromagnetic radiation by definition produces as much heat, and it is clear more frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum are being used than ever before with very little regulation from the FCC.

P.S. Wikipedia: Radio Transmitters- "a broadcast transmitter with a megawatt power stage transferring 98% of that into the antenna can also be viewed as a 20 kilowatt electric heater."

Old School Bluegrass

Kudos to Steve Martin and the “Old School” for a offering a three banjo stew of native Bluegrass soul. It was evident the tenacity of “Old School” would beat down the annoying optimism of “New School” pop. Some things are meant to endure, and Martin’s talent on the instrument along with his low brow and unassuming humor are what have made him a tradition in American film. Let’s hear more whence his David Letterman performance came and from those hearty musicians.

The Producers

While it may disturb some future appreciators of Mel Brooks’ Broadway musical and fairly recent movie, the “gay” factor does provide one level of intimate communication lost in today’s America. You must give credit where credit is due, and not a “credi’ repor’” as the annoying commercial says. Just because you have a speech impediment doesn’t mean you should be on television. A good C-R-E-D-I-T R-E-P-O-R-T should be given to Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, and Mel Brooks for producing The Producers. While being gay doesn’t necessarily represent mainstream America, the energy, heart, and sheer bravura of The Producers places it in a class worthy of receiving the 12 or so Toni Awards it did. In this age of “pop” anything that remotely resembles artistry in music and/or theater should be rewarded. I have been studying The Producers since I bought the DVD. Unfortunately I have not seen the Broadway play. Did it close? After buying the documentary of the recording process for the Broadway soundtrack, it seems evident there were some major changes from the play to the movie. Two notable characters were different in the movie. The addition of Will Ferrell and Uma Thurman was successful in my eyes. Why they replaced the original Broadway actors is your guess. Box office draw? The documentary exposing the recording process of the Broadway soundtrack was enlightening. It was evident there were melancholic overtones concerning the play, but upon reading about the differences that is understandable. They, the producers, chose to lighten up the musical for film. It is after all, like a cruise, only a musical. There is no need to bring the seriousness of opera to celluloid. This seems to be a common conundrum in modern entertainment. How much soul should the product have? As in the case of skateboarding, it could be extrapolated that the “New School” could be “pop,” and “Old School” could be rock. That itself is confusing, because with grace and eloquence comes extreme power. When one possesses knowledge of the end, then the means is dictated by the mind as with the book The Inner Game of Tennis. “New School” may not understand the end, because they have never been exposed to “Old School.” The Producers is an “Old School” musical, because it is based upon Mel Brooks’ favorite genre of film R.K.O. l933-1938. Top Hat, Grand Illusion, and Shall We Dance are the movie musicals he lists as his favorites in a depression laden America. With these worthy models Brooks is empowered, and finally his many years in the movie business are rewarded. The Producers is transcendent, because its form is based upon tried and true models. Brooks’ songs quintessentially capture the exact feelings of the characters in the original movie. This is an almost uncanny feat even in light of the Count Basie Orchestra playing in a desert. Brooks’ somehow penned a collection of tunes that will defy time and become standards. It only will be a matter of time and copyright agreement that artists will being re-recording these songs. Nathan Lane and Ferris Bueller uncannily create a chemistry both gay and straight that effectively disguises those boundaries. Their relationship goes beyond gender and approaches the severity and desperation of the human race. A friend is indispensable more so than a lover. It is apparent in the movie Matthew Broderick, while still possessing the ultra-cool characteristics of Ferris Bueller, was well-trained in musical theater. His father was James Broderick, the father on the television series Family that aired in the late 70’s. Who ever knew Ferris could croon? Even with its gay overtones, The Producers speaks to the heart and delivers Hollywood Golden Era musical entertainment unlike anything we see today. They should be applauded for showing the relevance of “Old School.” It is not passé to feel something familiar, when “pop” suggests we are at the mercy of the wind.

Lydia, the Bronx Woman

Lydia was from Rochester. She was Yankee. After dating a Southern girl for seven years it was refreshing to be with someone from New York. She, like the stereotypical Bronx-born girl, talked up front. There were no shy debutante mannerisms. She liked to have a good time, so she was always planning trips. My first venture to Manhattan was with Lydia our senior year of college. I was constipated most of the time, but she enjoyed the trip. We had Chinese food. We stayed with a music student friend of hers in a studio apartment. We stayed with a family in Brooklyn. They had a trundle bed upon which I was supposed to sleep, whilst Lydia slept above on the real bed. Unlike Gena Lydia didn’t mind having sex when there were other people around. I tried that a few times with Gena, but she was shy about that. We went on a trip to the beach once to visit my sister and brother-in-law. It was late at night and there was no one in the pool. I wanted to fool around in the water like Chevy Chase with Christy Brinkley in the movie Vacation. She would have nothing to do with it. I never told her this sexual reluctance was the reason why we broke up. I loved Gena, but we didn’t have the animal chemistry necessary to make the relationship endure. I enjoyed having sex with her, because she was beautiful, tall, and blond. I needed something more from her, because the relationship was becoming a burden. From the beginning I had treated her like a princess. I knew from past experience how to treat a woman well. Because I was a Graduate Teaching Associate, was playing gigs in the city, and writing original music I had a reputation. Those were the good days. That particular period of time still is troubling. It was the 80’s. The American people lived differently during that decade, as seen in any John Hughes movie. What is interesting is how different we as a country are now. There was a different feeling then, and after 9/11 it is difficult to justify that way of life. There were comedy clubs. There was live music. There, for musicians, was the prospect of “making it big.” I was struggling back then to gain notoriety through jazz/fusion music. I often wonder if this was a self-created neurosis. After losing my adjunct teaching job at the University of South Carolina I had a nervous breakdown. I didn’t know what it was back then, but it appeared as depression. For the first time in seven years I had no academic career. The prestige that accompanies a college teaching position disappeared. I became a local band flunky like everyone else, and as a result Gena did not treat me the same way. It is interesting that to keep a woman’s interest you have to be Superman. I since going through puberty have spent the majority of my time satisfying these requirements. As a result my rewards in the field of music were not as great as they should have been. I had always had a girlfriend, and that was my priority in life. The “look,” the “things-to-do-list,” money, wit, and humor are all necessary in keeping the interest of a woman. What you receive in return for this monumental effort is intimacy, which is necessary for your survival until you learn how to live without it. It was not until later in life I made the decision never to be dependant upon a woman again. If a nervous breakdown is that reward you receive for losing your job and a woman, then it is not worth it. It is difficult enough to handle a break-up resulting in loss, but it is important to go through that process because it educates us about the bereavement process. Bereavement is grieving over the loss of a loved one. Stack clinical depression on top of that process and you have a formula for misery, and not the Stephen King movie. I didn’t understand what was happening at the time, because your brain just shuts down. If you have lived the majority of your adult life based upon instinct, then you may have a difficult time also. You, to be truly self-actualized, must use your brain to control you life, not your emotions and instincts. If you are having fulfilling sex, that can be a good catalyst for instinctual creativity. That is how I operated in Graduate School during the 80’s. I spent two years teaching at a university to earn a Master’s degree in Music, yet I learned very little. I guess that is why they hire you as a TA, because you all ready possess the skills and knowledge to be successful in your vocation. If you spend all your time moving your knowledge to the minds of students, then there is little time left for the acquirement of new knowledge. That is the beauty of the doctoral program, especially when you are not teaching. Teaching music theory at Ohio State University, as stated by a post D.M.A female friend, was grading papers. Somehow I circumvented that responsibility, because the chairman of Theory/Composition thought I was too dynamic for the staid existence of a music theory TA. I was given the job of TA for Arts College 160, which in essence was being a glorified “hall monitor” for the two hundred plus kids enrolled in the course. I did have four recitation classes a week. My lovely cooperating professor saw fit to give me all four of those in a series beginning at eight o’clock on Monday morning. The clincher was what you taught had nothing to do with for what the students were responsible for the tests. They saw the recitation as an unnecessary burden. I was peeved, because I didn’t have my own class like I did at USC as a well-respected teacher of jazz. It took most of the academic year for me to learn the material for which the students were responsible. By that time I all ready had made the fatal mistake of letting my Southern hillbilly roots taint my teaching. I had never dealt with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and my inexperience with probably the most controversial artist of our century sealed my fate as a TA for Arts College 160. On a handout I asked what were called “leading” questions. I had phrased then in such a way driven by my own opinion to persuade the students to agree with my point of view. As we all know today this is unacceptable in the public classroom. You can not call George W. Bush Jr. a Nazi. You must present the information arbitrarily. I had never seen a bull whip stuck in a man’s ass, and I didn’t see the artistic merit in a photo of that sort. I was an artist, and to me my opinion was worth while. Fifteen years later finally I have acquired the wisdom and political savvy necessary to survive in academia. I have also solidified my choice as an independent scholar. An incubation period working in ‘real life’ has been indispensable. My question about Mapplethorpe was simply that his photograph of an African-American man sitting with a large erect penis reinforced a stereotype that black men have bigger dicks. In the American South this had always been comical, but at OSU in the Midwest the students didn’t take to kindly to my negative opinion. Who was I anyway compared to the illustrious Mr. Mapplethorpe? It turns out most of my female students liked looking at the penises of homosexual men. My opinion was it was not appropriate for a college level course, and we had no business discussing it. The controversial nature of his work was the sole reason why we had to present it, and because the Department of Art procrastinated informing me whether or not I had the position, I had no time to research and study the predicament. There were less than two weeks left before the start of the autumn quarter, and I was pursuing a doctorate in music composition, not modern art. While I regretted losing the financial support of the job, I didn’t miss being a lacky TA. This didn’t seal my fate in not finishing the D.M.A. degree. Keratoconus did. I had to stop going to school to have cornea transplants in both my eyes. After than I needed to be making money, so I began playing music professionally in Columbus. After a few years doing that and botching my one and only college level job interview, I began working for the cruise lines. I was disconnected from academia for a few years, because I had been working independently. I was extremely musically productive during this period, but my skills as an academic had suffered. Went I went to Cullowhee, North Carolina to interview I did not sleep well. The room I had been assigned in which to dwell was full of “hum.” I had hoped the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina would provide solstice from the aggravating hum sound some Americans had been talking about. It turns out the paper mill and accompanying Norfolk/Southern trunk line were operating in full force. I tried to sleep on the floor because the mattress was sympathetically vibrating, but I never did fall asleep the few days I was there. As a result I was sleep deprived, which we all know is one of the most severe forms of torture. I was in no mood to tell jokes and be affable, so I just conveyed the information. It was more important to this little school to have a pleasant personality. The chairman of the department also failed to convey to me he was the “Composer in Residence” at Western Carolina University. The job for which I was interviewing was responsible for four classes. They were sight singing, the MIDI Studio, Jazz Ensemble, and Contemporary Music Theory. Although I disagree with the process of solfege in sight singing, I could have taught the course. Before I began the interview I was faced with a decision. Do I humor the committee or do I get the job done? I chose the latter, and it didn’t sit well with the committee. I supposed to Dr. John West I was unqualified to teach at their high school. In reality my discussion of George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept was so far above the level of their perspective students, it was appropriate I didn’t get the job. Plus there was a salary cap at WCU. You started at forty thousand a year and would end that way thirty years later. The only way you could receive the minute raise was to procure an offer from another school. That would mean many hours spent away from your teaching job soliciting jobs at other universities. The capper to it all was when the Chairmen of the Department of Music said, “We don’t go for that bleep bloop music here.” They didn’t even have a Master’s degree in composition much less a doctoral program. The colloquial elements of a small town school in the North Carolina mountains were enough to extinguish my further pursuit of academic jobs. Luckily the cruise lines offer a variety of employment for competent musicians, and completing all the coursework for a Doctoral of Music Arts in Composition gives you the tools necessary to navigate the cruise industry’s cumbersome and clunky music notation. The experience of working on a cruise ship as a musician in no was reflects any tenant of my pre-doctoral graduate work. That period of short-lived musical prestige can be considered a child-like dream state not representative of the real life pursuit of music. That is why I don’t mind not having a girlfriend or wife. That would force me into the antiquated, dilapidated, and anachronistic notion that the American Dream still exists and you must follow that path. The reality is being a greeter at WalMart. I still compose music, because it is the right thing to do. I don’t care if academia, a record company, or Uncle Sam ever hears it. I know after I die someone will discover my music and it will be appreciated posthumously. It is easier to believe this notion than deal with the idea you are a failure in the field of music at the hands of those incapable of valuing music. I know what art is, and my music is art. It represents the life I am not living in America, so I must create it myself. The unfortunate thing about that is exactly what one Polish musician said to me on a ship. “My feelings are only for my music, Heir Mozart!” He of course was joking, but the crux of that statement if true. You have choices. You can invest your emotions in people upon which you do not know you can rely, or you can invest your emotional life in the arts. I know if with my mind I can create a feeling then that which is translated into music, I will have that emotion captured forever like poetry. You can not rely upon a human being for that. This musician was suggesting I was cloistering my feelings in solidarity instead of sharing them with friends. You probably know best when it is appropriate to invest your feelings. With Lydia I loved her, but I was not in love with her. I enjoyed her company, and we made love, yet still I did not love her. This she knew instinctively. She worked hard in bed and was a good lover, but in this case our emotional profiles did not match. Lydia lived in a campus house that was very popular. There were three other women living there too, and that made for a festive atmosphere of which I enjoyed immensely. We made love in her single bed each night, and that didn’t seem to effect anyone else in the house. We were seasoned lovers, and they even made fun of us one Sunday morning when we stayed locked in her room for most of the afternoon making love on the floor. Gena came about a year later. She was inexperienced and damaged goods. That is why I was attracted to her. She was sitting by herself at a band party not fitting into the preexistent social click. It was not easy getting her to talk, but I tried anyway. Was it like the spider and the fly? I had to work on her a month or so, before I could even bring up the idea of making love. I waited until I was going to a gig, and as she lay on the couch I whispered it in her ear, “ I want to make love to you.” Then I left. She had reservations about her own body, but with some coaching I was finally able to get her to submit. The oddest and most surprising thing she ever did was, upon arriving in Columbia home after a school fashion outing in New York city, she gave me a miniature mock fashion show. She announced her clothing and stripped in front of me as I sat on the couch. Needless to say that was enough of a clue of what she really wanted. I took her on the living room floor. One evening later on that same red couch and as we were watching television, I just pulled down my pants exposing my erect penis. For a total of two times in our relationship this being one, she bolted out of my easy chair, down to her knees, and began sucking my penis. It lasted only a few seconds just like the second time. We were staying at her parent’s home in South Carolina. We were both up late, and I was sitting watching television in my boxers. She was asleep on the floor. Slowly and nonchalantly she inched over, until she was in between my legs. Suddenly and unexpectedly she fished out my erect penis in one graceful movement and put it in her mouth. Again this lasted only a few seconds. What was it about a few seconds? What good does that serve? I guess it was supposed to be the precursor to a conversation about giving me a blowjob, because later she asked me if I were going to ask her to give me one. I just kind of expected it, and as a result didn’t get it. I treated Gena like a princess, and that must have been queer to her. Instead of being manly I made her feel like a goddess, and that must have been an insurmountable responsibility. You can’t expect average women to know how to treat a man well. It takes an adult woman to know about the art of love. That unfortunately is why you have to treat them like shit. They like it, because there is no responsibility for them to treat you well. They don’t know how. They respond more effectively to statements such as, “Go fix some supper, bitch,” and “Suck my cock.” I even had one that wanted you to throw her around. I just didn’t know how to do that yet, and this was when the crime of “date rape” was being invented. Force a woman to have sex with you? What a common fantasy for many people that has S&M overtones. It’s the big bad wolf. The U.S. legal system has ruined that prospect. Just like you can make a million from a spilled cup of coffee, better stay away from that sexual harassment. In some cases aggression is what is needed sexually to effect the recipient. Cave man say ,“Come back to cave and @#$%^ me!” It worked in that era. Are we so different now?

Sex, Drugs, and...

My second girlfriend came in college. After seven years of dating the same person, it became a necessity to have someone, anyone! I’ll never forget how difficult it was to realize the work it was going to take to get some arse. It takes you out of your comfort zone. You have to be aggressive. There is no room for doubt. There is no room for failure. “Seek and conquer” as the cave men must have known. Please remember this was before the advent of “Date Rape.” This was the 80’s. This was an era where there was more beer consumed per capita in Chapel Hill, North Carolina than anywhere in the entire country. People on the “Hill” were serious about their beer consumption. It was not that different on most college campuses. Unfortunately past Governor Jim Hunt stopped that. He was trying to stop DUI fatalities which later became DWI’s. What’s the difference? An acronym is an acronym even with PC. Driving Under the Influence. Driving While Impaired. Changing the name of the law isn’t going to effect it’s perpetrators. What did though was it’s consequences. Once in the United States you could drive with an open beer. After Jim Hunt became governor you went to jail for getting stopped for a DUI. Jail! That is a stark contrast to what was happening before. Hunt raised the legal drinking age. In North Carolina you could drink beer and wine at age 18. That seems reasonable seeing as you can get carted off to war at that age. Die for your country, drink a beer. Governor Hunt changed that and made the legal age 21 for everything. That bit of legislation changed the 80’s forever. You could no longer drink freely and recreationally like hundreds of thousands of students had been doing at UNC for decades. Bars and clubs could not get the same patrons. In Fayetteville they even went as far as making all bars membership only if they sold less food than alcohol. That meant on a burning hot summer day you could not walk into a bar and buy cold suds unless the establishment set up a kitchen and sold more than 50% food. Mom and Pop bar owner were out of business. Imagine not being able to walk into a pub and have a cold beer without the auspices of a restaurateur. Some folk don’t want a restaurant like the people in Scotland and England. What is going to happen to all those pub owners when the people realize they can’t smoke? Unconstitutional? Great Britain doesn’t adhere to the U.S. Constitution. We forged this country to get out from under the tyrannical rule of the British replete with their conservative values. Still smoking is being outlawed on a massive level infringing upon the freedom of the American people. If private businesses are going to be choked financially by government, then the people eventually will turn to their private homes. If business is the way that freedom is going to be curtailed, then the people surely will unite and do what they like to do anyway. Who cares if there isn’t money exchanging hands under the scrutiny of Uncle Sam. Oh, this is called Socialism! Peoples' needs and desires are met in a humanistic way. This makes them happy. They endure. So what if there is no Coca Cola, chocolate, and bubble gum as the movies depict? The Russians had vodka, and it went a long way in keeping the people happy in the midst of bitter cold, food shortages, and poverty. If your government provides the basic things people need to be happy, then commerce isn’t necessary unless you want to be the next gadzillionaire. What would you do with all that money? Free coffee. Free clean and nutritious drinking water. Free booze. Let the good times roll! In that era the American people knew it took something other than real life to provide good times, because the bitter reality of survival was not that far away at any moment. Remember the Indians, our Native Americans? Remember the Lost Colony? Plague, famine, and freezing? It seems the Republicans know nothing of this. It seems millions of dollars is all it takes to feel good. The memory that you will never be wanting is enough to keep your pleasure center titillated. For the rest of us, we need anodynes. An anodyne is something that deadens suffering. Sex is an anodyne. Crystal Meth is an anodyne. Crack is an anodyne. Cigarettes are an anodyne. Alcohol is an anodyne. Most people are not happy, so it take a little work to feel good. The Republican party is not making that easy. Black people know how to feel good. They listen to good music. They drink a couple of 40’s in a brown paper bag. They dance to Hip/Hop music. Basics like jazz. The internet and video games have become the newest drugs. Television with its Reality programming and shock nightmaria certainly isn’t an anodyne. Who feels good when watching people scream at each other? Sex may be the best anodyne of all, and I had to have it. It was time. I picked up the phone and called a girl. I asked her to see a play at our college. We went and had a good time. A week later we were having good sex. It makes you happy. It completes you. It reinforces our most basic but integral animal desires. It is Sigmund Freud. Crack and Meth are not good drugs, but the American people deserve to feel good. With our polluted environment, diesel trains blasting away 24/7, aircraft patrolling our blue sky, and little clean air to breathe, drugs become a must.

The President Elect

When Americans venture to the polls in November if 2008, the future of the United States is at stake. While it was gratifying to see our youth population rally recently and vote the Democrats back into power in the House and Senate, the presidential election of 2008 is more important. It is unfortunate such a limited amount of candidates are available. What are we looking for as a president? One primary characteristic that seems to be important to the American people is looking “presidential”. There is a norm here, and politically savvy candidates should be aware of it. J.F.K. was unsuccessful in his early years vying for election, because he did not look the part. It was not until he began taking drugs his emaciated body expanded making him look “more presidential.” The people tend to want a man who looks fit, although we know from history this has nothing to do with being an effective president. It looks good on television. A black suit and a red “power tie” complete the package. Debonair graying hair is a plus combed neatly in a short doo. Bill Clinton had these characteristics and successfully used them in his campaign. The President should be a good speaker, because in times of distress he can unite the people in a common cause. He can also rally the people to action, although in this day and age politicians need no part of the American people. This was John F. Kennedy’s strong suit. He was an intelligent man with little small talk like Richard Nixon. Although he was from an affluent and politically influential family, he was educated. Speaking from the heart about issues one has studied in school and learned about in real life politics is effective in earning the voters’ trust. The current process of a political party devising characteristics for the would be president based upon polls will no longer suffice. If the American people wanted a man that looks nice in a suit, holds hands with his wife, goes to church on Sunday, and has reared children, then they may be suitably disappointed by their president’s qualifications to do the job. One thing that James Carvel continually said about Bill Clinton was he was always up in the morning to “do the job.” Let me repeat that. “Do the job.” Being president is a job. It is a political office that is elected by the American people, but it is not just to be a figure head as in the case of George Bush Jr. We have found out the difficult way George was unqualified for the job of President. Why was that? It is because to be a truly effective president one has to be an intellectual. George would be more comfortable running a ranch in Texas. What is an intellectual? An intellectual is one that reads, thinks, and continues to learn in life. There is no comfort level. Everyday you are faced with a different set of problems that must be solved. Without intellectual knowledge this is not possible. An intellectual has wisdom. Wisdom is the effective use of knowledge. One must have had many experiences at different ages to become wise. This is the definition of education. Education differs from schooling in that it comes from wisdom obtained from real life experiences. If you experience something and fail, you are more likely to amend the process to complete the task successfully. That is the philosophy behind letting a child burn his finger on a hot stove. When they experience pain, it will literally burn a memory in their soul that will guide them in the future. Schooling attempts to teach a series of lessons that attempt to bring about successful results without necessarily having had the true life experiences. Both processes are necessary in a well-rounded president. An intellectual best can be represented by an academic. Academics are required to publish. That means they must stay on top of their game. An academic can also be called an ” independent scholar.” Madeline Albright was an academic making her well qualified for the position of Secretary of State. Condoleezza Rice is also an academic having been a Dean many years. Diplomacy is another characteristic needed to be an effective president. Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations, was an effective diplomat. A diplomat knows how to talk to people peacefully to solve world problems. Washington or the beltway has evolved into a playground for Democrats and Republicans. It has reduced politics in the United States to bargaining between two major parties. When these parties become divided and unwilling to yield in their opinions, we have what we have now in politics, a stalemate. They are stymied. America needs to replace this group of antiquated men and begin anew with a fresh batch of intellectuals. Looking at the current group of presidential hopefuls who best qualifies as an academic, a diplomat, an effective speaker, and looks presidential? Colloquialism hurts a candidate. When men and women speak in a dialect, they alienate people from varying regions of the United States. There was a Civil War in America’s past, and sentiments of the division between North and South still exist. Speaking like a Southerner or a Yankee may isolate a particular candidate. That has been proven in electoral history. Phil Gram may be the best example. Speaking relies upon the proper use of the English language. American English is a dialect of the King’s English. While many Americans may not enjoy hearing a British accent, William Shakespeare can be considered the best writing example of the King’s English. Grammar and usage are necessary. Slang is taboo. Catch phrases or “sound bites” are also unacceptable. Nicknames are inappropriate. Only if the ADHD of the country has become so severe would these things be necessary. Presidents merely are men, so they desserve forgiveness. One should look at a President’s record of achievement and decide accordingly if their mistakes merit forgiveness. Impeaching a President Bill Clinton for infidelity was improper, because his private life is and should have been separate from his professional life. For the Rebublican Party to make a generalization about the president’s professional ability based upon infidelity is ridiculous. Many president’s had highly publicized extramarital affairs including John F. Kennedy. In a situation such as his who better than his cuckold wife could want her husband dead, especially if he had sex with America’s greatest sex symbol in tghe public eye? Bill Clinton’s record of efficiency in the presidency should have served as his reputation, not the media-produced spectacle, “That woman Ms. Lewinsky.” Likewise Richard Nixon’s ending of the Vietnam War also should be remembered moreso than the Watergate Scandal. He unlike George Jr. resigned the presidency. Life and politics are a compromise, and the most effective candidates know this. CEO's ike attorneys are not necessarily the best choices as political leaders. Is running the United States like running a corporation? One could say so only in the case of a successful company in the public’s eye. Lee Ioacca is an example of this. Former Secretary of the Treasury John Snow at one time was CEO of more than one major corporation at the same time, yet he was ineffective in that position. The president should be interested in government, of which there are many forms. Knowledge of other systems of government is enlightening. As we as a young country are learning today, the United States is the new kid on the block. How we rose to a world superpower in a few centuries is perplexing. It is being proven on a daily basis in Washington, spoiled rich children are not qualified to run the country. Our founding fathers earned this right considering the multitude of strife they survived to win independence from Great Britain. The ideals of the country were never far from mind. Today one must search long and hard to find any recollection of what America stands.

Allah and the Judge

When Americans venture to the polls in November of 2008, for whom are they likely to vote? The most amazing magic act in America’s history, the election of George Bush Jr., was devised by the Republican party. Unlike many other countries that favor occupations other than law of their elected officials, America’s government mostly is comprised of attorneys. Attorneys are more qualified than other professionals to manipulate the legal system, because this is the basis of their job. Attorneys, if they are to succeed in their profession, must be savvy in politics and law. Politics is a major component of the judicial system, because attorneys must mastermind plea bargains with sitting court judges. It is in their best interest to know something about whom they are relying upon for favorable decisions. With this in mind, are attorneys the best choice as leaders and legislators of our country? When Appellate Court Judge Samuel Alito was in the process of being confirmed for his nomination to the Supreme Court, his hearings were broadcast publicly. Upon watching these it was instantly clear what his thought process was. Lawyers, after they become judges, still use the law and its history to make decisions. If the law has become corrupt what process upon which are they going to rely to make difficult moral and ethical decisions? When the law no longer serves as the base upon which to render just decisions, whence will they come? It seems the separation of church and state in this situation may not be appropriate. If a justice cannot rely upon a higher power for spiritual guidance, then we as Americans are at the mercy of man. We all know of what man is capable. Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed by hellfire and brimstone sent from God as penitence for man’s sins. When a country systematically attempts to dismantle the fundamental belief system governing the moral and ethical behavior of man, then man is free to do as he pleases without constraint. The hypocrisy of the Ralph Reed-led Christian Coalition and other religious organizations vying for political power should be held at bay by the clause “Separation of Church and State.” It was invented for just this reason. Any political movement that invokes religion to further their cause is in error. Conversely using religion to fairly govern and legislate a country once a political faction has risen to power is appropriate. Using religion hypocritically to become elected is criminal resting assured to God it all ready is. The Moslem religion is the second largest in the world behind Christianity. Until violent Arab terrorists inappropriately began using Islam as a rationale for their violent, selfish, criminal acts, Islam went mostly unnoticed. Americans may have been aware of the continued conflict between Israel and Palestine over the much sought after Gaza Strip. Unfortunately Jews and Moslems have been living on and battling over their same native soil for centuries. At the most basic level and comically this has been translated into real estate’s popular slogan, “Location, location, location.” President Bush’s War on Terror began this Gaza Strip- influenced imperialistic idea in Iraq which has spread like the Black Plague. It promulgated a sectarian schism that has escalated into more violence. Mistakenly this violence has been miscast as an Iraqi civil war. In actuality many peaceful Moslem families have fled their country to pursue normalcy in life. Iraq has become a “Dead Zone” devolving to the level of other all ready existing genocide-like war zones in Africa. The United States has yet to make a successful example of Iraq. If it was intended to become a Middle Eastern democracy, scholars easily would have shown because of the preexisting sectarian divisions this was unlikely to occur. President Bush maliciously, spontaneously, and without forethought created a war that has destroyed two countries, Iraq and the United States. Until the he concedes the land that belongs to the Iraqi people, terrorism will continue soon to become rampant on our native soil. When men are stripped of their dignity and of higher aesthetics, what is left but the flowing blood of religion? This is why the terror force in Iraq has become so violent. There is nothing to lose. Is it the wrath of Allah or the United States which is more looming?