Today's Top Ten List of Hollywood True Identities

1. Mya Rudolph Post Michael Jackson- Charlene Tilton

2. Alicia Keys Post Michael Jackson- Charlize Theron

3. Gina Gershon Post Michael Jackson- Cher

4. O. J. Simpson Post Michael Jackson- Sigourney Weaver

5. Gwyneth Paltrow Post Michael Jackson- Lisa Kudrow

6. Scarlett Johansson Post Michael Jackson- Jennifer Connelly

7. Bob Newhart Post Michael Jackson- Suzanne Somers

8. Tori Spelling Post Michael Jackson- Cher

9. Frankenstein Post Michael Jackson- Jamie Lee Curtis

10. Tia Carrere Post Michael Jackson- George Takei

"Where is the peace, where is the solace?"

What controls that human synthesizer of the human mind? What controls what we remember and when? How is it that out of the blue memories from twenty years distant resurface with the potency of cyanide? How can it be that dreams can kill? All our putrid lives we spend trying to make sense of the charade, yet in the end some unseen force seems to have our lives in a vice. Vice. Vice versa. Versa major. Majora clitoris. Is it this force we are seeing in films, some inhuman empirical monster that watches with the hedonistic delight of making us squirm? Living life in the box, in a fish aquarium, squirming rats in and endless maze… “Where is the peace, where is the solace? Got to find it… got to find it….”

Business, the Death of America

Because Capitalism is defined as a “private” means of production of a product employing a public labor force, it is unique. What if Capitalism were defined as a public means of production employing a private labor force.? A labor force that is employed by a private company could be considered to be no longer public, because what about it would define it as public? This is the same scenario as living in a city. We naturally believe the streets upon which we drive and the sidewalks upon which we stroll are public. No one stops to think someone paid for these things and is responsible for their upkeep. Cities are more abstract than that. The only way it can be kept clear is to continue to reiterate local politicians and therefore public properties are entities of the people. They are not rulers and they are not fences. They are funded by our tax dollars and no other way. That civil servants become so out-of-touch with this system is because a proper system of checks and balances is not in place. This seems to be what is happening in America. The workforce of government somehow has gotten it in their head that the American people are either too ignorant or too complacent to understand corruption in government. More likely it is that the common man, all ready bogged down with menial tasks, chooses not to take on the foe of government. For this reason business in the United States needs to be redefined so that America’s priorities once again become valid. All of he superfluous tasks that have begun to take so much of our time need to be discarded, and the relevant tasks of an informed and enraged American people should be exercised. This core of existence and philosophy constantly is being undermined by mindless media. This media image is upon what foreign countries base their ill perceptions of America. Down deep most people still believe in America’s freedoms and all she has offered everyone. How could we forget that Statue of Liberty holding her torch high above the ocean welcoming, “Your tired and your poor?” Since 9/11 our perceptions about immigration were forced to change, because foreign immigrants strolled onto our native soil and turned against us. The immigrants that once made up the heart of America became the infidels, much like the American army became the infidels to Osama bin Laden. It must be a similar feeling, and seen with an earnest degree of self control could be considered a fitting punishment. Infidels came to the Middle East with seeming selfish motives and misplaced incumbent natives on their home soil. Was this not Imperialism? Are terrorist attacks against our country’s infrastructure nothing but underhanded acts of retaliatory attempted Imperialism? All Osama bin Laden has ever asked was for the United States to leave the Middle East. With our unwanted presence there, the soul of immigration in the United States has become tainted. While we began to focus our attention on possible terrorist threats through the airlines, Mexicans responded to a weakness in our southern most border. In two ways immigration that has been a core “value” of our country has become an enemy. We are afraid of Moslem looking men in our airports, and we stopped enforcing illegal immigration from Mexico. With these two issues the message of Ms. Liberty has become skewed. Do we no longer welcome the tired and the poor? Do we welcome them only if they do not look Moslem? The answer should be we welcome them only if they have the respect for our system of government (which includes immigration) and if they are able to be trusted with our lives. This is the definition of a country, and we must qualify our nation some way. If politicians were reluctant to make English the official language of America, what is it that will bind us together as a nation? All of these values have become blurry as people scurry in a haze of spin and propaganda. In addition to these two pressing problems, business in America has abandoned the common people. When did this begin? Was it with ENRON? Was this the first public display of private disgrace in America where loyal employees were manipulated and abused for the monetary gain of the few? With the definition of Capitalism I stated earlier, Big Business is the heart of responsibility for the American people. They provide the infrastructure in which Americans are supposed to thrive in a system of Capitalism. If Big Business fails then what is left to support the economy of the United States? Does the government step in and take up the slack? Certainly in our history the federal government has a record of stepping up for the American people. Is that not their responsibility? If we are defined as a Capitalist socio/economic system, then Big Business is THE core provider for the people of America. If the practices of Big Business are not aptly scrutinized and regulated according to our Constitution, then a failure of Capitalism will result. We all ready have been seeing this as the federal and state governments are expected to step in and take up the slack of complacent and irresponsible large businesses. Similarly small businesses have been bullied out of the market leaving a gaping hole in the infrastructure of jobs and philosophy. When corporate monopolies vie for power as they have in the last decade, then fail on a massive level both to produce their products and economic packages for their employees who is left? We have squashed the little guy so hard that nothing remains. When these egotistical bigots become extinct how long will it take for America to re-adjust? Big Business has all ready become extinct in America, because we no longer can rely upon it to serve our human needs. As a result we are floundering like lost fish in a record breaking deflated housing market, being adversely effected by a devalued dollar, and looking at a dry, hot, and barren desert of America. There are no easy answers to the chaos that has been created in America by selfish private motives fueled by images of “Get Rich Quick” schemes. Instead of investing in America’s infrastructure through her people, we have been used and discarded on a journey to the Forbes 400. The fate of our country rests in these people’s hands, and the misadministration of business is the cause. The delusion of grandeur of owning everything could only be fed by drugs, because there is no such rational behavior that exists than can qualify such a desire. Extremism is all ready ensconced in Big Business in America, and it is this which will be our downfall, not the Moslems.

Let's Abandon "Pop" Business

Why can’t I stop talking about “pop?” There is a simple example I can pose that directly relates to what has been happening in American media for the last few years. I am going to use an analogy. “To pop,” now is going to be considered “selling out.” I’m not sure if anyone in pop culture even knows what that is anymore. “Sell what?” Selling out means compromising your values for monetary gain. For the longest time American entertainers were at the forefront of real knowledge. That is upon what they based the credibility and integrity of their product. “Making it big” meant you were wise enough to be a comedic social conscience for the country. Being an entertainer had substance, because in the past America was steeped in cultural integrity. Maybe it was because of the Cold War. When communist enemies are on the verge of world dominance, then that frightening thought would compel government and society to “Keep it real.” The consequences of not “keeping it real” would mean drinking lots of Vodka in a police state with long lines for cheese and toilet paper. In the not so distant past that was a real image to the American people. Evidently with the fall of the Cold War the real threat of world domination by a fascist political regime has subsided to a point where the mainstream (no matter how concealed it is) is no longer afraid. How can it be that a monumental terrorist attack on downtown Manhattan could not fuel the same type of fears embodied in the Cold War for so long? Is it that nuclear disarmament has somehow lessened the consequences of a violent take over? Certainly Extreme Islam is every bit as violently potent as the Red Army. In certain ways in the last six years we have seen more violence and disregard for human life than in previous decades fighting the ensuing threat of the Soviet Union. How could it be a more marked threat to national security has merited such a timid reply in pop culture? How could “selling out” for quick, superficial, immediate monetary gratification have taken the place of what once used to be the most visible and viable platform in America? While Extreme Terror has made inroads into the United States, pop media has checked out. This once public forum of ethical and moral philosophy led by entertainers has now moved to the internet taken over by the common man. The rapid influx of “blogging” has made a sizeable dent in the tradition of journalism, and media is still reeling from it. What I don’t understand is how the tried and true history of broadcast journalism suddenly disappeared? Is it because the newest generation working in the communications industry have not been schooled in the “Old School” of communications? When Devry University came along and said dad’s skills were now outdated, did that apply to every viable vocation nurtured in the United States since her inception? Who would have the power to disassemble the very infrastructure of America and leave it in such mass disarray? “To sell out” must be qualified. “To sell out” means that a traditional set of values common to most people were actively abandoned in return for monetary gain. That means we first must acknowledge what those values are. Those values are what used to be embodied in a traditional liberal arts education in school. A mixture of science, English writing, foreign language, math, and the arts made up a core of what our country thought important in educating future citizens of the United States. These principles have endured the majority of the history of the United States, and they were carried over from the study of Western Civilization. European models of university surely became building blocks for America’s educational system. Then something happened. Suddenly someone began to say the traditional set of values and skills we prized and valued were no longer applicable to “modern” America. Dad had to do a quick double take and realized “someone” was now discrediting much of his working life. “You are no longer valuable to us, Mr. Smith. Your years of service to the company are no longer appreciated,” and Mr. Smith was tossed to the dogs without a care in the world by the company. “That’s the way it is. Take it or leave it. Win or lose. That’s the way of the world.” I don’t believe anyone who lives in America would think this was appropriate behavior. While you could justify such behavior by the definition of Capitalism (if it doesn’t sell, you are out of a job) it doesn’t represent moral behavior. How could a large company that has been served for many years by faithful employees suddenly say, “Screw you.”? That would mean religion was absent from the company’s policy, thus relieving them of the higher responsibility to their workers as people. Separating religion from business would allow private companies to abuse their workers in the names of their jobs, much like has been done in many other third world companies outsourced with American manufacturing jobs. It would be easy in Mexico, India, or China to abuse your workers making American products without scrutiny by the judicial branch of government. While the separation of religion and state has been a public issue for many years, no one has really talked about religion in business. How could this be possible seeing as we live in a Capitalist nation employing a public workforce for a privately owned means of production? Would not the rights of employees be governed by the tenants of religion? If there weren’t tried and true labor practices enforced by unions, what would govern employers treatment of their employees? I guess it would be government, yet systematically the federal government has continued to DE-regulate private businesses and provide tax breaks for the rich. It must be the traditional work ethic and value system of America that has served us so well since the beginning has now become defunct. With the out-sourcing of staple manufacturing jobs that were the meat and potatoes of so many middle class Americans, so out-sourced was our value system. No longer is there a need for the defining of vocations crucial to the inception, development, and creation of a product held in high esteem by the American people. Our mainstream has been out-sourced and with it its governance of acceptable rules of conduct for both media and pop culture. If there no longer was a set of rules in place meant to guide Americans in a worthwhile and fruitful existence, then anything would go. Boundaries would be broken and chaos would ensue. America’s new reliance upon personal entertainment technology and wireless communications has undermined the intellectual integrity of America. No longer is the technology sector seeking to raise its status by developing products that will help mankind endure. Technology like media has lost its heart. There is no human theme driving the market. Somehow the change of threat from Russian nuclear invasion to Extreme Islam has disguised the true nature of man. We must survive. We must survive on this small and fragile planet with lessening supplies of fresh water, air, and cold. Why would it be that Al Qaeda would seem less of a threat than a vastly armed Soviet Block? The Soviets were at the forefront of many disciplines including space exploration. For intellectual reasons we feared them because it appeared they had more wisdom than we did in certain areas. Al Qaeda has sent no capsule into space nor have they produced Olympic level athletes. It is for this reason we fear them less? It would seem we would fear them more, because unlike traditional intelligent human beings with a need for civility and enlightenment, they focus their attention only on destruction. Oddly enough media and pop culture as abandoned our fight against Extreme Islam. Instead they have disconnected, de-sensitized, and attempted to create a false reality of superficial propaganda that we really do not fear Al Qaeda at all. Is that the proper thing to do in the wake of such public displays of escalating violence, especially in our school systems? “Send Big and Rich out there to distract the folks from reality.” Has that been the philosophy of media for the last five years? My suggestion is we apply an old term. Media should be replaced with the term “Communications.” From now on if media has nothing to communicate, then they shouldn’t be on the air. There is no eye candy. Life is too short to forget why we are here, and that is what is happening. The campaign of business that has undermined our society, our work ethic, and our values should be abandoned for the core values we have always held. Put down that plastic. Stop using the ATM. Turn off the cell phone. Count your pennies. Keep a checkbook. Don’t watch primetime television. Ride your bike. Make your own clothes. Organize a neighborhood athletic team. Grow your own garden. Let’s put the shallow businesses that destroyed our mainstream back into perspective. We matter. The American people matter. Cell phones do not matter. In this way when someone does get up to sing a song, it will be about something for which they care.

Today's Top Ten List of the All Time Top Ten List

1. The One- "You’re Still the One I Love" (sung by Shania Twain)

2. The Two Jakes- Jack Nickolson, Harvey Keitel

3. The Three Musketeers- Aramis, Athos, D'Artagnan

4. The Fab Four- John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr

5. The Russian Five- Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin.

6. The French Six- Germaine Tailleferre, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honneger, Louis Durey, Francis Poulenc, Jean Cocteau, Georges Auric

7. The Magnificent Seven- Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, Horst Buchholz.

8. The Eight- Robert Henri, George Luks, William Glackens, John Sloan, and Everett Shinn, along with Maurice Prendergast, Ernest Lawson, and Arthur Bowen Davies.

9. The Little Rock Nine- Melba Patillo Beals, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, Minnijean Brown Trickey and Thelma Mothershed Wair.

10. The Ten- Jessica Alba, Famke Janssen, Gretchen Mol, Oliver Platt,
Winona Ryder, Adam Brody, Kerri Kennedy, Ken Marino, A.D. Miles, Paul Rudd

The Lydian Chromatic Concept

George Russell wrote a scholarly academic treatise on a harmonic system that many jazz improvisers chose to use. While it was rather cumbersome in structure, the premise can be broken down into the "modes" of the ascending lydian-augmented scale. (These can also be inharmonic equivolents to the ascending melodic minor scale) If you use a major scale with a sharped fourth AND fifth degree (while the Lydian scale suffices to provide two equal tetrachords unlike the major scale) all of the necessary "altered" scales for use in jazz improvisation are generated. (There is no longer any guesswork in which notes to use) Peace Out!

Today's Top Ten List of Best "Classical" Pieces

1. Schubert, "Quintet in C Major" (This has double bass with the string quaret)

2. Bela Bartok, "The Miraculous Mandarin" (A man in love with his prostitute learns about love the hard way)

3. Elliot Carter, "String Quartets" (He won the Pulitzer Prize for these)

4. Edward Grieg, "Peer Gynt Suite"

5. Maurice Ravel, "Mother Goose Suite" (Impressionism was not just Faure, and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Orchestra does it best.)

6. Claude Debussy, "Nocturnes" (Hearing the "Sirens" sing would put any man "In the Mood.")

7. Alban Berg, "Violin Concerto" (Itzhak Perlman is the man)

8. Gustav Mahler, "Tenth Symphony" (If you wondered where the "Theme from Star Trek" came from...?)

9. Alexander Borodin, "Polovtsian Dances" (The Russians were influential to American music Rachmaninov bridged the gap between European orchestral music and American movie music. Erich Korngold carried this torch and made the loot)

10. Igor Stravinsky, "Persephone" (Who knew a monodram could be so inticing?)

A Tip o' the Hat To......

1. Salba and Malba (Steve and Mickey Alba/ Legends of Skateboarding)

2. T.A./Maddog (Tony Alva/ the Best Skater of all time)

3. Jason Jesse (He smokes a lot of ((Mike Weed)) but he is still a great skater!)

4. Jeff Kendall ("It must be nice to be able to party until l999")

5. Natas Kaupas (Only Santa Monica Airlines could give this man the wings to ollie over fire hydrants and dumpsters)

6. Tommy Guerrero (That fiery sword deck is fab 'cept for those plastic Gullwing Sidewinders!)

7. Tom Sims (Only an old fart would have the balls to ride a longboard, "Back in the day."

8. Kenny Means ("Skateboard Madness" is a schizophrenic romp, but this dude can ride eight wheels like no other)

9. Santa (Steve Caballero had good "form" way back when riding those ditches in L.A.)

10. Rob Roscopp (I guess Ohio can't be all that bad)

Today's Top Ten List of Hollywood's Best Actors and Actresses

1. Gene Hackman

2. Robert DuVall

3. Brad Pitt

4. Tom Cruise

5. Jennifer Connelly

6. Halle Berry

7. Chevy Chase

8. William Hurt

9. Jennifer Anniston

10. Sally Field

A Poem for the General

El General como se llama?

My name is Barak Obama.

El Presidente I hope to be,

Before American troops will flee.


Patreus said, “In due time.”

Bush agreed, “Things will be fine.”

“F-I-N-E” Brad Pitt does tell,

“Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional,” all is not well.


We want our army back at home,

Our economy is picked to the bone.

Henchmen, cronies and private security,

All make for an incongruity.


Make it all end, El General,

So we receive a boost in morale.

Gracias.

Fear and Intimidation

We often hear of a “Campaign of Fear and Intimidation”. One college professor was bold enough to say President Bush’s White House resembled a Nazi organization. The President didn’t like Dan Rather’s reporting on his war record, and it seems the same was true for Ward Churchill. Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales, and Tony Snow all have resigned. Evidently these men didn’t worry too much about finding jobs in the private sector, or were they all ready considered to be working in the private sector? Al Gore didn’t have any trouble landing a job as a college professor at Georgetown University. It seems unless you are indicted by federal prosecutors fear and intimidation doesn’t apply. A slew of federal prosecutors were fired, many after receiving favorable appraisals of job performance. Does a “Campaign of Fear and Intimidation” apply to us? If so whence does it come? A few years back a marked difference in television and motion picture production and direction began. The aesthetic of this media changed. Once television and film were filled with warm and bubbly content that enticed audiences to want to participate. Even when suspense, action, and horror were the selected medium, there was an underlying sentiment that allowed viewers the confidence to lose themselves in the picture without fear. That changed. Violent video games produced by the Japanese began to infiltrate film. The martial arts, war, and mythological characters all began to dominate what once was very American and humane content. Films such as American Graffiti and The Lords of Flatbush were replaced with graphics-based edgy post modern depictions of violence. Instead of drawing the viewer into deeper and more rewarding dramatic and emotional content, filmmakers became content with comic book-type diversion. Evidently the ADHD that has reached epidemic proportions in the United States began to dictate rather than succumb to film directing. If viewers were unable to hold a thought or feeling for more than a few seconds how could a director and his or her actors? “Shoot the shot and we will fix it in the mix,” as a visit to George Lucas’s facility on the web shows. Digitization created with the Renderman software created by Steve Jobs has proven to have all but replaced traditional celluloid film making. No more worry about lighting design, art direction, or costuming. “We can create it all on the computer.” The trouble is most people outgrow puberty. There comes a time when adults choose to put down the joystick and hot pockets and grow up. We become more interested in what other human beings are thinking and feelings. A game programmers concept of a stunted and truncated reality no longer will suffice for pleasant diversion. Let’s hear it for the humanities! If one were to pinpoint a source of Extremism in America other than patriotic militias, it would have to be the mediums of television and film. If one did choose to not turn on the television after rising from bed, it might be the “Campaign of Fear and Intimidation” would not exist at all.

Today's Top Ten List of Hollywood Drag Queens

1. Robert Downy Jr. in Drag- Mira Sorvino

2. Christina Aguilera in Drag- Naomi Watts

3. Rose McGowan in Drag- Linda Tripp

4. Kim Basinger in Drag- Fawn Hall

5. Jody Foster in Drag- Gillian Anderson

6. Gillian Anderson in Drag- Celine Dion

7. Old Tom Turkey in Drag- Julia Roberts

8. Tawnee Welch in Drag- Angie Harmon

9. Charlize Theron in Drag- Jenna Elfman

10. Shania Twain in Drag- Ali Landry

Conservative in Infrastructure, Liberal in Thinking

While I have railed upon conservative thinking as related to business practices, I have realized that I in certain ways am a conservative. It is humbling to realize this, because I do see certain ways of non-thinking conservativism as a death sentence. If one is trapped in a dark cave with no tools are you going to be able to rely upon conservative thinking to escape? Isn’t it going to demand a more direct and immediate solution like what is taught in the United States Army? “Just do it!” “Get ‘er done.” These catch phrases do have relevance, as I learned from my former Sergeant in the Air Force brother-in-law. He was the one who taught me thinking about a task too much prohibits its accomplishment. There are certain jobs that merit brute force. That means all the thoughtful retrospection in the world will not help solve the problem. Your animal instincts should take over and the survival of the fittest wins. It is pure adrenaline. In this way as an educator with a Teaching Certificate (although now expired) I do believe being actively engaged in the learning or solving process is important. Sitting around on one’s laurels with a gavel in hand will not help solve the social or political problems of today. Instead we need active engagement, and that is difficult because of the recent history of the White House. When the majority agenda of our leaders is covert and selfish, it becomes difficult for media to get their hands around the issues. It takes forceful authoritative journalism to expose truths. When Extreme Terrorism is stirred into the soup media could become shy about their jobs. We are all faced with the controversial decision of wanting to support our country’s politics while equally wanting them to be honest. That means an adult stance must be taken like parents in a family. The parents need and want love from their children, but at the same time the children must be disciplined by a neutral force. Tough love must take over the well-being of the future of the child becomes paramount. We must treat our government the same way. This administration is incapable of providing the leadership and legislation we need today, because they are conservative. Conservative in this context means there is no room for new things. Coming to a new understanding of an issue that didn’t exist in your history before is a precursor to enlightenment. If one is so stumped in their own pitiful and small world they will have no interest in understanding anything new. Instead they will cling to the past, because this allows them to exist in a harmless shell of instinctual behavior that does not require active thought and accommodation and assimilation of new knowledge. It is comfortable. The Kennedy family was “comfortable.” Jackie O. always said, “Things were nice.” While there is a certain model of “nice,” it can be seen to come from the aristocracy in Europe. America never has been known as a model of Europe. We instead are known as head-strong rebels standing up for the ideas of freedom. To fight for one’s freedom is not to sit and a castle and eat tea and crumpets. Fighting for freedom means being engaged in current issues and being willing to fight for your cause. Hillary said in a recent speech that the path of diplomacy was closed. That means that no one in the White House is even willing to entertain a dialog with our enemies, because we are too afraid and cemented in our own frail habits to be able to confront controversy. To confront change one must have a solid understanding and allegiance to one’s own principles, and they must be public. When this is not the case an administration will be unable to confront the enemy on a diplomatic level, because hypocrisy will prevent an honest solution. Liberal thinking is essential. Conversely one area where conservative thinking could be effective is concerning infrastructure. I realized within the last few years every street corner in the American South has been bought by drug companies. This easily could be attributed to urban sprawl. Then the notion presents itself that all of those Walgreens, CVS Pharmacies, and Eckerds Drugs were all competing for street corners. How ironically the local ghetto drug dealer’s corners were taken over by large pharmaceutical companies. This is representative of a larger scale movement in America where our land is being bought up by big business. This movement is not conservative, because conservative thinking would have kept in place the model of the village. Drug stores would not have taken on the model of large wholesale outlets such as Home Depot, Lowe’s and Best Buy. Could this be considered liberal thinking, or is it better characterized by “extreme” thinking? It seems somewhat extreme for buildings to spout on the corners of our intersections that look like fortresses. Instead of keeping the enemy at bay with a moat and drawbridge they are supposed to offer comfort. I don’t think this has been a successful model of health care, offering drive through service for drugs. To suggest something as serious and important as a prescription can be obtained from a drive up window is to undermine the health care process. “Get your drugs! Get your drugs right here.” The position of the local drug dealer, like indy music labels have been exploited by big business. Do we want our health care administered on a massive scale, or do we want our medicine personal and confidential? The drug companies have eliminated that possibility. While once you could have a local neighborhood doctor come to your home with a little black bag, now a stream of middle men must approve your hemorrhoid treatments. Is this suitable for America and concurrent with conservative values? It seems to me Extremism has been at work in American business and politics for years hidden under the ruse of conservatism effectively decapitating real liberal thought.

Why We Ain't Got No Rhythm

“All God’s chillin got rhythm.” It is easy quickly to survey the medium of television and assess why they ain’t got no rhythm. The premise that a group of people can somehow become cool without God quickly will sink into the sand like a giant giraffe being sucked into the pits of hell. The reason this country has no soul is because we have no God. Rhythm is the instrument of God. Rhythm provides the soul of the human race, and television’s decision to use only pop music is a major deterrent to the acquisition of a human soul. Traditionally in American history TV attempted to provide soul rather than to destroy it. This was implemented by utilizing live playing musicians. If a composer was employed he had to experience the drama first hand, synthesize it through his own feelings, and then further allow it to breathe by being interpreted by others. This rendered life to the possible sterile process of television. Without it television is nothing more than a cheap video game with plastic characters and porno dialog. It is life “in the box” we are now living. Who decided television characters are no longer able to act extemporaneously akin to improvisers in the field of jazz? Who decided spontaneous creativity was passé? Who decided strictly scripted mono-syllabic propagandistic rants were appropriate as diversion for the human race? Just listen to the majority of news anchors on television today. None of them have rhythm, because rhythm is what breathes life into stale political dialog. To have this rhythm you still must be able to have human emotional responses to the issues. This understanding translates into enlightenment, because it is synthesized by the human soul. The complex system that is the cognitive brain and the affective emotions understand and interpret the issue into human form this giving it relevance to the human viewer. Without this understanding by the news anchor the broadcast is nothing more than an idiot android conveying the news via remote control. Media has been talking this way for the last few years, and it best can be seen in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. When there is truth to dialog it has rhythm, the rhythm of being listened to, interpreted, and commented upon. When this is not present the dialog like a majority of what’s on T.V. is nothing but an endless stream of unmeaningful syllables. The inflections in the lines of dialog are conspicuously missing. Like “pop” music sterilizes its expression, this interpretation of human speech renders the King’s English impotent to arouse its listeners. Instead a “global” pre-conceived thought-to-be-universal dynamic is applied destroying any possibility of really understanding the issue. To understand issues they must be synthesized by the human soul. They must move the emotions at a deeper level, and this is a process that far exceeds the “shock value” of most current pop media. Jolting the viewer into acknowledging a particular issues can not substitute for a broadcast of its in depth understanding. On a good episode Anderson Cooper has this understanding. It is unfortunate the need for 500 cable channels with immediate gratification has all but destroyed the human soul. It is taxing to be engaged in the issues at this level, and it is equally as detrimental to be emotionally involved with issues that are dishonest and being spun by the media. This force of evil does have the power to maim. In this perspective it is easy to see how media tunes out the complexity of reality opting for a shallow but less demanding platform of information.

Conservatives are for Satan

The idea of conservatism is in itself a death sentence. The state of the world today is living proof that sentencing the human race to a prison of conformist ideas devised by the wealthy is to mark the end of the world as we know it. Do we think for a moment that God suddenly stopped and said to Himself, “I think the human race should stop learning at a particular point in evolution.” Because the fiercely guarded doctrine of making money from the lower classes is effective for the rich, these principles do not apply to the survival needs of man as an mammal. How to arrange your portfolio as we are seeing on a daily basis has nothing to do with helping the world survive. Conversely its steadfast rules are at odds with ground zero. The Bush White House could be no better example of this blasphemous and deranged philosophy. To be so irresponsible as to think the children of your children will be around to clean up your mess is mockingly arrogant and selfish, but so is George Bush Jr. As Hillary is saying in her newly passionate campaign speeches, “The times of cowboy diplomacy are over.” We have long outlived the need for a cocky sheriff that takes credibility from his money belt. Conservatism if applied to a staid and sequestered community may be an effective dogma. Images of puritan religions come to mind such as the Amish. To call yourself conservative is an obvious declaration of your own inability to be able to think for yourself, because it allows you to hide in the former decisions of others. In a world that is changing as rapidly as ours, this will no longer suffice. Things are as they have never been in history and taking a conservative approach meaning, “Things will turn out okay if we just leave them alone,” is truly a death sentence. Our planet is creaking and groaning under the ill administered responsibilities Republicans have delegated to mother earth. The O-Zone is deteriorating. Trees are disappearing. Water is being contaminated, and we are roasting our own planet in an array of electricity. Republicans don’t care, because the selfishness of getting for yourself doesn’t translate to altruistic love. If this is what Capitalism means to the right, how does a democratic left even exist? They are at odds in values, where R represents monetary gain and D represents humanity. Can it be a faction of society is so sheltered that only money will suffice for happiness? That would mean their conservatism is so strong it will not allow the base hierarchal needs of Maslow to make themselves known. Their small minds never have had to contend with anything other than being spoiled. For this reason revolutions occur when a ruling class is so out of sync with the needs of reality. Hiding in a conservative shell can no longer be a viable option in the politics of the United States of America. We needed a bridge to the 21st century. Instead we reaped a gaping chasm of schizophrenia, a thistly running vine punctuated with the thorns of Satan. The way of God is one of enlightenment, and the way of Satan is death. Actively and loudly ascribing yourself to death is laughable and only reserved for those so spoiled they no longer know how to think for themselves. The common man has no such luxury. The misplaced people of New Orleans have no such luxury. Those with no health insurance have no such luxury. The mentally and physically handicapped have no such luxury. Conservatism is for the rich and the broken-hearted are for God. God offers the hope of prosperity and happiness and it is only He who will save this country.

The Base Re-alignment Commission

Military base re-alignment has never been a pleasant thought for personnel in the armed services. These re-alignments which began in l988 never cease to upset. The bottom line is the Department of Defense is trying to save money. Can you repeat that please? While we are pouring billions of dollars into an unnecessary war in Iraq, our Department of Defense is attempting to squeeze extra dollars by closing certain military bases and re-positioning those troops in other areas. Ft. Bragg, North Carolina was been at the butt of this process since it began in l988 under President Ronald Reagan. His decision to relocate 30,000 troops to Ft. Bragg changed the city of Fayetteville forever. The small town feel of Fayetteville changed, and in response to the influx of personnel urban sprawl began. While Bragg Boulevard has always been the main thoroughfare from the post to downtown Fayetteville, the flow of automobile traffic consciously was diverted in another direction. Skibo Road or the 401 Bypass became the new “strip.” This simply was a right hand turn off Ft. Bragg diverting traffic to the Cross Creek Mall area. The mall and surrounding land had always been somewhat rural, and that was its appeal. J.P. Riddle owned much of the land around the mall, and he sat on it for a very long time until its value increased exponentially. There was corn growing for the longest time beside our Best Products store. When the decision was made to make 401 the “new” Bragg Boulevard, someone must have made a lot of money. I’m not sure what the thought process was. Someone decided the destination of downtown was not appropriate for G.I.’s, because downtown was not urban sprawl. It was the typical downtown of a small southern town. During that era Sears, Belks, the Capital, and J.C. Penny had department stores down there. There were several movie theaters. The Colony was one of them. The strip of Hay St. known as the 500 block was inhabited by clubs. The Korean Lounge, Rick’s, and the Pink Pussycat were all familiar names to young military men looking for recreational diversion. Neon lights and marquees dotted Hay street, and there was no lacking for a place to drink beer, watch strippers, and get rowdy. That changed because one particular social conscience decided it was not appropriate. This property was bought up and the bars were forced out. Downtown has never recovered. Over the decades several attempts have been made to revitalize the area, but to no avail. They laid “Old Country” styled brick on the streets and sidewalks. They put in expensive black wrought iron lampposts and urns. They made the block surrounding our Market House a walking only mall. None of these succeeded in bringing the necessary commerce. A value judgment was made that a G.I.’s dollars should be more wisely spent on “other” activities. I would like to question that decision. As time passed their philosophy slowly emerged. While once Fayetteville had a handful of recognizable restaurants (Chi Chi’s, Bennigans, Darryls, and Ruby Tuesdays) urban sprawl offered the opportunity of a cavalcade of new “theme” oriented restaurants. The seed was sown, and the Cross Creek Mall area went from relaxed and recreational to urban and frenetic. Over two decades urban planning seemed to be chucked into the wind and a potpourri of businesses opened helter skelter. It has never recovered its class. Instead masses of military people are “serviced” at the most basic level. Wal Mart is consistently sold out of its products, and Cross Creek Mall offers only the most basic items. Most middle-classed residents of Fayetteville began doing their shopping out-of-town. Merchants inevitable love this way of life. G.I.’s that are stuck in the field all day playing war, in a knee jerk reaction seeking happiness and recreation spend their dollars on over-priced vehicles and unnecessary products. In a more traditional America the basic activities of leisure would provide the necessary relief from war-time stress. America has been transforming our cultural heritage constantly for the last two decades. The down-to-earth models of relaxing and blowing off steam have not even been out sourced but eliminated, so that people have no choice but to spend their money. The best example of this can be seen on Woodrow St. where their park was selfishly taken over by two imposing cell phone towers. PWC or the Public Works Commission fenced off the park like a Soviet military base and proceeded to erect two tall antenna arrays. No Trespassing signs were placed on the fences, and the swing sets and teeter totters became the playthings of ghosts only. Eventually the city placed the microwave transmitters back atop the large water tower on the property, but the encompassing and exclusionary wall has yet to be removed. In California a law was passed prohibiting cell phone towers being place in close proximity to schools. Here they are in the middle of a park. In this way it can be see there is a mafia in the American South. It operates in tandem with government and the well-being of affluent citizens is what is protected. The possibility of democracy exists, but as in most Republican led contingencies the “little guy” is squashed like a bug. The way of Fayetteville has been premeditated, and that plan continues with the newest wave of base closures and re-alignment. Fayetteville’s infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle the amount of military personnel here now. It certainly will be a disservice to the 30,000 newly arriving military and civilian workers. As our troops continue to be abused and humiliated at the hands of the George W. Bush White House, they will continue to be disserviced living in the urban sprawl of Fayettenam. Considering Ft. Bragg is going to become home to the Base Re-Alignment Commission itself and more officers than any other area of the country, you could have hoped for a more metropolitan destination. Fayetteville has never been home to that, because one small group of elite businessmen have controlled it for the longest time. As I realize everyday real culture is an enemy to real money, because artistic enlightenment is not concerned with monetary gain. Allowing human beings to become actualized and happy through culture is counter to the business model of making people buy because they are starved of real life. Thus Fayetteville is the perfect mecca of Old Money and the perfect location for base re-alignment.

A Tip o' the Hat to Stacy Peralta and Larry Gordon

A tip o' the hat must be given to Stacy Peralta and Larry Gordon for producing the G&S Warptail skateboard. This machine devised in the late l970's, equipped with vintage Tracker Midtrack re-issue trucks and Turner 3DM Cambrias is as close as you can get to "Old School" skating. This is the ULTIMATE carving machine. Who would know a 7 ply laminate maple board could carve concrete as well as a Jeff Ho surfboard could "carve" waves in the Pacific Ocean? I grew up on a Nash Goofy Foot, a Roller Sport Proline, and a G&S Fibreflex with Bennett Pro trucks and Roadrider 6 wheels. (I still have it) This re-issue board with a set of Tracker Midtracks (the real kind that cost $60.00), and Roadrider copies carves the cement like a Banshee. I have never had so much fun on a grocery store sidewalk. I have several other custom made "shapes" that have served me well.... but this M.F. "Old School Rocks!" Who knew a stick could provide such pleasure? I thought I was Stacy Peralta himself dragging my toes while spinning on that back truck. Forget the "New School" and teach the younger riders how to balance on that slalom board tearing up the banks of Bellagio Elementary School. Balance is what it is all about. Finding the "bead" of the "blade." Slalom man! I like the Z-Flex Jay Adams re-issue too. It's nose is the sweetest pocket for nose wheelies. There is something about the balance of that short little board by G&S... Good work and quality transcends.

Today’s Top Ten List of Celebrity True Identities

Barry Manilow in Drag- Phil Spector

Adam Sandler in Drag- Cherry Petite

Gerry McCann in Drag- Sam Neill

Russell of the Fat Albert Gang in Drag- The Hamburglar

Dick Cheney in Drag- Willem Dafoe

Lee Marvin in Drag- Michael Mukasey

O.J. Simpson Post-Michael Jackson- George W. Bush

O.J. Simpson Post-Michael Jackson in Drag- Ellen Degeneres

Samuel L. Jackson in Whiteface- The Hamburglar

Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Drag- Steve Fossett

Downtown Fayetteville and the Little Locomotive That Could

Recently I was booked for a “society gig” in Pinehurst, North Carolina. For those of you that aren’t familiar with this southern icon, it is a golfing resort. Nestled in the rolling sand hills of the piedmont, it is flanked by long leaf pine trees. Pinehurst has a unique look due to these trees. It also suffers from the same ills as Fayetteville when brown pine needles fall from the branches of the tress. They leave a mess on the streets. Pinehurst is an anomaly. It is one point of a triangle shared with Southern Pines and Aberdeen. The Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad connects Aberdeen to Fayetteville, and everyday their fleet of GP classed locomotives chug into the yard in Fayetteville. When traveling to Pinehurst via Plank Rd. on the fringe of Ft. Bragg, one never knows where the train will be. It, like most railroad track, is hidden. Likewise Ft. Bragg has an ammunition dump that is serviced by their spur that runs to Aberdeen from the station in downtown Fayetteville. The Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad shares their yard with the Norfolk Southern, which is a Fortune 500 company. A trunk line from their shared yard transects downtown Fayetteville and connects to the CSX-T Milan yard. It seems synonymously with White House political “spin,” no one involved in the downtown revitalization project wants to acknowledge its true colors. The historical block of Old Fayetteville, the one that borders our Market House, is in close proximity to this railroad activity. Downtown Fayetteville, like most turn-of-the-century American towns, is built around its railroad station. The unfortunate thing is the double railroad tracks that run through downtown Fayetteville are the mainline of the CSX-T. CSX-T is an acronym coined by former Secretary of the Federal Treasury John Snow which represents the Chessie System and Seaboard Coastline. The two merged to form the new congomerate with X meaning “unknown” much like “Generation X.” T stands for transportation. The CSX-T mainline runs parallel to interstate I-95 and covers the entire length of the East Coast. Conservatively a train uses the line every fifteen minutes. That makes Fayetteville more unique than any other city in North Carolina, because its downtown station is not for a quaint short line railroad. Major railroad traffic passes through Fayetteville 24/7. The system I just described is the support system for mass transited rail freight. Goods that are shipped to and from Fayetteville such as vegetable oil from Cargill and fuel for Ft. Bragg must be sorted in these yards. This is a dirty, busy, and time consuming process. Unfortunately no matter how you spin that reality, it can’t change the reality that Historic Downtown Fayetteville is part of this geography. One reason why domestic activity has never flourished downtown is because trains are running all day. Quiet lunches, refreshing happy hours, and recreational shopping are not coincident with the sorting of freight by hulking, heat-producing, diesel prime movers. We no longer live in a nostalgic era of steam where the chug of the engine and the toot of the whistle remind us of happier times. We live in an era of massive transportation and logistical technology. The railroads are in direct competition with trucking companies, and they are continually trying to find ways to dominate. One such solution to this healthy competition was the foray into Alternating Current Traction. Traction for those of you who don’t know is a term for pulling weight efficiently on the rails. Traditionally locomotives have been equipped with Direct Current traction motors that are built into the axles of the trucks. The diesel “prime mover” is not responsible for turning the wheels of the locomotive with linkage and gearing from its drive shaft. Instead the diesel engine produces vast amount of electricity by turning either a generator or an alternator. A generator is need for the production of DC power. An alternator is needed for AC traction motors. AC motors have no brushes like the alternator in your car, so theoretically they will not wear out. This was the major incentive to begin using AC traction motors instead of the traditional DC counterpart. Maintenance costs were prohibitively high with DC traction, so the railroads were looking for a more cost effective method of moving heavy freight. The rolling foothills of Appalachia provided a sizeable obstacle for the transportation of coal from the mines to the coal-fired power plants. AC traction was devised by Siemens, General Electric, and General Motors as a solution to this problem. Jointly there were able to produce a new breed of alternating current traction motor locomotives. In the process of designing these mega machines the scope of the traditional railroad locomotive grew. They, like their DC counterpart the C40-9W, bulged at the seems. The diesel prime mover got larger and more powerful, hence its capability to haul more freight with fewer locomotives in a “consist.” Two AC locomotives now could replace a string of traditional DC powered locomotives saving the railroads money. So far the effects of this new breed of locomotive have not been studied. Instead a situation has occurred that is not dissimilar to the Iraq War. The true nature of AC Traction has been covertly disguised. Business has continued as normal while a festering and infected pocket of puss has continued to form. This puss has manifested itself in various ways in the human race. Drug companies have capitalized on its existence by offering pharmaceutical solutions to created symptoms, while no one has even attempted to isolate the cause. It is due time that its ills become known to the mainstream, so its long lasting effects finally can be pinpointed and corrected. It is not unusual for a business community to want to flourish. It is unusual for a group to market something as something it is not. While a burgeoning and humanistic Downtown Fayetteville may seem pleasant, it will never come to pass until the ill effects of AC traction are exposed and conquered.

Freedom in America: Old Money vs. Old Skaters

Everyday living in Fayetteville, North Carolina I am rudely reminded of that “society.” Anytime unabashedly I embark on a pleasure seeking adventure, I immediately am reminded I do not live on my own playground. In fact I live precariously in the middle of property that is overtly private, policed by the state, and taxed by the government. The only thing making it free is that idea in my own head. It used to be we felt free in America. I never thought that as soon as my feet touched the curb at the street I was on Uncle Sam’s property. I never thought riding my bike to the 7/11 in summer when my tires touched they sidewalk they were on “private property.” Of course they were. You could consider government property private, but is it? Of course not. It is paid for by citizens’ tax dollars. Only elected officials with dementia powerful enough could construe government property private. Again the traditions of the Old South prevail. Those with money seem to think because they possess money they are in power. Downtown Fayetteville is a prime example of a confused and mislead business philosophy. It is both inclusive and exclusive. To whom it is what is what is in question. The Downtown Fayetteville Organization has been passing out incentives to attract merchants to the historical block of Old Fayetteville. Over the last three decades multiple attempts have been made to revitalize downtown Fayetteville. The city succeeded in “cleaning up” the 500th Block of Hay St. I’m not sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Suddenly all of those G.I.’s stationed at Ft. Bragg had no where to go to buy beer, hang out, and scope the few available loose women in Fayetteville. Back then I didn’t mind people calling Fayetteville Fayettnam, because with that title came the by products. There were strip clubs. There were bars. There was action. Life was teeming. There didn’t seem to be ghetto, gang, drug dealers anywhere. Old Money succeeded in cleaning up Fayettenam just like Rudy cleaned up Times Square. In marches Disney in all their glory. Broadway shows became Disneyized. Are we living American life in a cartoon? It sure feels like it. The mayor decided to make it illegal in that historical block of Old Fayetteville to ride any type of vehicle that didn’t have a motor and a license. Are you getting this? In a town that hosts the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army, someone is saying you can’t ride a bicycle downtown. They are discouraging tourism to the very place they are trying to revitalize. St. Maarten Island in the Caribbean is a huge tourist destination. Cruise ships dock here every day and tourists walk the miles of pavement scouring the hundreds of shops. Often when I walk the streets no one is buying. There is a lot of activity, but no one is buying or selling. Isn’t the whole idea of commerce to buy and sell? If this is not happening than the dynamic or the environment is prohibitive. Someone is not making the buyer feel comfortable and safe enough to put their trust in a merchant selling a product. That is the failed model in Fayetteville. While urban areas continue to make Old Money simply because the masses at Ft. Bragg must be fed, more exclusive areas are shooting themselves in the foot. Making a value judgment that merchants only want customers who drive cars is a civil rights violation. Not only does this contradict every possible rational philosophy (clean air, exercise, pollution, etc.) it is a bigoted idea. It can be seen only from the eyes of merchants that are being exclusive in their practices. Why would anyone see fit to restrict the use of recreational vehicles, whether they were in a business district or not? Is it not possible to ride a bicycle to the movies? There is a movie theatre downtown. Is it not possible to ride roller blades to a restaurant? Is it not possible to ride a skateboard to a store to buy a jacket? It is not the place of merchants or mayors to make these decisions. These are inalienable rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, and for Fayetteville merchants to be partner to any such ordinances is a gross violation of Fayetteville civil rights. “Sorry massah. Do I have permission to come into your store to buy some fucking mint julip? I can’t afford a car, so I just drive this a little here cart with my three wheeled bicycle.” Sorry Leroy. Suddenly you are a sub par citizen and your presence is not wanted in the downtown block of Fayetteville. It is true Fayetteville has a homeless problem. Most cities do. We have indigent criminals everywhere, but a reckless, short-sighted, bandaid aimed at out-of-work loiterers is the wrong approach. If the town could fill its 30 vacant police spots and begin to enforce its existing laws like our Federal Government, then we would have a better starting place.