Hello Western Gull

Duwamish also

Duwamish

More stickers

Saw these in Fremont this weekend before my acupuncture.

Goodness at the Tractor 11/22

So I went to both the Friday and Saturday night shows of Goodness at the Tractor. I didn't bring my camera, but Sat. night I stood at the side of the stage for part of the show and got a few of photos with the phone.
The sound was unusually quiet both nights, it could be all my years of running sound for the band has left me overly sensitive, but my wife mentioned it as well. I couldn't be the guy who tells the soundman what to do though. It was still fun both nights and I got to hear Jeff Fielder tell a story about playing with Robbie Robertson. Good times.

crossed

Life is like jail, anarchy in Africa, and Pirates

This week hasn't really hit it's stride yet and the news stories I have seen my make it the wackiest week yet. This one about Britney Spears almost knocked me off my office chair. I mean her life feels like a prison, come on. First of all, dosen't everyone feel like that, and my prison isn't that bad, so I know hers must rock. She sounds like the teens that her music is marketed to.

Then the pirates of Somalia take a supertanker full of oil . No it isn't a movie it is real life. Somalia hasn't had a government since 1991, so no laws to stop anyone from becoming pirates and the ocean is big, so they went to town. Combine that with companies willing to pay to keep the problem under wraps until now and bang we have roving bands of pirates sailing the seas.

Who needs movies when you have the news these days. They don't even have to make this stuff up like KOMO's Marlee Ginter suppossedly did according to The Stranger. Boo KOMO Boo on you.

Johnson Pit #30

I heard about the Robert Morris Earthwork from someone's facebook page. I don't remember who it was, but they had taken photos of this intersting public art piece in Kent. It is called untitled Johnson Pit #30. So my wife and I headed out a couple of weeks ago to check it out. Here are some photos I manipulated after our outing.

Here are some in color.

Prop 8 March in Seattle 11/15/08

Last weekend I walked in the protest march against Prop. 8 in California. Here are some photos.

Movies we saw last weekend

So we caught two movies last weekend. Both didn't really hit the mark, one strayed too for from its formula and the other was too long (really it was too long for my wife, but by the end I thought they could have shortened it as well).

The first was "Quantum of Solace" the new James Bond movie. It had quite a few action sequences, but the lack of gadgets let us down. I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen it, but wait for DVD or cable.

The other choice this weekend was an audible called when movies times were interpreted incorrectly. "Body of Lies" looked like it would be good, and it had some compelling moments. Trouble was halfway through my wife was calling too long and by the end, I thought she might have a point. This struggle between a C.I.A. operative in the Middle East and his superior in the US could also wait for DVD or cable.

Now if I could just catch "Appaloosa" the movie I tried to go to yesterday maybe I could be satisfied.

Lyric for the day

"I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them but they were only satellites
Is it wrong to wish on space hardware
I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care".

- Billy Bragg

Quote from the office

Kelly - "Dwight get out of my nook".

Pam - "Thats what she said'.

Jim - "Good one".

It takes a village to drive a child home

I saw this article in the Seattle PI. I can't believe it hasn't happened before and I'm sure it will happen again.

lost

30 Rock quote for the day

"I don't believe in hypothetical situations, that's like lying to your brain". - Kenneth

The Thirty-Second Annual Report of Throbbing Gristle

So the other day someone gave me a gift certificate to itunes. I have steered away from itunes most of the time because I try to keep all my music drm free, but I can't look a gift horse in the mouth, so I loaded it up and started to look for new music to download. After looking around a little and realizing that the itunes site is designed to make you want the music they think you like (or are trying to sell the most that day) I started looking at bands I knew had released music recently. At some point I wnet to the Throbbing Gristle website to see if their new record had come out yet. It had and they had it on itunes as a drm free download.

If you have listened to this band before you know what to expect. Its hard to explain to those who haven't heard it, but suffice to say this is a journey. You don't want to listen to only one track, because that would be a loss. Each of the tracks on this report flow together, synth bass lines create a base that, loops and noises jump out of, vocals laden in effects, and sounds of all types blend into a listening experience. You want to listen, so get it.

It's better to regret something you have done...

So, I used to not vote when I was young. I thought that not participating in the process was the only way to fully protest my belief that our government didn't listen to the pleas of the poor, the unorganized workers, the temporary employees, the anarchists, the atheists, and so on. I argued with many individuals over drinks in bars, argued with my wife and other family members, said my voice would never be heard, to try to stop the politicians from either sides didn't make any difference. I kept saying that until I saw a third party try to make a difference and get shot down. By the time that had happened I had decided to vote for the third party, and all the people who wanted me to just vote now wanted me to vote for someone else.

The problem is as I got older, I thought maybe something might change. I saw that my voice still might not be heard, but some of the elections, on a local level were being won by just a few (hundred) votes. So I could affect something. Why should I let those who vote make my decisions?

This could be one of the most important elections of our lifetime, people say this every time another election comes up. Don't listen to them or me, but go out and vote because to quote the Butthole Surfers, "it's better to regret something you have done, than something you haven't done."