Epistemic Ingemination

Time to come back home. We’ll start again soon.

Let’s see. What have I been doing, besides Not Posting To My Blog?

Lots of stuff. Most importantly, I have been pulling away from political concerns. (Finally!) The level of political discourse in this society has reached a point where even a self-aware ten-year-old can see the lies. I’ll have none of it for the time being. It’s as if the most pressing, serious problems in this country are being debated by blind deranged monkeys playing whack-a-mole. I’m not strong enough to wade into that level of effluvia every day, and I am a better man for it. I’ve even signed off of the most intelligent mail list with which I’ve ever been associated. I just can’t do it for now.

Music stuff has been going great. This year I’ve worked with M.Ward, St. Vincent, James Polk, Hayes Carll, James McMurtry, the Dave Matthews Band, the Southwest Regional Folk Alliance, XM Radio, Jimmy LaFave, Kerrville, Iron & Wine, the Folk Alliance, Pearl Jam & Barbara K. Many others. I am a very, very lucky guy to have the privilege. I love to enable genius; it’s what I do best. They all seem to like me okay, too. Maybe I’ll be a success at this stuff someday.

Home stuff is cool, for the most part. We’re finding our feet en re education. I don’t want to invade my son’s personal space too much; let’s just say that we’re engaging in an applied philosophical experiment that I’ve talked about before. Even if we fail, he ultimately wins.

I can recommend without reservation a “cookbook” called Ratio, by Micheal Ruhlman. It is the most remarkable foodie book that I’ve ever encountered, and it is quickly becoming as essential in the kitchen as a knife to me.

My buddy Gunnar is in town, and he brought lobsters, which we ate with relish (the adverb, not the noun) last week. Clarified butter, smoked-sea-salted asparagus and dill-bacon baby potatoes accompanied. A lobster stock was forthwith contrived, which, a few days later, turned into the best seafood gumbo that’s ever magically appeared in my kitchen. The Foodie Gods have smiled upon us this week.

My girlfriend is the most kind and tolerant person you’ve ever seen, even in the face of gawdawful Male Stupidity, and she has the prettiest eyes in the history of the human race.

That’s all for now.

From Popcorn.

They say that things come in threes, but… man.

This week we lost Poodie Locke. We lost Bud Shrake. And we lost Stephen Bruton. Three giants, and all of them genuinely kind human beings. Every one of them by now has been pulled to the head of the line and issued an all-access pass by St. Pete, guaranteed.

If there’s a rock ‘n’ roll heaven, well, that band just added one of the best guitar players that this planet ever produced — and they now have a helluva road manager, too.

And you can be sure that Bud & Ann Richards are sitting at the front table, drinking beer, doing shots of liquor and welcoming everyone who passes by with smiles and open arms.

This just… feels like a much smaller world today.

Went into Walgreen’s again tonight. They were playing “Carry On” by CSN&Y on the store muzac.

I’m now officially “Old.” I’m in the frickin’ Walgreen’s demographic.

Just channel-surfed past the Travel Channel; “Now we Return To The World’s Best Mexican Resorts!”

Not to nitpick, but I am inclined to doubt that one of the World’s Best Mexican Resorts is going to be in Sri Lanka… How about “Mexico’s best Mexican resorts,” n’est pas?

(Looking forward to the “World’s Best Audio Engineer Picket Fences On Grover Avenue In Austin Texas!” episode…)

The Rocky Mountain News prints its last issue today. Go and read the whole thing.

Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.

I think that I am going to stop writing two thousand word emails to friends and start writing here again. Okay with you folks? They can read my blog, dammit. :)

I’ve been grousing about the failures (and the inability to govern) of the current administration for the last eight years. But when I see a full list of ‘em, it takes my breath away anyway.

The Broken Government Project.

Sorry I’ve been so quiet. I’ve been enjoying the new year, trying to clean up some bad habits, and studying in some areas that would likely be of no interest here. All in all, the new year is shaping up well for the moment.

I’ll be getting back in the saddle here; just wanted to ping everyone and wish you an egregiously belated but fully heartfelt Happy New Year.

Here’s a belated Merry Christmas to all of you. 2009 should be a most interesting year; we’ll all get through it together. I think that it’ll be a year of retooling and preparing for a bright future.

We had a very nice day over here; very quiet and relaxed. Ryan’s side of the family was out of town and my side unavailable as well, so we stayed around the house, played games, ate ham sandwiches and watched movies. I was asleep by 11:00 PM and woke up at 5:00 AM, rested and content. Today we’ll do a little shopping for a Saturday Christmas w/ the out-of-towners.

And I’ll nap a lot. Yeah, that’s it.

Have a fine day, week, and New Year.

“As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular.”

– Oscar Wilde

Never take it personally, never lose your sense of humor, because on any given day, on every given day, you’ll need both.

Dee Dee Myers, in an interview, acquiescing to giving advice to Barack Obama’s new press secretary.

That’s excellent advice, period. For all of us.

I just received a note from Jeffery Tyler, a long-time adversary (not an enemy) who is a thoughtful, well-decorated, regular Army, career Mil-Spec conservative.

His poetry tonight is far, far beyond my talents.

[This] day, the last battle of the Civil War was fought and won, by all Americans.

It’s 9:56 local; I haven’t watched the debate. I recorded it. But I tuned into Fox to see the Other Side Spin. Fully half of their unaffiliated focus group changed their vote to Obama tonight. On Fox.

…

[Update] 10:10: Hillary is being interviewed by Chris Wallace on Fox. And she is eating his lunch. Dancing a Fandango around him.

My Lord. I have relatives who are streaming blood from their tear ducts right now.

…

10:18: (Fox) Mitt Romney debases himself as the most Jive-ass Fool in a seriously jive-fool campaign. Excellent comedy.

I love drinking my morning coffee and waking up outside with this neighborhood. There are characters everywhere, and they all say hello in one way or another.

We have Slow Jogging Dude. There’s Pale Dog Walking Frail Woman. There’s Electric Scooter Lady, and Hippie Running Guy. There’s Blind Guy With Little Yapping White Dog, and Grumpy Old Bicycle Codger. And, of course, Loud Scooter Hipster Apple Logo Laptop Backpack Guy. There’s Sexy Coed Greyhound Girl, who likes to jog in her bikini, and Bodybuilder Running Guy, who goes out without a shirt. New Family With Triplets walks at dusk on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with their carriage that looks like a small train. Even the squirrels get into the act; there’s the brave young one who jumps in the compost pile to dig for morsels, and there’s the old cantankerous one who sits in the tree and barks at the cat.

The cars have it, too. Junker Grand Torino Loud Hip Hop Music Kid, and Mercedes Magnetic Welder Sign Dude. Rusted Out Farm Truck Guy always has a friendly wave. Very Careful Old Buick Woman always has at least two frustrated cars behind her as she drives to the Minimax at 15 MPH. And here’s to Parking Lot Sweeper Truck Dude, who goes to work at 4:00 AM and returns at 3:00 PM. And, of course, Smiling Remodeling Guy, who is always dragging around a trailer full of sheetrock or busted porcelain or wall studs or plumbing stuff, and always has a tip o’ the hat ready. And let’s not forget Woman Who Drives The Econoline That’s Been For Sale For Over A Year.

Crestview, I love ya.

We had a nice rain overnight, and I discovered that a toad lives over in the side yard somewhere; he made an appearance too, after a surely uncomfortable drought. He no doubt must have much unfinished Toad Business this season…

Enjoy your day. We all say hello.

I’ve received a rather level-headed and somewhat contrite note from a long-time friend who is, politically, about as far to the right as I am to the left. He gave me permission to mention this, although he does not like the characterization. In his note, he allowed as to how I may well have a point in the “Reckoning” post below, but that I was being awfully shrill.

Yep. You betcha. Smoke alarms are shrill. Collision alarms on ships are shrill. Fire engines coming to save your house are shrill. For a purpose. Shrillness is warranted at times.

Look. The last eight years haven’t been about “free market” capitalism. They haven’t been about fighting “terrrism.” They haven’t been about “personal responsibility.” They haven’t been about patriotism or unity, and they haven’t been about keeping you “safe.” Those are slogans, misdirection.

This has been about an unholy alliance between the Republican party, big business, big oil, Eisenhower’s Military-Industrial Complex, and large finance. The strategy was to distract you. The tactic was to fire up your nationalistic tendencies. The overall goal was to transfer the contents of your public treasury into private hands, and to gut your right to any legal recourse to do anything about it. If you have studied any human political history at all, it’s not unusual, or even remarkable in an academic sense. Not even in an anthropological sense. In fact, it’s the oldest trick in the book.

I don’t think that there’s any massive conspiracy here, nor do I attribute this to any Evil Cabal that plans our Destruction. Some people are simply raised in a way that gives them a sense of entitlement, and when they occasionally gain control of things, they screw everything up for everyone. The current Republican party, especially its leadership, is notably infested with these ethically-challenged people. But in the end, you’re simply looking at a moment in human history. It’s a grade-school mythology study brought to life.

The usurper deposes the duly-chosen tribal chief through trickery, utilizing the political connections of his father. He unifies the tribe by creating a false incident with an old enemy, and subsequently confiscates the common wealth of the tribe as tribute for himself and his political allies. The Son is ultimately found out to be a fool, is chased away, and Dad’s Friends get to keep the booty.

It’s an Epic, before your eyes.

This has not been capitalism; it is not free enterprise, and it is not democracy. It is certainly not conservatism, nor is it republicanism.

It is, however, very close to the classic definition of a political philosophy by the name of fascism, and I do not subscribe to that political philosophy.

(By the way, are you aware that, as of October 1st, one month before the 2008 Presidential election, Federal Troops are stationed and on-duty on US soil, for the first time since the Civil War, as “an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks?” I’ll just note that this is factual information, without further comment.)

Again: five trillion dollars gone in eight years; tens of thousands of Americans maimed or killed; 1.2 million dead Iraqis, and a worldwide financial market meltdown coincident with a more-than-likely looming catastrophic economic depression. None Of Which Would Have Happened if the democratic party had rightfully been in power.

Shrill? Yeppers. When vulgar people of this type gain great power and overstep, as they invariably do, you lawfully take them out of the game, permanently. When they are drowning, you don’t throw them a rope, you throw them an anvil.

I want to see the beneficiaries of this scheme defeated. I want to publicly ridicule them. I want to march them (metaphorically) naked in front of their children, in chains, so that their mindset and their lust for power and their greed are sterilized. I want them lawfully convicted of their crimes, and I want see them spend the rest of their lives in a 5×8 prison cell, pondering the magnitude of the evil that they’ve done. And I want their assets confiscated and returned to our treasury.

That “Reckoning” post below is directed to plain, regular folks trying to live a life; the misguided ones who wouldn’t see, and wouldn’t listen, and bought into these lies. They effectively put all of us here via their profound lack of judgment. But they are not evil. They are our fellow citizens, and they do need to know of their complicity in all of this — to be wiser on another day. Let’s remember, though, that they had their treasury stolen, too. We’re all in the same boat, together, and we’ll get through this, together.

Maybe, sometime, if I feel the fire in my belly, I might direct a public post to the criminals who did this to all of us.

That one should rightfully be “shrill” enough for you to think that I’ve gone totally off my rocker. I haven’t.

Now. It’s time for us to to go out and do some unexpected kindness for someone, and have a nice Columbus Day.

The US Chamber of Commerce has decided to call in what it figures that it bought and paid for.

This letter was hand delivered to every member of Congress yesterday:

September 29, 2008

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, urges Congress to immediately pass the bipartisan financial rescue package to stem the financial panic. Congress must not adjourn without taking action to stabilize the financial markets.

Today’s failure to approve legislation addressing the financial crisis has resulted in uncertainty and turmoil that have dramatically affected the markets, and lowered equity prices, eroding individual savings and destroying billions of dollars of household wealth.

Make no mistake: when the aftermath of Congressional inaction becomes clear, Americans will not tolerate those who stood by and let the calamity happen. If, on the other hand, Congress supports a plan to successfully restore the financial system and preserve the flow of credit to the economy, the American people will recognize that act of courage.

The Chamber urges Congress to immediately pass financial rescue legislation. The Chamber will score votes on, or in relation to, this issue in our annual How They Voted scorecard.

Sincerely,
R. Bruce Josten

Dow -777. Worst point drop evah! (But nowhere near the worst percentage drop, which actually matters.) In any case, I’m sitting here channel surfing the train wreck on TV.

I just stumbled upon an elderly bald guest on CNBC, wearing a $3000 Brooks Brothers double-breasted pinstripe suit, exuding an air of gravitas. In reference to the Republican’s actions today, he quoted a line from the “jive” scene in the movie Airplane:

Chump don’t want no hep, chump don’t get no hep.

Now there’s some delightful cognitive dissonance…

I genuinely hope that the bailout bill fails this week.

And, yeah, I understand what the consequences might be.

But I also understand that this is not a fiscal crisis. It is a financial crisis, and more specifically, a credit liquidity crisis. The only reason that this is happening is because financial institutions are scared to make short term loans to one another.

If the world’s economy can be held hostage to that kind of sheep-like fear — well, children, let’s let it all go down in flames, bite the bullet and make a new economy, one where corporations and brokers and insurance companies are hogtied once and for all. An economy based upon production, not credit.

We’re told that this will hit “main street” the hardest, the middle class and the poor. Here’s a news flash: the middle class and poor people already know how to be poor. They have to make hard financial decisions every single day.

It wouldn’t bother me a bit to see more people in this country learn what it’s like. The people who will be hit the hardest are speculators and system-gamers. The vultures that have been handing out money to poor folks who had no means of repaying deserve to lose everything. Let’s see a few of these scavengers reduced to kiting checks to feed their children. It’ll build character. And when they’re back on their feet, they can take 25% of their profits to reestablish the 401Ks of “main street” that they’ve decimated.

And perhaps, just maybe, we might all end up with a nation where the populace realizes that what happens in Washington D.C. matters. Maybe they’ll pay attention to what is going on. That would be nice.

It is such a pleasure to see George W. Bush living the life of the Lamest of Lame Ducks, ever. Radioactive. Finally.

I’ll just give you an excerpt of what I wrote two years ago. I still feel exactly the same way.

First, I didn’t write about 9/11 yesterday because I have no desire to memorialize 9/11.

I think that we should memorialize 9/12 — the day that the world came together. 9/11 is about a group of theocracy-deranged punk criminals with box cutters who pulled off a very dramatic act of suicidal vandalism and murder. It was a criminal act, and should have been treated as such. On 9/11, we were shocked.

On 9/12, we were one people, world wide, and, properly, good solid police work was being done to find those responsible. We were all family on 9/12/2001. We were not afraid, we were full of love and hope and courage, and we — billions of us — were determined to make our world safe from evil, together, as one.

And then, the tiny men, the so-called “leaders” of our country purposefully turned 9/11 into an act of “terrrism” for political and monetary profit, and we gave the perpetrators of the act exactly what they wanted. We were led into a cultural panic, like so many sheep, by men who found it to be useful to encourage such behavior. We have savaged our constitution, almost destroyed the ideals that this country was founded upon, and incurred the enmity of the world with our swaggering drunken-teenager-with-a-gun schoolyard bully behavior. We have destroyed our soul.

We had a chance to bring the world together as one human family, for the first time in history. We have done the opposite. It makes me physically sick when I think about it too much.

So, no, do not ask me to memorialize 9/11/2001. It is the darkest day in the history of this country. But not for the reasons the talking heads on CNN and Fox tell you.

Support your troops. Get them the hell out of there and let the policemen do their job. We are manufacturing “terrrists” wholesale, every day, right now.

Register.

Vote.

Who are these ones who would lead us now
To the sound of a thousand guns
Who’d storm the gates of hell itself
To the tune of a single drum

Where are the girls of the neighborhood bars
Whose loves were lost at sea
In the hills of france and on german soil
From saigon to wounded knee

Who come from long lines of soldiers
Whose duty was fulfilled
In the words of a warriors will
And protocol

Where are the boys in their coats of blue
Who flew when their eyes were blind
Was God in town for the roman games
Was he there when the deals were signed

Who are the kings in their coats of mail
Who rode by the cross to die
Did they all go down into worthiness
Is it wrong for a king to cry

And who are these ones who would have us now
Whose presence is concealed
Whose nature is revealed
In a time bomb

Last of all you old seadogs
Who travel after whale
You’d storm the gates of hell itself
For the taste of a mermaid’s tail

Who come from long lines of skippers
Whose duty was fulfilled
In the words of a warrior’s will

And protocol.

Gordon Lightfoot. “Protocol.”

I’m a-gonna start blogging again soon. In the meantime, watch the Republican convention. (On CSPAN; you don’t need commentary — you’re smart enough to form a personal opinion.) The “red meat” speeches are hilarious. I’ve never seen so many white people in one place.

I’ll tell you what I did on my summer vacation soon. Thanks for checking in over the drouth; I’ve been aware of it. Will ’splain soon.

Stay off of my lawn, too. I’m fifty now. Not sure if I’m going to do one of my patented maudlin birthday posts or not. It’ll probably be related to my ethanol intake. I’ll get back to you.

Here you go. The 50 best cult books.

The 2008 James Beard award nominees are in.

John Wheeler passed away this weekend.

I had the pleasure of meeting him, once, in 1976. We struck up a conversation at a booth at Flapjack Canyon on South Lamar, and talked about Physics for hours, until about three in the morning; it was one of the more memorable experiences of my life. I didn’t figure out who he was until much later.

A kind and brilliant man. The kind of guy who’d talk to a kid he met in a coffeehouse for hours without mentioning that he was the head of a major physics department — and had taught several Nobel laureate students. Rest in peace, neat guy.