New blog

I have a more recent blog at Steel Guitar Insanity

The Election

The election is like religion - there must be rituals and performances so it will seem real to people.

But it's not real. America is controlled by the big corporations, who back the professional politicians who will pass legislation in their favor, and who control what the media presents to us as "news". The price of gas is one example of how this works.

It's all about power and money and how to control 301,139,947 people, and it works like the casinos in Las Vegas - the odds are in favor of the house. The house being the government and the gamblers being the American people.

The end result is that Big Business prospers from a huge customer base and the American people have goods and services to purchase, at an ever-increasing cost.

Driving

It used to be fun to drive. I had a succession of 60's and 70's Chevy's with small block engines that I knew how to work on. I had them running fine, and kept them washed and shined. But these days, with all the traffic, construction, cops, gas prices, computer-controlled engines that require special tools to work on and new laws (seat belts, DUI etc.) it's just not fun to drive any more. Fuck, it's a 6-hour traffic school class if you're over 55 now. So I drive a practical piece of shit that I can't even bring myself to maintain unless it quits running. I stay home a lot.

DUI Stats

Proponents of stronger DUI laws like to bandy about statistics to support their cause, such as "close to half of all motor-vehicle crash fatalities are alcohol-related", but I'm unimpressed by such a vague statistic.

What does this really mean? The reader is supposed to infer that the crash was caused by a driver who was at least over the legal BAC limit and at most a raving, slobbering drunken lunatic and a major threat to society. But what if a stone sober driver caused the crash by running into a drunk driver who was doing nothing wrong? What if a passenger was drunk? What if there was an open bottle in the car from which the driver hadn't even imbibed? Lots of possible scenarios. Are these all "alcohol-related"?

When they show me a statistic that proves how many drunk drivers actually caused these wrecks I'll pay more attention.

From observation I know that the biggest danger is from distracted drivers. They're reading, eating, slapping the kids, putting on make-up and - of course - talking on the cell phone. I dodge these people every day, and they don't appear to be drunk.

Clergy Sex

Children seem to be sexually attractive to an inordinate number of members of the clergy. In some religions you have to abstain from sex to be a clergyman. Well, duh, that just ain't natural, and you have to be a little weird to go for that in the first place. So it's no wonder that various perversions may become evident in some of these people.

Modern Technology

OMFG, it's overwhelming. Computers, video cameras, HD TV, etc. How can you keep up? And then there's Facebook, MySpace, YouTube... Where is all the information I put on these pages going? You just can't be sure.

I'm not a Luddite; I'm in the thick of all this stuff, but tying to keep track of my friends, my updates, my profiles, my web pages is just a lot of work, and I sometimes wonder if my time might be better spent communing with nature or playing basketball or fishing or something.

Panhandling

There's a lot of talk about what do with aggressive panhandlers. I read about a little-known law in Memphis that requires panhandlers to get a $10 license before they can go begging. Seems like a solution to me.

Country Music

It's confusing when young people say they don't like country music. What do they mean, Montgomery Gentry, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts? These acts ain't country. Country is Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Alan Jackson, George Jones. So it's just damn confusing.

Computers

I like computers. At the moment I'm using three, 2 Macs and a Linux computer. I'm removing the Macrovision copy protection from a DVD with one of the Macs, using Handbrake to make an .avi file from VOB files on the other Mac, and using the Linux comp to write this post.

School Dress Codes

Kids brought this on themselves. School is supposed to prepare you to enter the work force and be a consumer and pay taxes, but wearing pants hanging off your ass won't usually get you a job that makes this possible. Yeah, I know, kids can't resist the marketing of these ridiculous clothes, so they pester their parents to spring for them. So, kids, live with it.

Woman robbed, rescuer killed at Kroger

If they catch this piece of shit and his trashy girl friend they should be publicly hanged. In the Kroger lot.

So where were the cops? Writing a seat belt ticket?

It's a sorry-ass reflection on the Nashville community that this can happen in the middle of the day in such a public place.

The Dog Kicker

So he got a month in jail. Seems OK to me. This guy's evidently an asshole, and he probably cuts cars off in traffic and gets drunk and obnoxious at Titans games, so he needs an attitude adjustment.

Speed Limits

Speed limits are just revenue producers, in case you didn't already know that. Their inconsistencies belie the claim that they have anything to do with highway safety.

The limit on Briley Parkway between Murfreesboro Rd. and I-24 is 45 mph. This is a really nice, clear stretch of highway, recently constructed, and traffic could move safely at 55. In fact, most drivers do go about that speed, and if you go 45 you'll get a truck right on your bumper.

By contrast, the speed limit on Mufreesboro Rd. around Thompson Lane is the same - 45 mph, and there are all kinds of lights, intersections, driveways, businesses, pedestrians, cars, buses, and panhandlers. It's a very congested area, and you're lucky if you can go 45.

The cops set up shop on Briley on a regular basis and write as many tickets as they want. It's all about making money.

Panhandling

The proposed panhandling law might make it illegal for musicians working the clubs on Broadway to ask for tips. OMFG, how ineffably moronic can these politicians be? These musicians are actually working, not pestering people on the street, and they only make about $20, and they need a little tip money to cover gas, parking and tickets the pigs will write for myriad of real and imagined offenses against the city.

Movies

So it's going to be more expensive for a night at the movies, around $9 a pop. Whew. I'm not a big movie fan.

Slasher movies are getting pretty boring, after seeing a few hundred kids get it over the years. Car chases still haven't topped the one in "Bullit". In the fragmented society which is America I just don't care about a lot of the people and social situations depicted.

DiNiro and Pacino are the only actors I can think of that I even like these days, and they haven't supplanted Bogart and Cary Grant in my mind. I'll take a 40's film noir over anything in the theaters right now.

It pisses me off that some of these movies stars make such ridiculous amounts of money, which of course escalates the price to see them on the big screen. I'm sick of hearing about there off-screen escapades. I don't care if they wear panties or not, or who they're fucking, or how difficult their lives are because of the papparazzi.

The last time I saw a movie in a theater I had to sit through 15 minutes of commercials and endure noisy kids and uncomfortable seats. And, hey, I like to have a smoke, drink a beer, turn down the volume when a helicopter explodes and pause the action for a pee break. And maybe even stop in the middle and continue later.

I'm good at home with my 42" plasma and cheap popcorn.

No wonder The Pirate Bay is so popular.

John Hughey is dead

He played steel guitar on most of Conway Twitty's hits, and later worked with Vince Gill. Recently he was part of the Time Jumpers band at the Station Inn on Mondays. He was a true giant in the steel guitar field.

Driving around Nashville (1st of many)

People drive like hell until they come to a rear bumper or a cop and then they slam on the brakes. Goddamn, can't you see what's up ahead and just let off the gas pedal and slow down before you get there? OK, fine, wear out your brakes, kill your gas mileage, risk a ticket or an collision. Dumb bastards.

National Adoption Day

Prospective adopters have to show all kinds of moral and financial responsibility to adopt. Yet any crack-head high school dropout can have all the kids his or her fecundity will allow. Kids are stupid, and they shouldn't be allowed to fuck around and beget more kids. But their parents were probably the same way, and that's why they exist.

Barry Bonds

I see where Barry Bonds had gotten in a world of shit about his alleged steroid use. I'm thinking he probably did use, but so did a lot of other players, including pitchers, so he didn't have an unfair advantage at all.

Lying to a grand jury is another matter, however, and that's where he does have an advantage - how many other players had the opportunity to do that?

Panhandling

Aggressive panhandling is getting out of control in Nashville, according to a story in the Tennessean. Is the solution a new law? Nope. Lawyers and government employees are alway on the lookout for new projects that seem to justify their paychecks and their very existence, but no, we don't need a new law to protect us from ourselves. If people would quit handing out money the panhandlers would gradually realize that it was no longer profitable and they would change their behavior. Problem solved. This one, anyway.