Once again, democracy fails in America because of a broken, antiquated Senate. If anyone in the government wants to know why people have lost faith in government, it is without a doubt because of the ruling class of the legislative branch.

And once again a simple majority has failed to deliver the movement of government and this is due, in large part, to the fact that the Senate decides its own parliamentary procedures. A government by and for the people is subverted by idiotic dance steps decided upon by people with a vested interest in a lack of progress. The more rigidly conservative the dancers, the less likely any actual effective government is going to be possible. Homophobia is a concept that belongs to another age, the era of “cullerd drinkin’ fountains.” The next generations are positioned to take the helm of the government. How many of this fearful, bigoted, backward, old guard have to die off before we get to step up and truly possess the authority we are promised we have?

Well old men/women, you held off the future one more day — I do wonder how long you’ll be able to do that.

So I woke up no less than four times last night with allergy attacks — awoken from a dead-like sleep with allergies. And did I have the foresight the first time it happened to take a Benedyl and go back to bed? No. Walk to tissues, pinch nostrils, return to bed. I wasn’t even smart enough to bring the tissues back to bed with me.

When R finally got around and ready for work, I got up and stayed awake, knowing full well I was already sleepy. I figured I would round off fatigue with a powerful dose of caffeine (as per usual). Of course I wasn’t awake for 10 minutes before the allergies began their final blitz. With too much to do today to be waylaid by succumbing to this every 15 minutes, I went ahead and threw back a Benedryl. Now I am a zombie and have been a zombie all day.

Take Benedryl when sleeping is possible/appropriate? No. Take Benedryl when I should be waking up and getting a running start at a busy day? Why not… I don’t (have anything left of my) mind if I do. (more…)

I sometimes think that what we ask of musicians is sorta ridiculous. We expect an artist to grow into better mastery of nuance and subtlety, but almost always, what attracted us to a particular artist was their initial, more primal expressions. There’s a lot to be said for immediacy and catharsis of the earliest works of almost all artists. They don’t necessarily know how to say it, but dammit, they need you to hear it right now.

The sell-by date usually hits around the time those same artists really start cooking and cooking and cooking their latest opus. That sound they hear in their head that they just can’t achieve? It is the sound of lost relevance. Sure, you can point to a number of artists who grew into better mastery of recording and maintained their audience. They’re few and far between and more often than not, it usually follows that they found fame *after* their initial, more immature work.

Underworld are a curious embodiment of this principle. (more…)

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Tahlequahvania, there was a Brave Knight, hired to protect two villages against dragons simultaneously. One was the village called Graphicadesignistan and the other, a very similar village in size and stature, was called Viscommeroon. The key difference between the villages was that the lack of naked lifedrawing practiced in Graphicadesignistan as it was not commonly encouraged among the very religious members of Viscommeroon. The distinction between the two villages was a silly, but seemingly inextricable one.

Knowing that the existence of the two villages would only serve to divide the attentions of the Brave Knight, he sought to combine them into one village and thus, better protect the inhabitants of both, after all, most kingdoms only had one village like these. When he went to the King with this plan, the King, or rather, the King’s over-worked, under-attentive Chairman of the Round Conference Table (who was a really, really nice guy) pooh-poohed such a plan.

Little did the brave knight understand that (more…)