I WANT RIBS!!!

So the Democrats lost the race in Massachusetts and that will probably be what kills the health care reform bill. I am a little disappointed because the last I heard (which was several months ago) things were going OK in Mass. It's probably naive to suggest that this doesn't send some kind of message about what a lot of Americans think about the health care reform bill.

Health care reform was one of the big issues that influenced my vote for president. I don't think anyone is saying that we don't need health care reform in this country, but I think this bill became pretty different from the kind of thing we wanted, pretty quickly. So I'm not terribly fussed about it. This felt rushed and like we were putting the cart before the horse too often. Plus, if there's not a public option, what's the point anyway? Also, if it's not single payer, what's the point anyway? They tried to make everyone happy, so of course, as a result, no one is happy.

I still think we need socialized health care like every other industrialized country in the world has. I realize that their systems are not perfect and that in some ways we'd be trading our current problems for theirs, but if your waiting around for anything in life to be perfect to function, you should probably kill yourself.

I digress.

I don't know how anyone stays in politics. Just being aware of politics makes me lose hope. I wish I could just not vote anymore but I believe that if you don't vote, you can't complain, and I love complaining.

Listen: I have come unstuck in time

Harper Lennon is 4 months old now. What can I say? I'm proud.

Last night, Leah and I watched Crash, which I think is one of the better dramas ever made, and the Obama speech to the schools. The speech was exactly what I thought it would be, a lot of encouragement and challenge with no political agenda. I'm beginning to see that a lot of Republicans actually believe that Democrats don't want what's best for America. It may be that they actually think that the Dems do know what's best but have actively chosen an opposite route to spite the Republicans. You may say that that's ridiculous and I would agree, but I work with a lot of Republicans and in their eyes I don't think its possible for Obama to do anything right. Which is fine, really (albeit unrealistic). They're good people, but at the end of the day, I guess we've just got very different ideas about what America needs/wants/is. And who knows, they could be right and I could be wrong. So it goes.

Tonight Leah is taking engagement photos for some friends of ours, named Kaci and Roy. Kaci and Roy are part of the local improv group Parallelogramophonograph. I think I spelled that correctly. If you live in the Austin area, you really should catch a show of theirs. They're very good and have gotten more than a handful of belly laughs out of me. Also I think its amazing that when they get married, instead of her taking his last name, they're coming up with a totally new last name for both of them.

I've also got to swing by the library and recheck my books. I don't think I've ever finished a book without needing to recheck it at least once. Turns out, I'm a slow reader and I always thought I was fast. So it goes.

Also this Sunday we're shooting the video for "On Modern Men" at the Georgetown square and we need as many extras as we can get.
Click the poster for details.

Next Tuesday, President Obama plans to coerce your children into a windowless van with promises of candy and feel-good drink.

President Obama is giving an address next Tuesday which will be addressing students K-12. I'm sure it will feature themes like staying in school, taking responsibility for your education, and how educating our young people is key to America's future. You know, the same kind of thing that any American politician for any party would say about education.

So obviously, this is the worst thing that could happen to children.

Parents are really pissed that he wants to talk to their children. If you're one of those parents let me help you understand why you feel this way. Its probably because(A)you're a ridiculous person, (B)you might not be very smart, or (C)because you have a huge boner for Glenn Beck and will do anything to please him.

What do these parents think school is for? I've always been under the impression that school was supposed to be preparing young minds for life in the real world. You know, the world where Barack Obama is their President. Maybe they just see it as a daycare for their kids to hang out at while they're at work and they don't want their kids to fall under that vile, nasty, Democratic party peer pressure that's so prevalent in public schools now.

Its just so silly.

My favorite line from that article is "I perceive this as a socialist type of move," said Tammy Canatella, whose daughter is a freshman at Consolidated High School. "This should not be a forum to promote himself or his cabinet."

Oh, Tammy! You don't like Socialism? You don't want any Socialism in that publicly funded high school you send your daughter to? Do you even know what Socialism means or is it just the buzz word that Fox "News" tells you to repeat over and over in hopes of destroying that secretly Muslim usurper's regime?

If George W. Bush had wanted to address my children in school I cannot imagine ever threatening to take my kids out of class because of it. But then, maybe my arguments aren't so shaky that I would feel the need to shelter my children from anyone else's prespective. Maybe I just accept that children will eventually make up their own minds about this horse shit. I believe it was Malcolm Forbes who said "Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open mind."

Can he be president now?

This weekend started with some Friday night recording at Matt's studio, where I laid down some guitar and scratch vocals for "Jezebel," and another drum track for "Things You Already Know." Tommy had done some guitar earlier in the day but was already gone by the time Leah and I put Harper to bed and I made my way over. Matt did a rough mix of "Jezebel" and I'm really pleased. That boy's good at recording, yo! Every time we record I regret hiring Matt just a little bit less. Maybe one day I'll actually be glad he's around. I'm kidding, of course, he's easily the most talented person in the band and a real sweetheart to boot.

Saturday, Leah had to shoot a wedding (and by that I mean she participated in a drive by) so it was me and Harper all day. I got up and mowed the lawn, showered, put back on my pajamas and stayed in them for the rest of the day. Leah thought that I should be depressed after staying in my pajamas all day but how often do I get to do that? Not often. It was nice, and I was not depressed.

Harper is smiling a lot more now, which does wonders for a parent's self esteem. Whenever we go to get her out of her bed, after a nap or in the morning, she smiles really big when she sees us and it feels like we actually matter to her now. I love it. It doesn't hurt that it is, without a doubt, the cutest smile I've ever seen.


Sunday, Leah and I bought a propane grill and I spent more time than I would've liked putting it together. We made plans to use it but after the frustration of putting it together, I just wanted to get away from it and more importantly, get away from this 100+ degree heat. But Leah had already started preparing the food so we went ahead with the grilling and it was pretty delicious. I'm really proud of Leah. She's really putting a lot of effort into making our eating habits better and learning to cook. With the exception of some tangy chicken last week, everything she's found and tried has been awesome, so much so that fast food is starting to look much less appealing to us nowadays. Good job, wife.

Also this weekend I watched Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire and then just to remember how good Richard Harris is at being Dumbledore, Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets, which may be one of my favorites and I think a lot of people overlook it. I also watched The Shawshank Redemption while I was home with Harper. Oh what a world it would be if every movie was as beautiful or as good as The Shawshank Redemption.

Xanga for president.

I've been reading the news all morning and of course, as it always is, its largely about our government and what's going on. Most of the stories that I've seen today focus on the Israel-Palestine conflict and Iran and they're all pretty much reporting the same story. So I'm going to weigh in because...well, honestly, for no good reason. No one has any reason to read this and change your political standpoint, and I accept that. I recently went back through my old Xanga entries (yeah, its still there) and around the time that John Kerry was running for president my posts got really political. Somewhat militantly so. I certainly don't want a repeat of that now. I'm a few years older and hopefully quite a bit wiser and more mature.

I'll just say, with no intention of offence, that I believe that Obama is doing the right thing in forcing Israel to actually take action toward resolving the conflict and not just pay lip service to the notion of peace. Here is one such article.