Less Than A Hundred Random Facts.

In response to my last post of one hundred random bands that I love, here is less than one hundred random facts about myself.

1. Beyond taking care of my family, music is the most important thing to me.
2. My favorite music medium is compact disc.
3. I consider myself primarily a guitar player, though I like playing almost any instrument I can.
4. I used to drink too much. I still drink, but rarely more than one or two drinks at a time. It's been years since I've been good and drunk.
5. I don't do a good job keeping track of how old I am.
6. While I am certain in many of my beliefs, I recognize my ability to be wrong in anything so I don't tend to hold different beliefs against people, within reason.
7. I record and release music that I like regardless of how I think it will be received.
8. I like to smoke marijuana, though I prefer doing so in the late evening when I don't need to get anything done. I'm lazy when I smoke.
9. I spent around 15 years working in factories, and it always felt wrong.
10. I consider myself an anarchist, as I feel that not only do we not need governments and borders to control us, I think they harm us.
11. I am a pacifist. I oppose all war. That doesn't mean I believe in extreme pacifism (i.e. not taking steps to defend yourself), it's that I think that violence and aggression will always lead to more violence and aggression.
12. I am a vegan because I make no species distinction when placing value on life. I think that if you can cause less harm than you should. I don't judge you for making a different distinction, though I do think many people eat meat for stupid reasons.
13. I lived in Paw Paw, Michigan for most of my life. The only other places I've lived have been Kalamazoo, Portage, and Schoolcraft.
14. My favorite two bands are Black Flag and Willie Nelson.
15. I have a very broad interest in music that includes classical, avant garde, reggae, punk, rock, electronic pop, Egyptian jazz, French chanson, Russian chanson, et cetera. There is no genre I can rule out completely, though there are particular acts I despise.
16. I like the last Miley Cyrus album, Bangerz, a lot.
17. I am not competitive, at all, and I think that has had a big impact on my life.
18. I have no desire to be rich. All I want is enough money to pay my bills and to live a modest life.
19. I don't keep in touch with most of the people who are important to me.
20. I am an atheist. That doesn't mean I don't think it's possible that some sort of deity, or deities, exist, or that there could be a heaven. I do think that most if not all human religions are obviously fictional. I don't hold it against you if you disagree.
21. Both of my children were accidents. That doesn't mean I regret either. I actually think it's better to have children young. Pop a few out before you turn twenty then get yourself stitched up. Or skip children altogether, we are over-populated anyway.
22. I still feel like I let Bo and Wally down.
23. I graduated high school, but only because I had nothing better to do.
24. I have a little noticeable hearing loss in my right ear. Though years of ignoring hearing safety definitely led to this loss, the biggest factor was seeing Motorhead in concert. I've never felt that deaf after a concert, and starting the next day I could notice the loss of hearing. I still listen to music way too loud.
25. I think Django Reinhardt is the best guitar player who ever lived.
26. Dune is one of my favorite books.
27. Once Upon a Time In America is one of my favorite movies.
28. I want to learn several other languages (Japanese, Italian, and Dutch), but I've never really got anywhere.
29. Skateboarding is pretty much the only sport I really like, though I occasionally get into other sports... occasionally.
30. Tofu is my favorite food, and Chinn Chinn is my favorite restaurant.
31. For the most part, the only fiction books I read are Sci fi.
32. Antonio Vivaldi is my favorite classical composer.
33. I'd rather post this list prematurely than take the time to come up with a hundred things to say.
34. My favorite hairstyles are mohawks and dreads. I've had both but am now too bald to ever do either again.
35. For as long as I can remember, to the current day, I am awestruck when looking at the stars at night.

N Hndrd Rndm Bnds

I had this idea, to make a list of 100 bands (and artists) I'm really into. There is no plan, no organization. The only rule is it has to be music I actively collect and listen to. I have to generally be into the whole catalog, not just one album or a certain era. Not sure if this will make an article that other people will like or not, but here goes.

1. John Lee Hooker.
2. Black Flag.
3. Willie Nelson.
4. John Coltrane.
5. Phillip Glass.
6. Les Negresses Vertes.
7. Mano Negra.
8. NWA.
9. I Hate Myself.
10. Ramones.
11. Townes Van Zandt.
12. Rancid.
13. Miles Davis.
14. Manowar.
15. Mazzy Star.
16. Opal.
17. CRASS.
18. Peter Tosh.
19. Hawkwind.
20. Django Reinhardt.
21. Wes Montgomery.
22. Motorhead.
23. Swingin Utters.
24. Sonny Terry.
25. Hayden.
26. The Maytals.
27. The Specials.
28. Sunny Day Real Estate.
29. Hanatarash.
30. Youth Code.
31. Stray Bullets.
32. Zeni Geva.
33. Sonic Youth.
34. Naked City.
35. Painkiller.
36. John Zorn.
37. Danzig.
38. Delta 72.
39. Ice T.
40. Slayer.
41. Gone.
42. Fugazi.
43. Guns N Roses.
44. Dennis Brown.
45. John Holt.
46. Ravi Shankar.
47. Antonio Vivaldi.
48. Frank Sinatra.
49. Soul Asylum.
50. Gil Scott Heron.
51. The Doors.
52. Too Short.
53. Misfits.
54. American Steel.
55. Nirvana.
56. Headcat.
57. Bob Marley.
58. Good For You.
59. Judge Dread.
60. Velvet Underground.
61. Russian Red.
62. Bad Religion.
63. FEAR.
64. The Toasters.
65. The Skabs.
66. The Clash.
67. The Animals.
68. Chuck Higgins.
69. The Germs.
70. The Transplants.
71. Bob Wills.
72. Buddy Holly.
73. Subhumans (UK).
74. NOFX.
75. Main Street Saints.
76. Urban Riot.
77. Ennio Morricone.
78. SOA.
79. Minor Threat.
80. Saetia.
81. Leatherface.
82. Hank Williams.
83. All.
84. Antonio Carlos Jobim.
85. Jimi Hendrix.
86. Jim Croce.
87. The Vasalines.
88. Kicking Giant.
89. Paramore.
90. The Pogues.
91. Kris Kristofferson
92. The Psychedelic Furs.
93. Muddy Waters.
94. Mojack.
95. Lily Allen.
96. Chvrches.
97. Folk Uke.
98. Judy and Mary.
99. Greg Ginn and the Royal We.
100. Laurel Aitken.

I Am A Non-Voter.

Make sure you go out and vote tomorrow! Unless of course you believe that the system itself is fucked and that no true change can come from a broken system. It's easy to say "if you don't vote you can't bitch" but that is really an asinine statement. If you actively an consciously abstain from voting, that in itself is a form of voting. It's a vote for true change. The nature of the politician is dishonesty and self-preservation, both values we need to keep out of power. I used to think the problem lay in the fact that our system has become a two party system, locking out other political ideologies from the system. This is still a big problem, and I think we'd all be better served from a system of multiple political parties, rather than just two moderate parties, but I think the bigger problem is the system itself. If voting is the problem, how can we vote our way out of it? I know, I know, I should just get involved, right? Find a politician that I think can make a change and campaign for them, or run for office myself. Maybe I should join one of two political parties that is closest to what I believe and fight for change within that party.
Well, let me go on record as saying, if you don't vote, you can and are complaining. If you refuse to partake in their system because you don't support their system, you are fighting back. Vote all you want, it's worked great so far, right? We have two parties controlling the system. These parties are different enough on some issues to keep people polarized on either side, scared to vote third party, scared to change the system itself.
I used to vote. I still like voting. I think it's fun to research the candidates and proposals, it's fun to go down and fill in a ballot, and it's fun to hang on the edge of the tv screen awaiting results. I don't abstain from voting because I don't feel like voting, or because I don't think a vote makes a difference, or because I'm apathetic or lazy. I am a non-voter because I don't think true change can come from supporting this system. I am a non-voter because I think we need an altogether different system. I am a non-voter because I don't think the majority should rule the minority. I am a non-voter.
Ⓐ☮Ⓔ

Thoughts on the Supreme Court Hobby Lobby Ruling.

This has nothing to do with whether or not an employer should be forced to offer healthcare. That is a separate argument. This also has nothing to do with whether or not an employer can pick and choose the level of coverage or what services are covered and what services are not. This is about a business claiming religious objection to services specifically for female employees who are not necessarily of the same faith. This allows an employer to apply their religious ideals to their employees regardless of their employees faith.
These are employers covered by title 7 of the civil rights act, preventing discrimination based on, among other things, religion and sex. What the Supreme Court has done here is overrule title 7 in two areas. Firstly, they are holding their female employes to the employer's religion of choice. This means that if an employer has a religious objection to something, in this case female birth control, but the employee is of a religious belief that doesn't object, the employer's faith gets applied to the employee.
Besides being religiously discriminating in violation of the civil rights act, this decision also discriminates based on sex. This decision by the Supreme Court allows employers to take away coverage on gender lines. There is no imperative to apply the same logic to women's healthcare and men's healthcare. Reproductive services for men, such as vasectomies and viagra, are still covered, while similar services are not covered for women.
It's also quite offensive that male employers worked with male Justices of the Supreme Court to take rights away from women. It wouldn't be right if women were making these decisions for other women either, but at least you wouldn't have one sex taking away the rights of another sex.
And yes, as I've already stated, this decision is taking away rights guaranteed under the law. Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states: "It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer
to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." The protections afforded you under this act are rights, but they've been taken away for some of us. Your employer, at least in some instances, is allowed to discriminated against you based on their religion or your sex.
We are not talking about churches, or religious groups, or religious based organizations. We are talking about for profit businesses run by someone with a religious belief. Hobby Lobby isn't a Christian business, but it is run by people of a specific religious faith. Those people believe that certain women's services are in violation of their faith. There is nothing wrong with that. There are almost as many religious beliefs as there are people on the planet. Everyone has a right to interpret that huge question of faith in their own way. Their belief system is not being challenged. Where they cross a line is when they apply that belief to laws that affect us all.
Once a certain religious belief has been turned into law then everyone who believes differently is forced to follow rules put forth by someone else's religious beliefs.
What could this mean? Well, now that we have allowed one major employer to apply policy based on their particular version of Christianity (it is important to note that not all versions of Christianity discriminate against women, reproductive health, sexual orientation, et cetera), the precedent has been set for more discrimination. For instance, an employer who is religiously opposed to same sex marriage may not want to allow vacation time for a gay employee to get married. They may be religiously opposed to psychiatric care, vaccinations, or women in positions of power.
If an employer holds a religious belief that women shouldn't be supervisors (not a far cry from not allowing women pastors, for instance) should they be allowed to deny female employees the promotions they deserve? What if they think that women shouldn't be in the work force? There are certainly religions that believe that men work and women maintain the home. Should those employers be allowed to only hire men. Can they post a sign out front saying "Now Hiring: Men Only"?
If you think this ruling couldn't lead to further discrimination, ask yourself this: Why would one particular Christian based view of women's reproductive health be protected without allowing other views equal weight?

Adventure Time, featuring Black Flag and Robby Krieger.

After a remarkably easy drive into Chicago, we drove around for 45 minutes trying to park. We finally found a spot, for $2 an hour until 10pm (5 hours away), but you could only buy three hours at a time. We paid for our first three hours knowing we'd just have to come back out halfway through our night to buy more time, which is annoying but not devastating.
We were in town to see Black Flag at Reggies, with HOR and Cinema Cinema opening. Isaiah, who went with me, had his ticket waiting at will call. We went into the first of three Reggies, four if you count the rooftop bar, to ask about the ticket. The guy there sent us to the second floor Reggies record store for the ticket. The guy there said we'd have to wait until the show let in to get the ticket, so we decided to have a drink and kill some time. Our next stop was the rooftop bar at Reggies, which we soon found out was crazy crowded due to some sort of party. Rather than deal with the heat, noise, and standing room only crowd, we hit the bar downstairs at Reggies.
We took two seats and ordered two drinks. Before we could get our drinks, we were asked to move down a little (even though there was nowhere to move to) so the door-person could do her job. They were just about to start a show at the bar, in addition to our show at the rock club part of Reggies. Being that we had no place to sit, we headed out to the patio/sidewalk with our drinks. Finding open space at the end, we went through the crowd to our seat at the open table. As soon as we sat down, we were booted because the table was reserved.
Once back out at our standing room only sidewalk beer drinking spot, the lady that booted us from our seats explained that the party sitting down included former Doors guitarist Robby Krieger. To apologize for moving us around, she bought us the next round. Once we realized what was going on, and once we had free drinks in our hands, we started to appreciate the situation.
Black Flag was playing a free, all ages, "striped down kids show" at the rock club prior to the paid 17+ show. I had planned to catch both Black Flag sets, but it turns out they were only letting people with small children into the first set. As Isaiah and I stood around waiting for the main show and missing the pre-show show, another friend of mine, Jay, who happened to also be friends with Black Flag, saw us and let us in just in time to catch the kids show.
Black Flag played at a low enough volume for the small children, and they played fairly kid friendly versions of their songs. They changed the song Fucked Up to Fed Up, used kids shows for the shows shouted during T.V. Party, and ended the shorter set with Louie Louie while a few little kids danced on stage.
Then came the main event. Although the show was supposed to be just Black Flag, HOR, and Cinema Cinema, Jay Lipe opened the show with a short solo set. Jay played a similar set last time Black Flag played Reggies. Solo electric bass guitar with vocals. A somewhat uncommon set up, but it works very well. Short, fun, catchy, different. An excellent start to the show.
Cinema Cinema, a guitar/drums two piece played next. They were noisey and energetic, and fun. They closed with a Nirvana cover, School, which happens to be both one of my favorite Nirvana songs, and one of the first songs I played with other people when I first started playing guitar.
At some point Isaiah went out to have a smoke. He wandered next door and crashed the private roof party. Then he went into the other Reggies show, which was The Doors' Robby Krieger and three former members of Frank Zappa's the Mothers of Invention. Tickets were $50 and sold out, but they let Isaiah just walk on in. He said it was really great.
Greg Ginn's band HOR was supposed to play before Black Flag, but Greg Ginn and the Royal We played instead. The Royal We is basically pre-recorded/programmed drums and bass, Greg Ginn playing guitar and theremin, and a video collage on a projection screen. I'm a huge fan of Greg's many bands, and the Royal We definitely didn't disappoint.
Then came Black Flag, for the second set of the night. They tore into their set, as expected, and were just on fire. I was at the stage but all the way to the left edge. Standing behind me, basically using me as a shield, was a pregnant lady. She was trying to stay out of the fray, which was difficult the way the people moshing were trying to run all over and bump into everybody. I did manage to keep the pit from spilling over her way a few times. She gave me a beer, which was pretty cool, and really hit the spot.
Near the end of the Black Flag set, Robby Krieger, whose set had recently ended next door, surprised everyone including the band when he came out on stage, plugged in, and played two songs with the band. The first was just a jam, I think. If it was based on a song then I didn't recognize it. Greg and Robby went back and forth on the soloing. At one point Robby insisted that Mike Vallely join in, so Mike sang a verse. Then they played Fucked Up, which is basically another jam, based on Kickin' and Stickin', one of the last Black Flag songs recorded before they initially disbanded in '86.
After Robby left the stage, Black Flag tore through Revenge, then ended their set, as always, with Louie Louie.
Outside, post-show, Isaiah used his phone to take a photo of me with Greg Ginn, and then I took a photo of him with Greg Ginn. He had taken many pictures and video of both the Robby Krieger show next door and Robby Krieger with Black Flag, but he somehow managed to delete all of it when taking the pictures with Greg. He was understandably very upset at this turn of events. I would have loved to see his footage.
After a little hassle trying to buy beer in Michigan City, our once in a lifetime adventure ended with a long, dark drive home, with distant flashes from the large storm to the north. Have been to some great shows and I've had some great adventures, but this night, with Robby Krieger playing onstage with Black Flag, is the only time I've seen history unfold.

My 2014 New Years Resolution

Rather than a traditional statement about doing this better or starting this endeavor, I posted this on Facebook on New Years Eve. Kind of a statement rather than a resolution, I thought I'd post it here for posterity's sake.

While I'm ending 2013 broke and with no idea how/where I'll end up, I can't say 2013 hasn't been an important year. I ended an abusive relationship with my former employer, the awful and destructive Coca-Cola company. My main band, Waiting at Sea, has been making great progress. We played our first show, although it was just an open mic. I put out my second solo album on Cities of Agartha Records, Getting Fired, and although I have yet to get any feedback on it, I love it. I also put out three other releases on the label. I recently started a new label that will be putting stuff out very shortly into 2014. I've written quite a bit, and I've finally started real work on my cookbook. I started working at the Klassic Arcade of Gobles, the first job I've had since Wechter that I actually wanted. I love the work and I love what I'm learning. Thank you to those of you that participated in my discussions on here, even when they got crazy and heated. It's fun to debate with you all, I hope none of you take it TOO seriously. Thank you to my new boss for giving me a chance. Thanks and welcome to my life to my new friends on here. Thanks to my wife and kids for sticking by me through this transition, even when food is scarce, bills are behind, and prospects are scary. Thanks to my mom, dad and step-dad for helping us out and putting up with my new direction. Thanks to all my old friends whom I love dearly and miss all the time even though I appear to make no effort to contact you. On the rare occasion we see each other it feels as though only days have passed. Lastly, a big thank you to my friend, songwriting partner, and band mate, I believe in your music as much as I believe in my own. Here's to 2014, whether it brings utopia or apocalypse, it's here and the change is inevitable.

A Rant (It's Just Another Day).

You know, I'm not saying this to be pro or anti Affordable Care Act (you realize that's the same things as Obamacare, right?), but you should all remember that easily half the bad shit you hear about the ACA is bullshit. Some is simple ignorance and misunderstanding, but plenty of the info is out and out lies. Personally, I think the entire medical system in this country needs to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. Our problems are many and they are deep. BUT, if nothing else is going to happen, then everyone needs access to health care, and most people cannot see a doctor without insurance. ACA is definitely something, and if all the energy that was used to try to stop the ACA was used to try to build something useful whether with the ACA or as a replacement, we could do great things. Never forget this whole mess started with a congress with many members that openly stated their mission to stop Obama's success at anything. This is something that should be unacceptable to anyone participating in a democracy anywhere. An elected official that has decided to make it their mission to stop another elected official from accomplishing anything should be run out of the country, or at the very least out of office. We are not talking about politicians that oppose this or that from another elected official, we are talking about politicians that openly oppose anything from an elected official, regardless of the affect on the public. How has our system gotten so bad? We are up shit creek without a boat and we're all to drunk to swim. Corruption and fraud are so rampant but we all turn a blind eye to it in the never ending fight of "our side" verses "their side". I'm not a Democrat, or an Obama supporter, not in the least, but I'm not going to blindly oppose his very existence and everything he says and does just out of spite. I oppose plenty that has happened on his watch. I disagree with plenty of what his administration has done. I will not, however, allow party politics to persuade me to blindly oppose anything that comes from one particular politician or party. Fuck that.