Michelle, America's Bell

Happy Thanksgiving, but what I want to recognize is this; Jay Leno is a rerun tonight and the guest is Michelle Obama. The episode is from about a week before the election and they're talking about campaigning and issues. I don't usually watch Jay Leno; I'm more of a David Letterman guy. Seeing this episode and hearing Mrs. Obama speak, I am so impressed with her intelligence and charisma. She understands the issues in a way that seems so obviously necessary. She reminds me of Mrs. Clinton in the sense that she could very well be as capable of commanding the office as much as she is of providing the necessary support a successful presidency requires. She is articulate! She is brilliant! Mrs. Obama will lead America along side our President; I believe this to be true, and I look forward to her contribution!

I thought initially that Clinton was the best choice for the office because of her intelligence, experience and her spouse and his experience. Now, I'm convinced that the Obama family is the better choice because both Obamas are brilliant, the children will add a sense of innocence and spontaneity to the white house, and as a family the Obamas have so much to offer the country. Thank you Obama family.

Two am commute

Foggy night riding can be pretty spectacular.
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Afterwards is always a little hollow

Last night was the benefit show for the Leukemia/Lymphoma society. It was a tremendous success! Brian and Dave were Tractor Operator with me and we rocked some Pgun songs at the end of our set. Waking up today I found myself replaying the night in my head and wondering if it was all as good as it felt. It was. It definitely was. It started with a very out of tune soundcheck, and ended with Dave sleeping on the couch while I made bell pepper and corn quesadillas.

Eluvium played and was very good. His songs are constructed using guitar, piano and computer sounds. My friend Jessica says that she plays his stuff at Loyly, her Finnish spa, and nobody ever gets bored or annoyed by it. Laura Gibson played a short set. Much too short of a set since she is really wonderful. Every time I hear her sing I simultaneously fall in love with something and experience tender heartbreak.

Delorean played next and were very good. Kate, who organized the show, played violin with them.

Visual Artists were sketching the bands all night and the drawings were auctioned off for the fundraiser. Overall, the night was just great. We raised over $4000!

Menomena was awesome. I'd never seen them live. Their latest record is awesome, and I've spent hours listening to it. It was really cool to see them pull off all the weird changes all while the drummer struggled with some internal demons. He kept clutching his chest and grabbing his face. Very interesting. . .

Ok, I've gotta study for a quiz. Peace out. Check out Dave's blog for some pics. It's the one in the hot tub that says "run with the hunted".

Building an Army

Eddy Merckx was called the Cannibal and is widely considered the greatest cyclist of all time.

I learned how to make molds using Silicone Caulk. I made models out of plastilina then created molds. I'm working with wax right now and looking forward to investing these in two weeks. It's looking like we definitely are not going to be casting any molten metal this term, despite the title of the class, which is casting. . . I started casting my concrete sections this weekend. That is a much less interesting and aesthetically striking part of the process, but still very important. I'll be continuing this work for the next two weeks and then I get to assemble the whole thing. Should be interesting to see if it works the way I want it to. I was planning on using a stump for a base of my concrete and steel form, but I just realized that my stumps have termites. I'm not really sure what that means aside from, I don't want to introduce termites to someone's house, regardless of the fact that the vessel would be a piece of art. Improvisation is exciting.

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Sometimes you clap because it's over

This is the local band "eat skull" - give them some time to get over themselves

you might be asking yourself where the other drummer is, and also what is that guy doing? ? ? the answer is that he is playing his guitar behind his back and the drummer is playing drums on the floor surrounded by dancing crazy people!

These bands opening for the Dirtbombs are fucking terrible! Wow! I think the part about the first band that took them from bad to theruble which is cellphoneblogging speak for terrible, wa that they were so serious. The second band, eat skull, made the mistake of not getting me as drunk as they were.

Ok! Just watched the dirtbombs encore with one of their drummers on the floor killing it with his beats! The show was amazing! It mwkes watching two terrible bands perfectly acceptable! Fuck!

Al and I have to decompress over a beer closer to home before we attempt to sleep. What a great show! ! ! Agghhhhhhh!

We decompressed at the basement pub. I'm actually changing things up in the middle of a blog right now. You see, the first part of this post, including the pics, was from my cell. This part right here is after I arrived home safe and sound, although, I wanted to cry a little bit as I rode up and over MT. TABOR! Man oh man the Dirtbombs are a great band! I wish I didn't have to work in 6 hours. . .

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Weird writing get in my head!

Maybe if I just nap for a minute with my head on this book, i'll be able to read and write Katakana. . .
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Weird Weather

I had the craziest dreams last night about kids and music and all this weird waking sleeping stuff with the radio and a jealous butcher comp leaking into my dream. I have no idea what it was really about.

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The ride to work today was beautiful. The sun is shining, the air is warm and the streets aren't that slick. I might be going to the Dirtbombs tonight, which would be great! The Dirtbombs are from Michigan and they totally kill it. Two drummers, Two Bass players and a great singer/guitar player.

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If you have an opportunity to check out the band Weird Weeds, I recommend that you do so. I just remembered them from a Ferocious Eagle show in San Francisco. Deerhoof came to our show to see Weird Weeds, which pretty much makes it a Weird Weeds show, but Deerhoof still saw us play. 

Weirdness

It's really coming down today in Portland. There are flood advisories in effect and it's a dismal gray out. Yesterday was Veteran's Day and school was cancelled. I took the opportunity to try to find some rain gear. I have been getting soaked on my way to school lately and I figured that enough is enough. I ride 8 miles to school and by the 2nd mile, I'm not cold, just wet. The trick to finding the right rain gear is to find something that won't heat you up, but will keep you dry. The problem with a lot of the stuff out there in my price-range is that by the time I get to my destination, I've sweated so much that I'm just as wet as if I hadn't worn anything at all. . . 

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Bike Snob has been good lately, I read his blog everyday. Today he introduced a new system for dealing with the world, which basically breaks down to - take the anger away, and look at things that are messed up as weird, then you don't get mad. . . Or something. I'm thinking it's pretty weird that nobody in this school district communicates with one another. Hence, I'm sitting here for three hours twice a week without a student to assist, or anybody to help. Frustration would be my natural feeling, but I'm taking frustrating circumstances and applying Bike Snob's equation and now I just feel weird. Maybe more coffee will help.

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I'm excited about the show coming up on November 23rd. It's gonna be a doozy.

I am proud of America!

I'm exhausted! I can't sleep because I'm so damn excited! For the first time in my life, and mind you, I've voted a few times now for the office of the President, I've voted for the winner. Before now, I've felt cynical about the process and my options when it came to the office. So often the choice is made between the lesser of two evils. Tonight as I watched McCain's speech, I thought to myself, "Well, he isn't so bad." Then, watching Obama, my President, I felt elevated! I felt like I was capable of contributing to something important. I felt inspired to do better. I felt inspired to be better. The possibilities are riveting! My imagination is running wild with ways to honor this occasion when America finally honored the concept of Civil Rights and Equality, not by electing the first African-American President, but by electing the right person for the job; by electing the best person for the job. I am proud to be on the winning side, because for once, the winning side is better than the lesser of two evils. Barack Obama represents the possibility of America to affect positive change in the world. He represents a youthful optimism, a devotion to principal and a strength reserved for men free from the constraints of precedent. Barack Obama has proven that he can maintain his ability to inspire, as well as his demonstration over the last 21 months that he is not afraid of hard work. I'm concerned about the difficulties his Presidency presents, but I'm not afraid for us or him; I am confident that I voted for somebody who is not only capable of carrying out the duties of the position, but who is capable of thriving in the office. Barack Obama. Barack Obama. Barack Obama.

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I'm feeling pretty nervous today

Spend Regret Repeat

I updated my website today for the first time in months. As I continue to think about this election and it's implications, I wonder why I really care. The fact is, I voted and have voted for president now 3 times. Not once has my vote been cast for the winner of the office and while I think most Americans are in the same boat, nobody seems too concerned with the system that continues to fail us. What is the point of voting when an electoral college disregards and overrides the popular vote? Anyway, if McCain wins, I get to move to Mexico. A group of us are talking about it. Frankly, I love the idea of moving to Mexico finding some land with rich clay deposits and setting up a folk pottery. Tiff thinks I wouldn't make any money. I don't think she's wrong, and I don't think that would matter too much. We spend so much of our lives worrying about money that we forget to enjoy the things that don't cost anything. We miss out on major events in our lives because the only way we could afford to go is to pay for it with a credit card. We irresponsibly spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on small purchases while we pine away for home ownership. How many magazines and pairs of shoes and boxes with knobs do we need? I don't think that this election, regardless of outcome, will solve any of those problems. The new American mantra, spend regret repeat.

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And speaking of regreat - something I'm really genuinely concerned about is the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Both candidates say they're going to shut that place down. What happens when we shut it down and the men that we've been torturing and whose lives we have ruined are allowed to return to their countries? How does a nation make amends with them? What a terrible mess our country has made in the world. Why have we allowed our government to act this way? It is fucking absurd. I think it's time for some very serious discussions regarding dissent.

RED FANG VIDEO

I pulled this off of Snider's blog. It's amazing. These guys might be the best band in Portland. Their live show slays. It also sleighs. I gotta get to work. Cheers

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VOTE!