Wednesday Music Mix

It looks like it is going to be a wet one out their folks. Well wet at least for those of us in the Pacific Northwest. I realize that the east coast and most of the mid west is caught in a horrible cold snap or polar vortex or what ever. Either way it must suck. I am once again thankful that I live in the Pacific Northwest and Oregon.

Sweet Lady - Queen

Not one of their big hits but a good song nonetheless.

Well it seems that all of the Duck Dynasty hype has settled down. All that I can really say is that I am not at all surprised that there were little to no consequences for any of the parties involved other then an uptick in publicity and sales for all involved. In fact this is what I wrote on Facebook in response to a friend on Dec 19th,

"They won't move networks and in a week or so this will all blow over. If it doesn't they will continue to sell duck calls and dvd's from their website just like they did for years before the show was on. The family doesn't need A&E. I suspect that is why Phil felt the freedom to say what he really thought. Odds are that he signed a contract when he took the show with A&E and this kind of thing was already addressed and that is why Phil was punished."

The only thing that I would change is that I do not think Phil was punished. He did not and will not miss any filming so his suspension from the show did not affect anything.

Jaded - Operation Ivy

A great, great song.

But what I have found interesting lately is that articles are popping up with pictures of the Duck Dynasty sons before the show went on the air and 'gasp'. They didn't have beards and they weren't wearing camouflage. The writers of these articles are acting like they uncovered some sort of scandal and this just amuses me so much. It is a reality television show, of course it is fake. Dummies. Why is this a shock to anybody?

1st Movement (Jumping Biz) - ELO

Classic piece by ELO

That is all I am going to say about Duck Dynasty. I am just surprised that people are shocked that it is dramatized. The show is what it is. If you do not like it do not watch it. I have stopped watching it. I also do not watch or listen to things with Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly or Bill Mahar and rarely The Daily Show or anything on Fox News or CNN or MSNBC. I find the whole world to be less angry and fearful for me if I stick to reading my news as opposed to having it broadcast at me. What I mainly try to do is to avoid the echo chamber effect if at all possible and by and large I do a pretty good job of that.

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine - Jimmy Rogers

I like this song. It is just a nice pleasant song.

Now excuse me while I do some deep breathing and some deep cross nostril breathing. I have found both of those techniques to be very helpful when it comes to keeping myself calm and centered.

Empty Chairs At Empty Tables - Eddie Redmayne (Marius in Les Miserable)

This was a sad, sad song. But also very beautiful.

I am going to Portland today and that is always a good thing. I am visiting my friend Katy for coffee and that is always fun and the climax of the day is seeing 'The Big Lebowski' on the big screen with my buddy Travis and that is going to be epic. I am very excited about that.

Let's Get Retarded - Black Eyed Peas

I remember when this band was huge. I didn't remember owning any of them. blech

I am not thrilled at ending the mix today on that particular song. I wonder if I should roll the dice and see what comes up next? Nope I am going to stop at 6 today. Have a good one folks. I wish that we could all be as happy as this little girl in her cupcake costume.

3-23-2010 (Tuesday)

Well we have survived another day and now the fallout will begin from the health care issue. President Obama is supposed to sign it into law today. I am already wondering what the next big point of contention is going to be. The only thing that I do know for sure is that there is going to be one. But that being said a friend sent this yesterday and it made me laugh. I realize not all of you may find this amusing but such is the nature of humor. I realize it is making some pretty broad statements but I nonetheless found it amusing to me.

2-23-2010 (Tuesday)

Good morning folks. It is Tuesday morning and the rain has returned to Oregon. I do not mind the rain. It smells nice outside and is kind of refreshing. I think though that after about 3 or 4 days of it I will be back to wondering where the sun is and when is spring going to return. I like living in Oregon. I even like living in the Willamette Valley despite the months of gloom that can settle over us. When the Valley is in the middle of the rainy season it can get seriously gray and gloomy. But, once spring comes and we move into the summer Oregon becomes a really beautiful place to live. I am basically less then two hours away from the ocean or the mountains and when the weather is nice both places can really be nice. But I didn't come hear to lobby for Oregon.

I wanted to go back and touch on what I wrote about yesterday on how I agreed in part with what Glenn Beck said at the CPAC speech. But I also had to mention something he said that I felt didn't make any sense. He was doing his usual talking about how Communists and Socialists became Progressives because that let them be sneaky. He mentioned how things had gone from Revolution to Evolution and the change had allowed for the newly named Progressives to sneak in and undermine the foundation of America. Now I have heard him say this kind of thing before and he, I think, really does believe it. But at one point during his speech he was talking about how he was not a smart man and how he didn't go to college. But what he did do was go to the library because there the books are free. His exact phrase was

"I went to the library -- the books are free."

That kind of threw me for a loop. The biggest reason being that...BOOKS AT THE LIBRARY ARE NOT FREE!!!!! I pay taxes and part of my tax dollars go to fund the library in my town. Now maybe Glenn went to some hippy dippy socialist library where everyone who takes a book can leave a book and there is no librarian but I doubt it. What I found surprising about what Beck said was that libraries are basically communist institutions. They are funded out of the tax roles and anyone who wants to can get books there. I believe the first public library in the country was actually created by progressives who felt that everyone deserved equal access to books.

It just struck me as so typical of all of the talking heads on television be it Olberman or Beck or Limbaugh or Maddow they seem to speak without thinking. The basic idea of following a logical chain to it's conclusion seems to have escaped them. The saddest thing for me is that they make millions and millions of dollars doing this and most viewers just lap it up. They buy their books and listen to their radio shows and watch the television with out taking the time to do any critical thinking on their own.

These people depend on us to be angry but not on us to pay attention to the bigger picture. So lets all take a moment and really think about some of what these people tell us. They are all employees for big companies they wouldn't be working for these companies if they didn't agree with what goes on there. Keep that in mind when watch these shows. Look into where these companies do business and what products they make and sell. I do not think this will hurt us what this will do is make us better listeners and make us more aware of what we are being told. This goes for both sides of every issue. Think before you react. Take a moment and decide if what you are being told actually makes any sense.

This will benefit all of us in the long term.

Journalistic Integrity?

Good morning friends, I have mentioned before that I have been listening to three types of radio on my way to work and coming home each day. These are basically conservative, moderate, and liberal though to be fair NPR does lean more to the liberal but I like that there stories tend to be a little deeper and thoughtful and not so full of the propaganda that either side likes to throw around.

That being said the lady on the liberal station that is on after work was going on and on last night about Rush Limbaugh and several passages that he had read from what he thought was President Obamas thesis from Columbia. Here is the passage,

" ... the Constitution allows for many things, but what it does not allow is the most revealing. The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned. While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy."

Now Limbaugh read this passage on the air and then went on a rant about Obama and the damage that he is doing to America. It was not that his rant was any different then other rants but word soon came down that the quote was actually not real. That it in fact was completely made up. It was taken from a blog called Jumping in Pools.

Well it seems that this is a blog that does mainly satire. I looked it over and really was unimpressed with the level of humor or even cleverness in it. But that is a story for another day. But, why I bring this up is because this whole so called thesis was completely made up by them. Once Limbaugh found out this was his response

"So, I can say, "I don't care if these quotes are made up," "I know Obama thinks it."

Now, while it may very well be true that this is what Obama thinks. I think the bigger issue here is integrity. Should not a news show actually do research and verify what they put on the air. I know there are people who feel that what is on liberal radio or conservative radio is all truth all the time. So I wonder should he not apologize rather then just attack. I understand being embarrassed when egg hits your face. It has happened to me before. But I do not claim to be a journalist. I am not held to any kind of standard. I can write and often have about whatever garbage I want to write about. But even then if I knowingly say something that I am wrong about I will do all I can to correct it.

It seems to me that Mr Limbaugh is doing just the opposite of this. I could be mistaken and if I am please let me know. But do it gently please. I am very sensitive. I promise to print a full retraction if that is the case.