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.

1-27-10 (Wednesday)

Well...in what I think is a surprising result Oregon voters decided to pass measures 66 and 67. This is the first time in 70 years that Oregon has voted in a tax increase. In fact 9 times in the past Oregon has said no to a sales tax. So I think there are more then a few of the so called experts that are shaking their heads over this one. Now as I mentioned yesterday, only time will tell if this is going to be a net gain or loss for Oregon. While the supporters of the measures feel that this is going to be a gain because of the tax revenue it is going to generate that anti people feel that the amount of private industry jobs that Oregon is going to lose because of this will make this a net loss. I have no idea and I am not even going to attempt to make a prediction on it.

Tonight President Obama gives his State of the Union address. I am not overly excited by this. I think the primary reason for me is that because Mr Obama has been out speaking so much I am not feeling a need to listen. With other Presidents it was rare to hear them speak so I would sometimes view it just because I wanted to see how they spoke publicly. But with Mr Obama that is not anything I haven't seen before. As a matter of fact, along those same lines of public speaking I saw a clip of President Obama last night speaking to a class of 6Th graders, somewhere in America I am not sure where, the clip was on the daily show. What was interesting to me and what Jon Stewart mentioned was that the President was in a 6Th grade classroom with the presidential podium set up and two 'TELEPROMPTERS' set up!! One to his right and one two his left!! I mean come on! You are in a grade school class room!! Do you really need to have teleprompters? I am beginning to feel more and more just like the old Who song says "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" I know people will disagree with me and it isn't that Obama is the same as Bush. It is that he is becoming the same business as usual politician that infects this country. The conservatives are excited right now about Scott Browns victory in Massachusetts. I would argue that given a year or maybe as little as six months he will be sucked into the machine will be spat out the same politician as the rest of them.

It doesn't matter what party they are from. The lobbyists for the corporations and the corporations run things in Washington D.C.. I am beginning to feel more and more that the only real safe haven for people is what can happen for them at the state level. Maybe what we need is a return to federalism and a step back from the large umbrella of national government. I do feel that I am in favor of the new spending freeze idea. I just hope it works.