Last week something strange happened. Typically I'm very cynical about Corporate America. I try not to be, and I wish I could get over myself. Last week I think I took a step in that direction.
The former Vice President of Operations here in Evansville, JC Anderson, retired from the company. Recently he worked on all the details of the Maytag acquisition working out of corporate, but he made a stop through Evansville on his retirement tour.
He was part of the reason the union took a large pay cut in the early 90's, but even older folks in the union think it was a necessary step in keeping Evansville in operation. During the speech he gave he became very emotional at certain points, specifically when talking through that very pay cut. He spoke about his career and the long hours, etc. The whole tribute was pretty impressive.
What was the most impressive, however, was the list of 50 things he wanted to do after he retired. One, in particular, struck a cord with me. He said every 5 years he wants to send a letter to his immediate family (wife, kids, grand kids) telling them what he thinks about them. He became emotional here as well. Basically, these letters will be an avenue to offer unsolicited advice, while at the same time telling everyone how much they mean to him, which often is taken for granted, especially when you "get up there in years". I thought that was a terrific idea and think I will be adopting that, but prior to my retirement. Every milestone birthday (30, 35, 40, etc.) I think I will do this. So, for those of you who are close to me, let it be known in 3 years and 3 months you will be receiving a letter from me saying how much you mean to me and perhaps some constructive criticism if warranted. Occasionally I come across a letter my dad wrote me as I graduated college. It's amazing the amount of emotion something simple like a snail mail letter (or letter that was handed to you) can bring about. I really ought to have responded to him somehow to let him know how much he means to me, but I think I'll wait 3 1/4 years. I suppose this forum is as good as any to give him a taste of that appreciation, so, dad, I think you're great.
As I left the tribute to the man I was struck with an overwhelming awe of how much everyone in the room seemed to admire him. When I shook his hand I said "In the 5 years that I've worked here I have NEVER heard anyone say anything even REMOTELY negative about you. I find that absolutely amazing. Have a good retirement". I figured that was about as good as I could do, being a punk 26 year old kid. Plus I couldn't talk to him long since he had a flight to catch...
In any event, it allowed me an opportunity to inspect my path in life and think about where I would like to go. I'm still thinking. Feel free to offer suggestions or constructive criticism (not in the Jake Elwood vein hopefully).
Friday, June 22, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Anti-religious dogma is not the same as racism or misogyny
Drawing false parallels, stretching metaphors, and general misinformation is the foundation for a lot of [obviously poor] arguments.
A few months ago there was a quasi-controversy about the choice of blogger for the John Edwards campaign. Basically, the blogger, on her PERSONAL website placed this quote as a preface to one of her posts:
General skepticism for religious dogma and using language to show you don't appreciate the use of said religious dogma as an avenue to pass asinine laws is not even close to hating a specific group of people who have no choice in the matter. "Being black" or "being white" is not something you choose to do. Likewise with gender (this is where I acknowledge that transgender human beings exist, but generally speaking, one does not choose their gender). I can see a slight argument that a religion, in most cases is not chosen, but a religion can be chosen (and in my opinion, SHOULD be chosen, hence why I favor keeping religion out of the classroom), and therefore the merits of the argument of said religion can, and should, be debated endlessly.
To dismiss attacks on any religion, regardless of how offensive they might be, based on the language alone shows nothing more than fear of debating the actual merits of the argument. One should be able to look past any scattered f-bombs and get to the heart of the matter, otherwise, one will eventually become a recluse (or a Mormon) if they avoid everyone that drops an f-bomb every so often.
For some banter between myself and a person who condemned her comment and thought the blogger should have been fired because of something she says on her very own personal blog (and something which was a throw away joke at the beginning of the post for that matter), go here, or here, or here. I even included the ones where I make an ass of myself. But I think my point comes across as well as it can with the language we have available to us...
Also, this topic is quite dated, but I don't really care. I wanted to do a post about my anti-religious viewpoint and this is the best way to speak to it.
A few months ago there was a quasi-controversy about the choice of blogger for the John Edwards campaign. Basically, the blogger, on her PERSONAL website placed this quote as a preface to one of her posts:
Q: What if Mary had taken Plan B after the Lord filled her with his hot, white, sticky Holy Spirit? A: You’d have to justify your misogyny with another ancient mythology.There was much discussion about it at the time in the political blog world. I continually saw justification for her firing amount to nothing more than "her religious ["]intolerance["] is not any different than racism or misogyny". I say screw that. Personally, I found this hilarious. It pretty well sums up what she thinks about this particular religion, and, therefore, what slant you are getting when you read the rest of the post.
General skepticism for religious dogma and using language to show you don't appreciate the use of said religious dogma as an avenue to pass asinine laws is not even close to hating a specific group of people who have no choice in the matter. "Being black" or "being white" is not something you choose to do. Likewise with gender (this is where I acknowledge that transgender human beings exist, but generally speaking, one does not choose their gender). I can see a slight argument that a religion, in most cases is not chosen, but a religion can be chosen (and in my opinion, SHOULD be chosen, hence why I favor keeping religion out of the classroom), and therefore the merits of the argument of said religion can, and should, be debated endlessly.
To dismiss attacks on any religion, regardless of how offensive they might be, based on the language alone shows nothing more than fear of debating the actual merits of the argument. One should be able to look past any scattered f-bombs and get to the heart of the matter, otherwise, one will eventually become a recluse (or a Mormon) if they avoid everyone that drops an f-bomb every so often.
For some banter between myself and a person who condemned her comment and thought the blogger should have been fired because of something she says on her very own personal blog (and something which was a throw away joke at the beginning of the post for that matter), go here, or here, or here. I even included the ones where I make an ass of myself. But I think my point comes across as well as it can with the language we have available to us...
Also, this topic is quite dated, but I don't really care. I wanted to do a post about my anti-religious viewpoint and this is the best way to speak to it.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Tool in Evansville
Tool is my favorite band. Hands down. A few weeks ago a buddy of mine tells me "Hey, Tool is going to be in town on the 17th, but it's sold out". Well, it turns out the floor seats were sold out, but there were plenty available assigned seats on ticketmaster, so my lovely wife decided we should go, since they are literally the best band to come into Evansville during my brief 5 years living here (and of course, I would argue they are the best band that's been to any city they've ever visited, but to each their own).
So, that's where I was last night. It sort of sucked that it was on father's day so we had to cut our trip to my folks place short, but the show was definitely worth it.
Here is a summary of the evening:
"Melt Banana", the opening act was absolutely terrible. The lead singer sounded like a squirrel. You couldn't hear a word she said. The lead guitarist seemed like a decent guitar player and all, but he was way too over-amped. It drowned out the rest of the band. You could not hear the bass at all, nor the singer (as mentioned previously). They were Japanese as well, so you couldn't really tell what she was saying when you could hear her, which was only between tracks. No joke, I did not understand a single word out of her mouth while she was singing.
Be that as it may, it was the best concert I've been to since...the last time I saw Tool...
Set List (and appx. time + comments). You'll notice I couple a few tracks as it's almost necessary they are played together and hence why they're from consecutive tracks from an album. Sort of like "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions"...
8:00 pm Melt Banana - suckage
8:30 end Melt Banana - respite for ears
9:03ish - Enter Tool - Maynard in hunter orange shirt and some sort of mask that could be Freddie Kreuger...
9:05 Song 1 - "Jambi" (Track 2 off 10,000 Days). Amazing opening. Energy was real good with the crowd. My ears were thanking the Gods there is no more screaming from little Japanese girl.
9:11ish Song 2 - "Stinkfist" (Track 1 off Aenima). Was fooled for a second, my brain thought it was 46 & 2. Not so much. In any event, the crowd knew most of the words. I personally enjoy a show where the crowd adds value to the band, this seemed to be the case all night. The band played a different solo I'd never heard about 5 or 6 minutes into the track.
9:20 Song 3a + 3 - "Useful Idiot" and then, of course, "46&2" (Tracks 4&5 off Aenima). This song contains one of my favorite 30 seconds of drumming ever. It never disappoints. If you're a Tool fan, you know what I'm talking about.
9:28 Song 4 - "Schism" (Track 5 off Lateralus). The crowd really likes this song. Probably because it's one of the few tracks they play of GBF or whatever bullshit station the kids listen to these days. I prefer cds. The radio can suck my balls. Danny Carey played a kick ass drum solo that rocked my world. The end of the track already has a great drum ending, but he topped it off well.
9:36 Song 5a and 5- "Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)" and "Rosetta Stoned" (Tracks 7&8 off 10,000 Days). During the middle of the track the guy next to me loses "cigarettes". Frantic search leads me to believe something other than cigarettes were contained in his cigarette package. That and the stench of pot in the air...
9:54 Song 6 - Small break followed by "Flood" (Track 9 off Undertow). To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what the name of the track was until I went home and listened to Undertow to figure out which track it was. It's a fun little track. I would much rather have heard "The Pot" from 10,000 Days...but it's cool. Yes, that means they didn't play "The Pot" during the show. The song isn't about weed by the way, but about hypocrisy (The pot calling the kettle black). Please correct me if this wasn't the track they played here...I'm pretty sure it was. All I have to remember is "slow to fast" as a clue. I'm pretty sure I remember saying "I was wrong...this changes everything", so I think I'm golden. Oh, some time during this track, I helped the dude next to us find his "cigarettes". He then asks me "Do you smoke pot?" I say "No, thanks". He replies "Good deal, more for me". I reply, "Fuckin' A". Fuckin' A indeed.
10:05 Song 7a and 7 - "Wings for Marie (Part 1)" and "10,000 Days" (Tracks 3&4 off 10,000 Days). Apparently 10,000 days was the amount of time that passed that Maynard's mother was in a wheelchair (until she died apparently). Her name was Marie. The song is incredible. The energy in the room was superb. The laser light show began fairly close to this point, as well. It was pretty cool. I'm sure all the stoned folks were digging it. At the beginning of the track and throughout there are various items that sound/look like UFOs on screen or part of the stage. I dug it. They're all into whacked conspiracy theories. LSD will do that I suppose...open your third eye...
10:32 Song 8 - "Lateralus" (Track 9 off Lateralus). This was the last track when I saw Tool at Deer Creek back in 2001. I love this track for every reason you can love a song. Every person in the band executes perfectly and the lyrics are just amazing. "Reaching out to embrace the random, reaching out to embrace whatever may come." That is basically my philosophy on life in a nutshell. During the track the lead guitar from Melt Banana and the drummer came out to jam a bit. There was some dueling drums going on for a bit. Danny clearly won of course, but it was all in good fun. He gave him props after the track. The guitarist was pretty good too, but I dig the drums, so you know where my focus was...
10:50ish Song 9 - "Vicarious" (Track 1 off 10,000 Days). A good ending track. When touring it's customary to start and end with a track from the latest album. I would have welcomed a track from Opiate somewhere in there, but still, a great show. It lasted about 2 hours, which is about right...
Other thoughts/tidbits:
During the show the roadies all wore white lab coats. It was kind of goofy but kept my simple brain moderately entertained when the band took small breaks between tracks when the (looped?) feedback was used as a buffer. I left the show feeling like a 100 dollars (Fletch quote), and don't regret staying up past my bedtime at all. There probably aren't going to be many chances left to see Tool again. I would guess they'll put out at most one more album, so I'm glad I was able to see them. The crowd was exceptional. Didn't really see/hear any negative comments (except about the opening band). No "F.U.s" or nothing. It was just damn cool.
So, that's where I was last night. It sort of sucked that it was on father's day so we had to cut our trip to my folks place short, but the show was definitely worth it.
Here is a summary of the evening:
"Melt Banana", the opening act was absolutely terrible. The lead singer sounded like a squirrel. You couldn't hear a word she said. The lead guitarist seemed like a decent guitar player and all, but he was way too over-amped. It drowned out the rest of the band. You could not hear the bass at all, nor the singer (as mentioned previously). They were Japanese as well, so you couldn't really tell what she was saying when you could hear her, which was only between tracks. No joke, I did not understand a single word out of her mouth while she was singing.
Be that as it may, it was the best concert I've been to since...the last time I saw Tool...
Set List (and appx. time + comments). You'll notice I couple a few tracks as it's almost necessary they are played together and hence why they're from consecutive tracks from an album. Sort of like "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions"...
8:00 pm Melt Banana - suckage
8:30 end Melt Banana - respite for ears
9:03ish - Enter Tool - Maynard in hunter orange shirt and some sort of mask that could be Freddie Kreuger...
9:05 Song 1 - "Jambi" (Track 2 off 10,000 Days). Amazing opening. Energy was real good with the crowd. My ears were thanking the Gods there is no more screaming from little Japanese girl.
9:11ish Song 2 - "Stinkfist" (Track 1 off Aenima). Was fooled for a second, my brain thought it was 46 & 2. Not so much. In any event, the crowd knew most of the words. I personally enjoy a show where the crowd adds value to the band, this seemed to be the case all night. The band played a different solo I'd never heard about 5 or 6 minutes into the track.
9:20 Song 3a + 3 - "Useful Idiot" and then, of course, "46&2" (Tracks 4&5 off Aenima). This song contains one of my favorite 30 seconds of drumming ever. It never disappoints. If you're a Tool fan, you know what I'm talking about.
9:28 Song 4 - "Schism" (Track 5 off Lateralus). The crowd really likes this song. Probably because it's one of the few tracks they play of GBF or whatever bullshit station the kids listen to these days. I prefer cds. The radio can suck my balls. Danny Carey played a kick ass drum solo that rocked my world. The end of the track already has a great drum ending, but he topped it off well.
9:36 Song 5a and 5- "Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)" and "Rosetta Stoned" (Tracks 7&8 off 10,000 Days). During the middle of the track the guy next to me loses "cigarettes". Frantic search leads me to believe something other than cigarettes were contained in his cigarette package. That and the stench of pot in the air...
9:54 Song 6 - Small break followed by "Flood" (Track 9 off Undertow). To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what the name of the track was until I went home and listened to Undertow to figure out which track it was. It's a fun little track. I would much rather have heard "The Pot" from 10,000 Days...but it's cool. Yes, that means they didn't play "The Pot" during the show. The song isn't about weed by the way, but about hypocrisy (The pot calling the kettle black). Please correct me if this wasn't the track they played here...I'm pretty sure it was. All I have to remember is "slow to fast" as a clue. I'm pretty sure I remember saying "I was wrong...this changes everything", so I think I'm golden. Oh, some time during this track, I helped the dude next to us find his "cigarettes". He then asks me "Do you smoke pot?" I say "No, thanks". He replies "Good deal, more for me". I reply, "Fuckin' A". Fuckin' A indeed.
10:05 Song 7a and 7 - "Wings for Marie (Part 1)" and "10,000 Days" (Tracks 3&4 off 10,000 Days). Apparently 10,000 days was the amount of time that passed that Maynard's mother was in a wheelchair (until she died apparently). Her name was Marie. The song is incredible. The energy in the room was superb. The laser light show began fairly close to this point, as well. It was pretty cool. I'm sure all the stoned folks were digging it. At the beginning of the track and throughout there are various items that sound/look like UFOs on screen or part of the stage. I dug it. They're all into whacked conspiracy theories. LSD will do that I suppose...open your third eye...
10:32 Song 8 - "Lateralus" (Track 9 off Lateralus). This was the last track when I saw Tool at Deer Creek back in 2001. I love this track for every reason you can love a song. Every person in the band executes perfectly and the lyrics are just amazing. "Reaching out to embrace the random, reaching out to embrace whatever may come." That is basically my philosophy on life in a nutshell. During the track the lead guitar from Melt Banana and the drummer came out to jam a bit. There was some dueling drums going on for a bit. Danny clearly won of course, but it was all in good fun. He gave him props after the track. The guitarist was pretty good too, but I dig the drums, so you know where my focus was...
10:50ish Song 9 - "Vicarious" (Track 1 off 10,000 Days). A good ending track. When touring it's customary to start and end with a track from the latest album. I would have welcomed a track from Opiate somewhere in there, but still, a great show. It lasted about 2 hours, which is about right...
Other thoughts/tidbits:
During the show the roadies all wore white lab coats. It was kind of goofy but kept my simple brain moderately entertained when the band took small breaks between tracks when the (looped?) feedback was used as a buffer. I left the show feeling like a 100 dollars (Fletch quote), and don't regret staying up past my bedtime at all. There probably aren't going to be many chances left to see Tool again. I would guess they'll put out at most one more album, so I'm glad I was able to see them. The crowd was exceptional. Didn't really see/hear any negative comments (except about the opening band). No "F.U.s" or nothing. It was just damn cool.
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