A quick one today as there is much work to accomplish at, um, work.
I thought Saturday night went pretty well at G/Z/The Front. It was pretty busy, but it felt like we were on top of things and everyone that I had to get out was able to be talked out. We had a higher than average number of people getting sick/etc – I guess that will get worse as the weather gets warmer.
Unforunately, I must have missed something because after we punched out, Troy pulled the security team aside and gave us a significant dress down for not doing our jobs well enough. Some of the things he mentioned weren’t me, some of them were (although, I swear, “I was just following orders”).
After that got done with, the team grabbed a drink and talked about it.
Not a huge thing, right? Wrong. I was going to call Joy after I got off work – usually in the 1:45 – 2:00am range. By the time I called her at 3, a fair amount of worry/anger had developed. Fortunately, she came over, we talked about it, I apologized profusely, and if the situation arises again, I’ll make sure to call earlier to let her know what’s up.
Anyway, we hung out Sunday. Around noonish, we went up to Blaine where I finally got to meet some of the people who I’ve been hearing about (and in a couple cases, talking to online). I suppose it is natural to be a little nervous when meeting a bunch of new people, but I was happy to find that I am quite comfortable around this group. Pretty mellow evening – groceries, attempted nap, dinner (where I learned that frozen broccoli cooked in a microwave is not necessarily foul) and went over to Joy’s aunt’s hotel for a visit.
Lack of sleep finally caught up, and I ended up crashing pretty hard. Getting up this morning was NOT easy.
One bummer about not reading email/checking news on Sunday – 120 emails (only 8 of which are spam) and a whole lot of other stuff to catch up on.
Later!
Month: March 2003
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Another reason why our nearly unilateral rush into this war combined with our “bully” demeanor and past middle eastern policies turns out to have been a bad idea:
A report was obtained, prepared by the Al-Kuwait-based [coalition] Psychological Operations Tactical Group for the [coalition] Special Ground Forces Command. The report analyzed the effectiveness of the information and propaganda war. According to the report, analysis of the television broadcasts, intercepted radio communications, interrogations of Iraqi POWs show that psychologically the Iraqis are now “more stable and confident” that they were during the last days before the war. This, according to the report, is due primarily to the coalition’s numerous military failures.
“…Following nervousness and depression [of the Iraqis] during the first days of the war we can now observe a burst of patriotic and nationalistic feelings. …There has been a sharp increase in the number of Iraqi refugees, who left the country before the war, returning to Iraq. A “cult of war” against the US and the UK is now emerging among the Iraqis…”, the report states. [Reverse translation from Russian]
[Coalition] analysts believe that if this attitude of the Iraqis is not changed within the next 7 days, a “resistance ideology” may take over the Iraqi minds, making the final [coalition] victory even more difficult. In response to this report the US Army Psychological Operations command decided to combine all Iraqi POWs into large groups and to distribute the resulting video footage to the world media. A more active use of the Iraqi opposition was suggested for propaganda work in the occupied villages. The same opposition members will be used to create video footage of the “repented” Iraqi POWs and footage of the local [Iraqi] population “opposing Saddam.”
- http://www.aeronautics.ru/
It is generally acknowledged that Saddam is tyrant who abuses and murders his own people. Based on all the propaganda, one would think we could have won this particular popularity contest.
Btw, in case anyone remembers the “War on Terrorism”, this is a relatively long but very interesting article on Sayyid Qutb who is the “Karl Marx” of radical Islamicism. It is on the New York Times site, so you have to register for a free account.
One of the commonly quoted statements is that “They hate us for our freedom”. This is often rejected by peace activists who have travelled abroad to Palestine and Iraq and found themselves well treated by their hosts.
The interesting thing, is that it turns out that there is a grain of truth to the statement. It isn’t quite so direct and has more to do with our influence and involvement in their countries, the historical relationships between Western and Middle Eastern nations, and Qutb’s ideas on what freedom is, but it is interesting to get a perspective into the thoughts of those who we are now at war with.
Sayyid Qutb, a member of a group called “the Muslim Brotherhood” was executed in 1966 for plotting against Egyptian President Nasser. -
Well, it was chilly riding yesterday, but still fun.
I met up with Milo (one of the bootmakers for Catskill – where I work at fest) at Kieran’s for a pint, some food, and some conversation. His friend Kate was also there. At one point, the conversation turned to the war which made for some interesting discussion. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to really get into it since I had to get to work at G/Z. Sound bites are easy, but meaningless. To really discuss a difference of opinion or perspective takes time.
Ground Zero was a pretty easy night again. One of the bartenders worked on my shoulder for a bit before things got busy so it held through the night. Of all things, washing glasses caused the most pain.
It was a bit strange ’cause I had to deal with a guy who I’m pretty sure was doing drugs. I’m not sure whether to feel like a hypocrite or not. On the one hand, I feel that drugs should be decriminalized, if not fully legalized. It may even be possible that once or twice upon a time I may have sampled a few myself.
On the other hand, he was doing them in my club which puts it at risk and he didn’t even have the decency to keep me from seeing him trying to hide it.
I asked him what he was doing and when he said “nothing”, I told him that he’d better be cool. I went down to let the other bouncer know to keep an eye on him and was watching him pretty carefully. One of his friends noticed my attention and they quickly left. As I went up to tell the door man to not let them back in, his friend came back in to assure me that it was taken care of and they weren’t coming back for the evening.
In discussing it after hours, I guess I actually should have been more challenging to him and made him tell me what he was doing or get out. The general philosophy of bouncing is that you be nice until it is time to not be nice. Learning exactly where that line is will take some time. Still don’t know if I’m security or bar back tonight. We’ll have to wait and see.
I woke up suprisingly early today and got some work done. Joy was on IM for a while, so we got a chance to chat and make plans which was cool. A little later, I got a call from my friend Chris who managed to talk me into slacking a teensy bit and grab a cup of coffee. I met him and his wife, Jan, down at Hard Times. It’s funny, Chris and I game every week or two, but we don’t get the chance to talk much.
We definitely covered the hot topics – politics, war, even a touch on religion. One thing I definitely urged him to do was check out the Project for a New American Century to read up on possible motivations behind what has been going on and plans for the future.
I count myself lucky to have friends who have many different political and ideological beliefs but are willing and able to sit down and discuss. It’s definitely fun chatting with Chris because he’s got to be one of the more stubborn people I know. Scorpios, I tell ya. I’ve swayed him on a thing or two over the years though. He’s returned the favor, of course.
One of the things we definitely agree on is that no one should let the Democrats off the hook on our current international situation. I get frustrated with all the people who more or less seem to be disgruntled that Gore lost, but seem to have forgotten that under Clinton we were bombing Iraq up to three times a week.
After that, I cruised down to the peace rally (where I was pleased to hear at least one speaker remind the crowd about the Democrats complicity in this situation). One of the organizers asked me to speak, but I didn’t have anything prepared, and I didn’t feel like my head was in a good enough place to ad lib something meaningful enough to be worth saying.
It can be frustrating going to rallys because I find that there are always a set of people who I strongly disagree with even though we are both against this war (but for different reasons).
Ah well. I’m sure there were some folks at last saturday’s pro-war rally who didn’t approve of the people yelling “fuck muslims” and booing a woman who, although she supported this war against Saddam, questioned some of our mid-east policies. I guess every movement has those who you’ld prefer weren’t there or would at least shut TF up.
Back at home now. I’ve got to do a little cleaning and a lot of work. Then it is nap time and off to work and then see if I’m going out or going home. Hm. Maybe I should call my parents in there sometime as well. -
Oh yeah, it sounds like Daisy Cutter is playing somewhere in Shakopee with Filthy Divine somewhere around the end of April.
It’d be really neat if someone would get me more details about that… -
A late start…
Well, I’ve been on an effort for the last month or so to make it to work in a timely manner. For the most part, I’ve been doing pretty well (except for wednesdays, I’m always a few minutes late on wednesdays. weird.)
Anyway, THAT fell apart today. Fortunately, Fridays are half days at YM, so I’ll be able to make up the time by working late.
Last night’s show went quite well although there wasn’t a huge turnout. We had our usual variety of injuries and screw ups, but I think it was our best show to date.
The two other bands were both excellent.
Death Row Tull, besides having an excellent name, had a good sound and some songs that could easily get radio play. Their bassists stage presence was certainly … unique.
The Serfs were quite excellent. They played a number of covers which, although we tend to do our own songs, are pretty fun to listen to. They also did some original work.
The personalities were pretty good too. From what I could tell, everyone in the bands were cool. I have to add that the sound guy at Terminal has got to be one of the nicer people I’ve worked with. Of course, I’ve spaced his name, but I’m bad like that.
Our set started out a little shaky with our bassist blowing his A string on the second song. He didn’t have a backup bass with him so he transposed through that song and the next, but there was no way he could do the set well. Fortunately one of the other bands (the Serfs I think) lent him their bass. We did have to do a little fill in while he went to get it.
Brash proved to us again why we do NOT give the drummer a mike by throwing out a bad joke (“Two men walked into a bar. Ouch.”) followed by one that I simply do not wish to repeat – I’m not easily offended, but some things are just crass. At that point, I figured “witty banter” was out and just started jamming a 12 bar blues. Jamie did some great improv and brash sat his ass back down and did what a drummer’s supposed to do. It worked out alright. Hell, we even got applause for our filler, although I always wonder if they’re just being nice.
I was exhausted at the end of the set, but for some reason, when I got home, I could NOT get to sleep. I ended up doing some reading/research online and finally took a long hot shower to knock myself out. I think I finally fell asleep sometime after 3am which may have something to do with me not wanting to get up at 7:30.
Oh yeah, it’s a beautiful day for riding! The snow is much lighter, the air is warm enough that there isn’t any ice, and Petey’s still starting!
Ok, that’s it.
(Btw, according to intelligence, today’s going to be a harsh one in the gulf, so send your prayers to everyone over there.
I vote Saddam and George II just settle this like men – mano y mano. George can have Rumsfeld and Cheney as second and Saddam can have his sons. Maybe a 3 on 3 rumble. The Chickenhawks versus the sociopaths.) -
Just got an email from an old friend/former house mate of mine, Chris. She currently lives down in Iowa but will be coming up to visit in late April and will be able to catch the Daisy Cutter show at 4th Street Station in Saint Paul on the 24th of April.
She’ll be crashing at my place for a couple nights that week. (For those who know about the New Orleans road trip, she was one of the four – 4 people, 4 days, 4 door Saturn. Good times. Last time we tried to meet up, we totally missed each other. At this point, it’s been a few years since we hung out.
Brash wants our band to play CONvergence 2003. We’re considering it, but I have no idea what we’d do to kick in a sci fi theme. Maybe time travelling freedom fighters from a dark future? I dunno. Oh, hey, Psychopop played there last year. I used to work with “Klaxon Mindjammer”. So did my bassist, Pete.
They are quite a bit more sci fi than us tho. Adam, check out their stuff.
Oh yeah, for anyone who is bored tomorrow (Thursday) night at around midnight, Daisy Cutter is playing at The Terminal Bar. I think the cover’s $3.
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Bloody Amazing.
I just got back from my dental appointment. I haven’t been to a dentist in … well, lets just say the year didn’t start with the number “2″.
Anyway, I fully expected to learn that my teeth were a disaster area awaiting demolition. However, somehow, I had zero cavities. None. In fact, other than needing a serious cleaning (which I have to go back to complete), they’re in good shape.
Two bummers tho. One is that I apparently grind my teeth really bad so they want to give me something to put in my mouth when I sleep. I can’t say I’m thrilled with that idea. The other is that one of my front tooth is dying. Its been happening for a long time from an accident I had when I was a kid, but I may actually have to get a veneer or something one of these days. *grr*
Ah well. For slacking on my physical and dental health for as long as I have, I really can’t complain. I guess brushing works.
Gaming tonight, although it’s Harveys’ two year anniversary, so I may have to stop down for one. (Harveys is my company’s happy hour bar, so my team is heading down there.)
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It is a strange time. You know the world must be going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the landlocked Swiss hold the America’s Cup, France is accusing the US of arrogance, and Germany doesn’t want to go to war.
Next thing you know the British will start to earn cooking awards, Ireland’s distilleries will be going out of business, and the Australians will start drinking 10oz beers.
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A note to those reading these posts who wish to comment (chris, john, adam, whoever else) but aren’t members of Xanga you can either sign up for a free account or email your comments to me.
Contrary to my better instincts (which involved getting some sleep), I wrote a relatively long post to the Minnesota Politics – National list last night.
I feel like there is a lot of disagreement and confusion over what this war is about and trying to accomplish, so the first half was written as an open letter to those who support the war.
The second half, which I tried to clearly distinguish, was more or less a rant about those who would try and shame me into silence. Both halves can be read here (the general list has some people’s responses.)
By the way, I’m not sure if I’m mentioned this, but I’m a complete hypocrite and my hypocrisy’s name is Petey. Petey is a 22 year old, beat-to-shit, white Yamaha Seca 550 motorcycle. Yep, so as much as I rip on cars and oil policy, I can’t help an ear to ear grin when I’m tearing up asphalt.
He’s got a lot of “quirks”, one of them being starting regularly, but for some reason, he’s still my favorite and the only surviving member of last year’s stable (which had included a 500cc Silverwing and a 1300cc Venture). He will be joined this year by a Kawasaki w650.
However, this morning, he felt like starting. It was my first ride of the year (ok, that’s a lie, I was riding in January, but it’s the first ride of the spring).
My bikes (in order of acquisition):
- 1980 Honda CM400T – great bike, run over by a van in a parking lot and salvaged.
- 1979 Honda Goldwing Interstate – nice bike, but had some problems I wasn’t prepared to fix, sold it back to the previous owner.
- 1980 Honda CB750F – decent bike, fast and reliable but never really me. Traded it for Petey.
- 198x Yamaha Venture Royale – nice big touring bike. who knew you could pop a wheelie and bring it over backwards? Gave it to a mechanically inclined friend.
- 1999 Yamamha Venture – 1300cc touring bike. Nice, but not really my style any more. Sold it.
- 1981 Yamaha Seca (550cc) – Petey. I’ve abused and misused him, but he’s still my boy.
- 1980 Honda Silverwing (500cc) – Run over by an SUV in a parking lot and salvaged.
- 2000 Kawasaki W650 – coming soon
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It was a day.
Got a fair amount done at work – there’s a lot of projects going on. Today was mainly my company’s extranet, a few edits to the Our Lucaya website and some prep work for the upcoming Holland America gig.
I need to do a lot of work on my freelance work with Speedy Dog Group. *gah* Time, time, time.
As if I’m not busy enough, I got a call today from Tom Taylor reminding me that tonight was the Sheridan Neighborhood Organization’s monthly meeting. He also wanted to put a “bug in my ear” about the possibility of running for a position as neighborhood board member next month. I’d really like to get more civically involved, but right now I’m concerned about the time commitment.
After the meeting, I stopped down to Mayslacks to catch some music, have a pint, and eat dinner (Mayslacks’ roast beef sandwiches are renowned). While I was there, I had a nice phone conversation with Joy. I miss her. Sadly, her phone died before I could say goodnight – if you read this before bed, sleep well and good luck tomorrow!
Tomorrow should be a good day. More work at work (go figure), get together with Joy after her interview for some dinner, and then band practice. I’m a bit nervous because we’ve missed a couple practices and we have a show at The Terminal Bar on Thursday night. I haven’t heard the other two bands – The Serfs and Death Row Tull. Hopefully it will go well.
Wednesday night is gaming, Thursday is theoretically more work followed by the gig, and then back into the weekend. Time flys. Thankfully, while my shoulder still hurts, it is starting to be more functional.
A weird coincidence. Another person in the neighborhood has found a few crossbow quarrels in his yard. The coincidence is that I happen to recognize them because the hand crossbow I own fires the exact same bolts. I have to get ahold of him so he can let the police know what fires them. Strange.
Scary thing is, I could probably get pretty close to hitting his yard from my house if I had the right trajectory. Fortunately, based on the dust collected on my crossbow, it doesn’t appear that I have been doing any target practice while sleepwalking.
*whew*
Well, a good night to all and to all a good night.
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