• Dr. Dog – Harding, Friday Sept. 10, 8:00pm, All Ages (and remember kids, this is at Harding…)
• NAILS – Downtown Music, Friday, Sept. 10, 8:00pm, All Ages
• Lucero - The Village, Saturday, Sept. 11, 9:00pm, Assumed All Ages
• Murder by Death – Downtown Music, Thursday, Sept. 16, 8:00pm, All Ages
• HARLEM – Sticky Fingerz, Thusday, Sept. 16, 9:30pm, 21+
• Japanther – Low Key Arts, Hot Springs, Friday, Sept. 17 9:00pm All Ages
• As I Lay Dying - The Village, Friday, Sept. 17, 8:00pm, All Ages
• J Roddy Walston & The Business - Juanita’s, Sunday, Sept. 19, 7:30pm All Ages
• The Hold Steady – Rev Room, Thursday, Sept. 23, 8:30pm 18+
• Times New Viking – White Water Taver, Sept. 28, 9:00pm, 21+
  (dunno what’s up with this show. it’s not listed on WWT’s myspace or on Times New Viking’s…)
• Ty Segall – White Water Tavern, Wednesday, Sept. 29, 21+
• STR*FKR – Juanita’s, Wednesday, Sept. 29, 9:00pm, All Ages
• Oh Sleeper, The Bled, A Plea For Purging - Downtown Music, Sunday, Oct 3, 7:00pm, All Ages
• The Appleseed Cast – Juanita’s, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 9pm, Assumed All Ages(*)
• Cruel Hand w/ Backtrack – Downtown Music, Sunday, Nov. 3, All Ages(*conflict!!!!)
• The Felice Brothers – Sticky Fingerz, Sunday, Nov. 14, 8:30pm, 21+
• The Reverend Horton Heat – Juanita’s, Saturday, Nov. 20, 9:00pm, guessing this might be 21+

Well, obviouslyyyy, this isn’t every show, just some suggestions.

My Quick Take on Proposition 8

First and foremost, let’s exclude any moral or religious argument from my position. As far as I understand this law and the allowance of civil unions/marriage by the government it has absolutely nothing to do with a moral/religious position on sexuality. *It’s about taxes, insurance, healthcare, etc. Those things are basically all economic…not religious. If you still think America’s a ‘Christian’ nation then I’d say you’re sorely mistaken. We are not a religious state…that’s kind of why our country was founded.

Also we need to exclude the idea of homosexuality being a choice. That’s not how I view it, you might think I’m wrong and that’s fine but just understand my position. I never chose to be heterosexual, it’s just there. The things I do choose: how many partners I can have, what terms stipulate proper sexual interaction, whether or not to abstain, etc.

That being said, I say we do away with government ‘marriage’ and call it a ‘civil union.’ Marriage, as most people tend think of it, is something religious. That’s fine, I think that can be part of it too. If you want a religious ceremony to celebrate your union then go for it, but that particular ceremony should in no way be tied to the governmental benefits you’ll be receiving. The way to those benefits (or whatever you want to call them) should be civil unions. Civil unions means every single joined couple can have the same benefits regardless of sexuality or religion…simply because they’re people.

Someone asked me about polygamy… I don’t think there’s an issue here at all. In opposition to your sexual preference, the number of partners you have is a choice. It may be cultural or traditional for you to have more than one partner but a civil union, ideally, would be regulated and could only cover you and a spouse. Now surely some polygamists would be upset by this but as far as I understand polygamy it’s usually a religious/cultural tradition…or choice.

My sister likes to bring up, “Well what if someone claims they have a natural sexual attraction to children and it’s not a choice for them?” That’s very possible but this situation involves an adult and a non-consenting child. I also would say these attractions are different than the most basic hetero/homo attractions. They involve a very specific thing: age. I’m not sure being attracted to age can be considered anything but a choice. Furthermore, the actions that would proceed out of an attraction to children are completely different than the ones that take place between two consenting adults of any sexual preference. Morally, ethically we should take issue with selfishness and those who take advantage of the weak, no matter what the ‘natural’ attraction may be. I’d be pissed if my friends were selfishly out having sex with different guys/girls every night.

I grew up in a town where people still have problems with interracial couples. It’s practically an abomination there. One of my aunt’s was ignored by her grandfather for the larger part of her life because she married a man of color. Absolutely stupid. During the time of slavery people held the same attitude many hold now towards homosexuals. Eventually we learned how ignorant we were being and that no race of people can be the demise of our society.

Selfishness, materialism and meat eating…now those, those could be the downfall of us all.

*at my college married couples got a discount, at least that’s what i was told. can’t find it on their site but I’m pretty sure it’s true.

Everyone in advertising is going ape shit over Old Spice right now. They’re doing it right, they really are. Funny ads, great social media engagement/responses via youtube. It’s all looking good. Here’s where I get a little lost: who’s the market? Are they trying to reclaim the bros that Axe stole by offering them a false sense of authenticity? Are they just creating an awareness and appreciation for their brand? Is there a sense of nostalgia that I don’t feel because no man in my family has ever been an Old Spice man?

Obviously I’m not the target market. I hate products that smell. They’re annoying and make me want to sneeze. I make my purchases on a more pretentious, conscious level. If I knew that Old Spice didn’t test on animals, had better ingredients and offered an unscented product I might buy it. However, I don’t want to put the research into that when I already know of several other brands who meet those requirements. Also, my ideals of being a man don’t really match up with any popular-modern-masculine-bath-product. I don’t want to feel like I’m driving a race car when I’m shaving, no need to send me up in a fighter jet to wash my hair and I don’t need to feel like I can sweep a beautiful girl off her feet because of the deodorant I wear or body wash I use.

The only advertising campaign in recent years that’s made me want to buy the product were the Ketel One Vodka spots. You know why…because fuck Grey Goose. I want vodka on the rocks, I want to smoke cigars, wear suits and drink with my buddies. We’ll complain about work, run gambling rackets in the back of our restaurant, pay off the cops and do what we want. I don’t want to walk around in a bow tie as some arm candy for a French model while she orders a dry martini with 2 olives.

While Old Spice is killing it in the ad game, I feel like because I work in advertising I should recognize that their product’s really not that great…they just got a really creative agency to pass them off as being great. Anyone can do that right? I guess in comparison to the other modern products I’d choose Old Spice. I’d rather have that than Axe or Bod or whatever else is out there.

Thoughts? Am I missing the point?

Do I need some sort of television service so I can see these ads more often? Yes.

Do I like vodka more than deodorant? Yes.

It may not make sense to you but growing up in Tennessee we always pointed to Arkansas and said, “Hey, at least we’re not them, right?!? They’re the ones who actually marry their cousins!” Even while going to school here all I could think about native Arkansans was, “stupid rednecks.” Ever since I began college the plan was: get through school, spend as much time in Pennsylvania as possible, graduate and get the heck out of this state…the South in general. Pennsylvania spoiled me. I fell in love with the Northeast. Sure, I’ve been to the Northwest and it’s gorgeous but there’s something about the NE that calls my name. It’s Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, Washington DC and the other cities/states (Boston, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island) I’ve yet to discover.

2010 marks my 7th year of living in Arkansas for at least 9 months out of a year. Now I’ve got a whole new set of commitments and people that make me want to stay. I honestly sort of hate Arkansas, but isn’t that how it is with any place? You only criticize the things you care about, so maybe I sort of secretly care about Arkansassy? I’m now an official resident and it kills me… kills me. I was never meant to stay here, but it happened. I don’t like the idea of ‘letting life happen to you’ but that seems to be the case. I made the choice to move to Little Rock because I knew it’d be an easy transition into ‘the real world,’ but I never foresaw being here this long. Though I must admit I’m not really too sad about it because I’ve made incredible friends, some expected, some unexpected. My job’s full of good people and the hardcore scene is on the up and up with Sam taking over ownership of Downtown Music. All good things for me to look forward to but in the mean time let me lament and wallow in the sadness of getting an Arkansas license.

P.S. They are so fugly. Can we get a better designer on that? Have you ever seen an Ontario license? Beautiful & readable in comparison.

The Wonder Years- Won’t Be Pathetic Forever
“and some nights I fucking love this town, but most nights I fucking hate this town. Lately I’ve been thinking about being a doctor, or a teacher, lately I’ve been thinking about being somebody else. Lately I’ve been thinking about being a doctor, or a teacher, just someone who changes something (I need to be!), someone who changes something (I gotta be!), someone who changes something…anything.”

My Story

Prior to college I had probably never heard of PETA. Maybe I had heard some redneck in my home town make fun of it but that’s about it. Fast forward to my sophomore year of college and the band The Dillinger Escape Plan. They were playing a show at Vino’s and the line was out the door. While waiting in line these cute girls walked up to my friends and I with a clipboard asking us to sign it. I have no clue what I signed but they said it was for PETA and gave us stickers with chickens on them. I snickered,
“What’s PETA?”
“People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.”
I thought, oh okay, that’s neat. Apparently I put my email address on that petition and started getting emails from these PETA folks. For whatever reason I ordered a vegetarian starter pack, watched the Meet Your Meat video and sort of dismissed it. Occasionally I would bring up the cruel treatment of our animals but it never compelled me to any action.

A year or so later a couple of my friends went vegetarian for a month, maybe it was Lent, I don’t know. One of the guys quit after a week or so and the other stuck with it. Stuck with it so much that he had a burger at the end of the month and then relinquished himself from meat altogether. This guy, Ryan, through a series of events, ended up becoming one of my best friends. We talked about all sorts of things and eventually began discussing animals. Ryan had done a lot of reading and researching so his opinions were well formed and he knows how to present his arguments. After entertaining the idea of vegetarianism for several months it all came to a head with a Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit. Those things are delicious, sooo tasty and made me want to cry. Our campus had one in the student center and when you had the money it was the preferred breakfast item. One day I bought one and couldn’t eat it, took one bite and wanted to cry. I felt like a terrible person and at that point decided I couldn’t do it anymore. I was going vegetarian.

I was very soon presented with an option to tell a different story at the dinner table of some friends. They had made steak, it was Christmas time and were enjoying the community we had developed. Sadly, I didn’t write a different story that day. I ate the steak and continued to falter a little more but eventually came back around to give it all up.

That’s my story up until reading Eating Animals. I’ve decided now to go vegan. Foer writes a compelling narrative while interweaving pertinent facts. He states in the beginning that he’s not writing the book as a case for vegetarianism, although one could write the case. It sort of is and sort of isn’t a case for vegetarianism. Since it’s a personal journey, it is essentially his journey to vegetarianism and therefore represents a case for such a life. You also now know that I approached this book already being a vegetarian. I approached it looking for more ammunition to put in my arsenal. I wasn’t looking to be turned into a vegan but it happened. It was quite paradoxical that I became a vegetarian based on ethical grounds but continued to ignore the suffering of chickens (layers those are the egg ones) and cows used for milk. Eating Animals really explores the paradoxes of animal life when it comes to suffering. Why do we not kill and eat stray animals? Why don’t we act out our other wants/desires on animals (sex)? I appreciate and identify with the way he approaches animals. What we eat and how we eat is a big part of our culture. It tells stories and helps us identify with each other. He also leaves you with a bit of despair. Surely there are more small farms doing good things but they’re probably hard to find and aren’t very accessible to many of us. In fact, true free range animals aren’t available to most of America. The notion that what you see in the store as free range should be disregarded. The laws surrounding those labels are loosely written and therefore loosely interpreted. “Access to light or the outdoors” as many of the laws state can be interpreted as an open door at the end of a gross shit-house, oops I mean chicken house. Knowing that I don’t need animal’s flesh or their products to survive means I’m just going to avoid it altogether.

The Environment

There’s a lot of time given to the effects of factory farming on the environment. Most striking to me was the effect of fishing on the sea. The ‘bycatch’ (as it’s called) from shrimping and many other methods is basically depleting the oceans of any variety of life. Thousands of different species are being killed and carcasses being thrown back into the ocean. Even as a vegetarian I didn’t eat fish but I felt there might be some argument for it, however, not anymore. He also covers the basics: factory farming emits more pollution than any vehicle. In the communities where factory farms exist there are also a number of illnesses, ailments and health complaints amongst residents. Things like pig flu and bird flu are only aided by factory farming. Pigs have this weird characteristic that allows them to contract both human and animal diseases making their insides a breeding ground for super-viruses. Several well trained, educated scientists and others believe that we are due for a pandemic of sorts and that this pandemic will most likely be catapulted by factory farming. Overall, factory farming is bad for the environment, for you and for your family. That’s why I get so frustrated in grocery stores when I see people buying stupid crap for their families. I just want to yell at them, “YOU ARE KILLING YOUR FAMILY!” They are, and they’re doing it with ‘normal’ foods like bacon, chicken breasts, ham, turkey (which by the way have terrible immune systems and are some of the most susceptible to disease in factory farming processes), bologna, soda, enriched grains and other things.

Second to Last, Shit.

Foer uses this word a lot in the book. It clearly sticks out and not until I finished and began reflecting upon the book did it really mean something to me. (if my sister reads this she’ll hate that I’m using profanity but I think it serves a purpose here) Shit really is the perfect word to describe the conditions and treatment of most animals used for food. When I think of this word in the context of Eating Animals it stands out as an absolutely dirty word. It’s gross. It symbolizes so much with such few characters. Sure there are other words out there that might suffice but this word is in your face. You can’t really ignore it. When he writes things like, the shit doesn’t have to be washed off [before processing begins], I think it really hits home. If you’re eating factory farmed meat you can expect that not only are you eating shit, but tons of antibiotics and diseases.

Lastly: Farming by Proxy

That may not be the exact way Foer puts it but essentially that’s what it is. Every time you buy food you’re farming by proxy. If you continue to give money to factory farms that only encourages the trend (Foer states that factory farming will end, eventually, because it’s a model built only on profit and will fall because it so unsustainable, it’s just a matter of when and if it will take us with it). For the foreseeable future the best options are to consume less meat and only purchase meat from those farms who treat their animals well or be a vegetarian/vegan.

This book has made me consider more than just animals. Things like worker’s rights on vegetable farms (they’re still pretty awful in some places), where my clothes are made, how I treat people and several other things. My friend Ryan used to say (probably still does) that being a vegetarian sort of ‘kept him in check.’ I’m not sure I ever really grasped that until now, but I get it. If I’m going to care about animals that means caring about a lot of other things, especially people, because after all our food tells a story and that story helps us sustain our lives.

Largest Complaints I’ve Noticed

“How can it be constitutional to force me to buy something (ie healthcare)?”

Well probably in the same way it’s constitutional to take my tax money and apply it to funding for things like factory farming. I am morally, ethically and religiously opposed to factory farming but unless I declare myself independent from the state and disregard any future possibility of receiving benefit from a government run program then I am screwed. In a small way I keep subsidizing something I completely disagree with. Before you go all crazy on me (“That’s exactly what we’re saying about this healthcare bill!”) let me bring up some examples. I have friends, friends who do things I don’t always like. Does that mean I stop supporting them or stop being their friend? No. I’m still friends with people who eat meat. I’m friends with people who drink too much. The list goes on and on. It doesn’t mean I stop supporting them. Also the idea of community comes to mind here. In a community, such as a church (or in this case the nation), there are going to be difference of opinions and beliefs. That doesn’t mean we can’t all exist together and continue to support each other. Regardless of how you feel about this healthcare bill, you’re still my friend.

Also, as I’ve come to understand it, part of the reason the healthcare situation was so properly screwed is because people my age weren’t buying it. We don’t have the money, we feel pretty invincible and don’t really get that sick. Think of it like a commodity (or Walmart): if everyone’s buying (buying in bulk) then the price is cheaper. Now if you paid attention to the bill you’ll see that you can stay on your parents insurance until your 26, or out of college. The bill also says those who can’t afford insurance and are making below like 133 percent of the poverty level (no clue what this number actually is) will be able to receive help. Also, the tax for not having insurance your first year is $95 in 2014, $325 in 2015 and $695 in 2016 and beyond.” That tax the first year, big woop, $95, we pay that in Coca-Cola (or Starbucks) per year. I know the other numbers seem big but honestly in the context of things (especially the current cost of healthcare for an unemployed individual) it’s not that bad.

“At what costs does this come for me?”

Well, really I don’t know. It sounds like not much. From what I read it sounds like you’re going to have better options for healthcare and not be stuck with whatever your company offers you. Also, essentially, your company will have to offer you some sort of insurance. That’s nice right? I worked at a place last year that for the first half of my employment didn’t offer benefits. Not until I raised the question was something done. Not everyone has that open of a work place. Maybe I misunderstood this in the bill but it looks like unless you’re making over $200,000 a year or in a relationship where you bring in over $250,000 a year your taxes won’t be going up.

An Example From My Life

My mom has epilepsy. Under old insurance standards if she were to have lost her job and insurance coverage lapsed for whatever reason then there’s a good chance she wouldn’t have been able to get healthcare again b/c of her pre-existing condition. Her meds aren’t cheap and she needs them otherwise she’s going to crash her car into you while she’s driving around having a seizure. That’s about as much as I can personally relate to healthcare. I’m also pretty sure that pregnancy is counted as a pre-existing condition.

What I Think This Is Really About

I think you get the picture. I don’t see what the fuss is about. We all have different viewpoints. Now time for my opinion and what I think this is really about (for a lot of people). Americans have this ‘I Deserve!’ attitude. I’m not sure where we got this sense of entitlement but we got it. First of all, let me tell you what I Deserve: (I don’t know Nick’s salary (and it doesn’t matter but hypothetically roll with me) the guy sits beside me and knows more about programming than me but…) I deserve a higher salary than him b/c I went to a four year university and he didn’t, I deserve to have my student loans paid off by someone other than myself, I deserve a nicer home, I deserve a better car, I deserve more expensive clothes, I deserve to eat whatever I want, I deserve to say what I want, I deserve everything. But really, I deserve nothing and neither do you. I’ve treated my body like trash, drank plenty, smoked plenty, taken plenty of pills (recreation only), I’ve treated other people badly, I’ve lied, I’ve stolen, I’ve cheated, etc. etc. By all means I don’t deserve anything but I have it. Some how I have it and for that I’m thankful. I sleep on a futon mattress on the ground, I have a folding table with four folding chairs, a lamp and a coffee table/tv that were given to me. I’m not trying to gloat but I’m definitely not living above my means. If you are, if you think you need all of this bullshit in your life, all the big tv’s, the internet, the cable, the stockpiles of food, the suv’s, the starbucks, (and to point the finger at me: my iphone, my records), etc. etc. then maybe you should rethink some things. If you’re making $200,000/yr and living lavishly that’s cool, I don’t care, that’s your choice but don’t complain about paying higher taxes. There are far less fortunate people than you. If you or I end up getting screwed in this whole healthcare/tax deal then I’m sorry, I don’t think that’s how it’s going down but if it does, sorry.

As I Lay Dying- Forever

Bloodlined Calligraphy- Shall We Dance (this is a chick singing! yes! please wait for the breakdown at the end, sooo crucial, “and now the time has come, for us to rise again, too bad it came to this…settle the score”)

Bring Me The Horizon- Football Season Is Over

The Chariot- Teach

Demon Hunter- Descending Upon Us

Every Time I DIe- No Son Of Mine

@andreasmalec: RT @rebeccawissler The new glass ceiling will be gen Y’s climbing the ladder then waiting for senior mgmt to retire. #lma10

I wikipedia’d gen y and I think I fall under that category?

I agree whole heartedly with this tweet. It’s very evident in the places I’ve worked and attended school. These old folks won’t freaking leave. Either become relevant or gtfo. As for ‘climbing the ladder’ which I associate with the ‘American dream’ I rather despise it. I have absolutely no interest in gaining ground, climbing the ladder and being in senior mgmt. All I want is to do what I do, get paid appropriately, pay off my student loans then do whatever I want. There are some things I want to accomplish in my life: start a clothing line, start a music/opinion blog that’s well read, be in a band and some other things. I feel pretty locked in to the corporate world until the student loans are paid off. I know it’s not necessarily true but it also means I don’t view the corporate work force as the perfect solution to working. I don’t wanna be the CEO, the Senior Creative Director, etc. I want to pay off my student loans and be happy. If the opportunity for advancement comes I’m not saying I’ll turn it down but my idea of success isn’t to be the top dawg.

My questions are these: does my generation give a crap about the american dream at all? do we give a shit to climb the ladder? a lot of my friends (college grads) still haven’t put their degree to use and I don’t blame them. They have cool/fun jobs at places like Whole Foods and other neat restaurants/venues. (btw, if you’ve never worked the food service industry you’re missing out, it can really be a blast, maybe not for a lifetime, but for a good couple years) Will my generation regret not wanting to climb the ladder when after 6 years of working food service we can’t get a ‘real’ job b/c we have no experience and what we learned in college has become irrelevant? Are some of us just grinding the corporate world for a few years to ‘get it out of the way’?

a full Beatles album
The Flaming Lips
a full Piebald album
a full Poison the Well album
a full David Bowie album
Hall & Oates
Glassjaw
a full Snoop Dogg album
Only Built for Cuban Linx (working on this one)
a full Wilco album
a full Beck album
a full The Shins album
a full Misfits album
the XX
Pavement
a full Ryan Adams album
Kid Dynamite
The Velvet Underground
Massive Attack (minus that House intro)
a full Jimi Hendrix album
a full Rolling Stones album
the Pixies (i may have heard a song recently)
a full Van Halen album
a full Led Zeppelin album
the Arcade Fire (only enough to know i didn’t wanna hear more)
Cold War Kids (couldn’t tell you a single song)
Interpol
Radiohead- In Rainbows

Watched:

a full Star Wars movie
Titanic
Hard Candy
The Tracey Fragments
Gladiator
Amistad
The Patriot
The Passion of the Christ
Avatar (i’m chalking this one up already)
Gran Torino
Monty Python
The Matrix, any of them
The Godfather
Fight Club
all of Se7en
American Beauty
Saving Private Ryan
Thin Red Line
A Clockwork Orange
Sin City
Cool Hand Luke
The Graduate
Planet of the Apes
Goonies
Willy Wonka
a full episode of Fraggle Rock

I’ve been listening to Power 92 in the mornings and they’ve been talking about a school in Houston looking to do something about 400 teachers because their student test scores are so low. A high school in Rhode Island just decided to fire 74 teachers because less than half the school was graduating. That’s the back story, now for my input.

First, we need to find a new way to measure success. Standardized tests don’t cut it. I went to school with some smart kids who were terrible test takers. Fortunately I was an awesome test taker but I’m a terrible student (homework and whatnot). We’ve also heard the debate on whether or not standardized test like the SAT are culturally & racially biased. Furthermore, I know students who weren’t academically brilliant but will no doubt be productive members of our society. I don’t know what we should be measuring but it’s not test scores. That’s unfair to teachers and students.

Secondly, it is time for these teachers to change the way they do things. About 85% of my college friends are going to be (or already are) teachers, and that excites me because they’re all great people (of course I’m slightly biased), but I can’t help think the old wave of teachers are still trying to get by on old standards of success and education. I’m also reminded of a night I spent last year around several teachers who’s alcoholic intake was pretty high. They were all sitting around playing poker and talking about students. Turns out, they’re all latently racist. I sat and listened to these privileged, middle to upper class white teachers recount stories while they made fun of student names like Kamisha. One teacher told a story of the other faculty members calling the black students Canadians. You get that? Canadians. They were using Canadians as code for nigger. Think I’m wrong? That’s cool, leave it in the comments. During the stories I didn’t laugh, I didn’t even smile, I sat there with disgust in my stomach and texted my friend saying, “I’m sitting with a bunch of racist teachers. I swear if you’re not a better teacher than these people I will come kick your ass, wherever you are.” He assured me he’d do the best he could. This is a very specific example, from a specific school and city, so I’m not saying all teachers are like this, but I’m guessing there are lots of jaded teachers out there who have their own prejudices and preconceptions about students.

At any rate, the discussion on Power 92 is whether or not teachers should be held responsible in this manner. I believe it’s a give and take relationship. You can’t hold teachers entirely responsible because there are circumstances and factors outside of their control, but their obviously needs to be some sort of reform. I’m excited about the new era of teachers who will hopefully reshape the education system and bring a little more positivity into it.

p.s. I’d really like to rant about school lunches but this isn’t the post for that. However, i think they are a contributing factor in education performance.

Weigh-in with your comments, critiques, corrections, hate, love, whatever you got.