News for April 2008

loved and not forgotten

dear readership, i still love you.  you are not forgotten.

actually kind of you are.  forgotten – not loved.  not not loved but not forgotten.

but kind of you are.

in the meantime here’s some interesting information about car washes http://www.iqsdirectory.com/car-wash-supplies/

Posted: April 28th, 2008
Categories: friendship
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The FOLK is back.

Since I’m sitting here downloading I Tunes with nothing better to do, I went ahead and booked the Honest Folk for a show here at the Bean Factory in St. Paul.  So on MAY 1oth, you and your kin best come down to 1518 randolph and check out the folk from 7-9 pm.  All ages No Cover.  Yippee.  Seeing as this is our first show since Elsa’s baptism last summer, chances are it’ll be great.  I lo-ove to sing.  I lo-ove to sing. I lo-ove to sing.

Posted: April 10th, 2008
Categories: music, song
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Sweetheart of the Rodeo

This is the hanging on part of winter that just about knocks you out.  It’s the middle of April and there’s snow in the forecast.  Luckily I’ve dug deep into my emotional tool box and I think I’m going to make it.  I skipped my welding class tonight to deal with an almost overwhelming amount of work to do.  I’ve made my lists and prioritized what needs to get done.  I’m checking things off and celebrating their completion.  I picked up another bike since my little bike blog (I just posted it but it was written 3 days ago).  In fact when I picked this one up the owner of the home yelled out his window “thank you!”  I don’t think he’ll mind me cutting it up to make instruments for the rodeo.  The what?  That’s right, I said rodeo.

So Bethel Lutheran Church in Roseville CA made the smartest move ever and invited Kjel Alkire and yours truly to bring the Jesus Rodeo out to CA.  What is the Jesus Rodeo?  I can’t really explain it, but maybe if you pictured the love child of Vacation Bible School and The Burning Man you might be onto something.  It’s Kjel’s ongoing interactive performance art installation and I get to carry the audible end of the torch.  If I explained it anymore I’d need way more gigs than this motherboard can put out.  (I don’t think that means anything.)

But the Rodeo is one of the projects that could potentially overload me, but with the deft handling of my self help books, journaling, and cognative therapy I’ve mastered it and it’s become my inspiration!  #95 in the LBW.

Posted: April 10th, 2008
Categories: bike, music, rodeo
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I Tunes, U Tunes

So is I-Tunes all it’s cracked up to be?  I’m about to download it and find out.

 Fooled you!  I made it sound like I’d never touched it before, but I totally had it on my old computer a year ago and it was awesome.  So why haven’t I hooked up with it yet?  Because I don’t want to buy the entire ‘rock and roll over’ album that’s why.

Posted: April 10th, 2008
Categories: music, technology
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Political Junky Gone Wild

Boy oh boy, how about these elections? Raise your hand if you’re sick of politics. That was one out of every four readers. I know this because I’ve talked to all four of you in the past week. Take that social networking sites!

Since one of you is like me €“ sickopolitics- than it is my duty to support the underdog and convince the other three that they too should be sick.

This isn’t on my mind because of the ads or the articles or the Talk of the Day segments on NPR. It’s on my mind because I’ve been listening to the Dixie Chicks the last few days. Just think, if Natalie hadn’t spouted off a few years ago about our embarrassing excuse of a president they’d still be huge. Granted, maybe they are still huge. Just because I really like them doesn’t mean I’ve had time to keep on there fame ratings. I’m just saying I used to see them in EW and hear blurbs about them on the radio and what not, and though may radar signal is off kilter and ever weaker, I still think if they were doing big stuff I’d hear about them like I hear about Tim and Faith.

So if they’re as huge as ever never mind where I’m going with this.

But if they’re not then dig it. Great commercial country band puts out great commercial country albums, goes out great commercial international tour, makes comments about great commercial country government and gets pulled from great commercial radio stations with DJ’s that eat freedom fries. Sure it all happened years ago but that’s the part that gets me €“ still no recovery? That last album maybe wasn’t as great, and sure they got a little crazy with the eye makeup €“ but c’mon! They’re the Dixie Chicks! Put them in rotation for crying out loud.

Why the heck are we so defined by our politics? I don’t care what your political persuasion is, but stop putting all your hopes in multi-millionaire politicians that are telling you they care about the economy €“ now there’s someone who can identify with the working poor. Give me a break. We’ll get another president, he or she will be an improvement, he or she will not be Nader, but it doesn’t mean we can’t dream.

Today (and this will probably pass by morning) I could care less who the next president is. But I do care that as global citizens we stop putting all our effort into choosing a leader and start putting it into caring for our neighbors. And by neighbors I don’t mean the ‘other’ as lofty and theologically sound a term it might be. No, I mean our neighbors. The folks next door. Picking up trash off their lawn getting to know their kids and someday (we’re working towards this ourselves) sharing a meal. I think in a climate like this we would still listen to great bands make great music even if they do speak the truth. In fact in that climate I might even listen to ones that don’t, like Toby Keith. And me and T could be neighbors and I’d invite him over for lentils and brown rice. And he could bring a nice Jell-O salad. And I’d put on the Dixie Chicks and inevitably we’d start talking politics. And I would say, €œBush is a dumb ass, by his dumb ass hand we’ve ended up in a dumb ass war.€

Then TK would remark sarcastically, €œWould’ve been nice if Gore or Kerry could’ve outsmarted the dumb ass.€

And I’d reply, €œNader did, but unfortunately he couldn’t afford to be part of the free elections.€

Then TK would gracefully steer the conversation to more neighborly topics and ask for my curried lentil recipe. Because that’s the kind of neighbor Toby Keith is. And if I lived in a country like that I could care less who was president because there would be no he or she there would only be we.

We Rule!

Posted: April 10th, 2008
Categories: politics
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Microphone races are coming to town

Here’s a bummer of a deal. I’ve lost my will to make money. Why’s that a bummer? In and of itself it’s not a bummer. Lots of people could care less about making money. But the vast majority of them are under the age of two. Once you hit the two year mark the 5,000 advertisements you see every day finally start to kick in and you want stuff that will make you want to watch more TV which will make you want more stuff. When is the last time you saw a useful advertisement for something you actually needed? Let me take a guess. Never. I think there was probably a time when we could legitimately benefit from an advertisement and back in that far off time ads were informative. But now, as we all know and often forget, the sole purpose of an ad is to create a need €“ no longer to inform us of what the product is capable of as it is to inform us of what losers we are if we don’t buy it now.

A friend of ours lives out in Virginia in a catholic worker house where they care for people and provide hospitality and protest all the things the rest of us are too busy to notice, all the while riding bikes and baking their own bread. Her house puts out a zine/newsletter called ‘joyful dissent’ and different folks in the community write little articles that inform and enlighten (and I’ll admit make me feel a little guilty at times). One of the highlights is a regular column by the Lesbian Ladies. And, like all the lesbians in my life, these ladies are freaking hilarious. Unfortunately I don’t remember any of the funny parts, or the smart wording that made this statement funny, but the other month they had a line in their that read something like, ‘America’s already bought everything.’ See, when I write it it’s not funny but trust me in the context of their article it was hilarious and true. In the misshapen paraphrase above it’s only true.

Here’s one way I know this is true. Bicycles. I just got done organizing my garage because I had to make room for a couple more bikes. I now have seven. My daughter’s have four. My wife has one. That makes for 12 bicycles in our garage. Plus a jogging stroller and a bike trailer. Out of the 12 bikes only one was bought new, and that was 5 years ago when two of our bikes were stolen. Out of the remaining 11 one was bought used (as were the trailer and jogger). The remaining 10 were all free. They all have taken and will take a bit of work, and a few bucks in new parts but honestly if some goof ball like myself can amass 10 free bikes in the course of a year (in fact a year ago I gave a couple bikes away in a futile effort to downsize) how can any of us justify buying more new bikes? And then (and this only works for me because I like to make broad sweeping generalizations and use Bush like logic) why in the heck do we need to buy anything new?

Because we take in close to 8,000 advertisements a day, thats why.

And because it’s hard to find second hand socks and underwear. And even if you could find it your wife wouldn’t let you buy it. At least that’s been my experience. It’s also sometimes hard to find used shoes. Sometimes it means wearing a size 14 instead of a 12. But they were only 3 bucks and I needed leather tops for my welding class. But I digress. Let’s get back to the issue €“ I lost the will to make money. This is a problem for 3 reasons:

  1. Groceries

  2. Mortgage

  3. Health Insurance

If we could get past those I’d be fine. In fact we’d all be fine. And we’d all be riding around on old beautiful bikes. If you have solutions to these problems please get back to me asap. And if I try your solution and it works my wife would like to reward with 10 free bikes and some slightly discolored boxers I bought at Goodwill.

Posted: April 10th, 2008
Categories: bike, politics
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honestly

recording with the honest folk – http://www.flickr.com/photos/micahtaylor/2376909473/in/set-72157600163952268/

also in rock and roll news – kid cd off to mix land, thank you gregg ward

and lastly the Jesus Rodeo is coming to a town near you.  If you live near Roseville CA.

Posted: April 4th, 2008
Categories: music, rodeo
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almost still famous

my brother is famous. https://twitter.com/AleaBoy/statuses/774777099

and i was famous last month as fink’s musician of the month.  http://www.faithink.com/About/guilds.asp?artist=724  It would’ve made sense for me to post this last month, back when I was famous.  But the last thing a working independent musician needs is a big head over huge achievements.

keep your cool kids, and soon you’ll be famous too.  Almost.  Still.

Posted: April 1st, 2008
Categories: family, music
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