Prepare to enter a world of both shadow and substance

Take a journey of body, mind and spirit where you'll encounter things you won't find anywhere else.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Les Paul, 1915-2009

Les Paul died yesterday. In case you don't recognize the name, Les Paul invented the guitar that bears his name, the Les Paul guitar, by Gibson. Les perfected the design that would allow guitars to be amplified without the need for a hollow body to bring out the volume. Be creating a solid-body guitar, gone was the ring and distortion created from trying to amplify an acoustic guitar in live situations, such as concerts. Had he only done this his name would be remembered. But he also perfected sound-on-sound recording techniques, which let to multi-track recording. Something that allowed groups such as The Beatles to flourish in the 1960's and onward. I always respected Les Paul as a guitarist himself and would have to say that the Les Paul guitar is my favorite type of guitar. I've played many of them throughout the years in bands I have been in. My condolences go out to his family at this time of his passing. His memory will live on thanks to his contributions to the field of music. Below you can see an example of my favorite choice of guitar in this group shot of a band I was in:

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Isaac Asimov

One of my favorite writers is Isaac Asimov, who wrote the Foundation Trilogy and about 600 or so other books. He was a very prolific author and had a unique grasp on the science fiction field. A common theme for some of his characters, in several different books, is that these people believed in this one statement: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." I'm sure you know what that means. Another phrase I like, personally, goes like this: "The pen is mightier than the sword." Now, I know you know what that means. I firmly believe that the written, and spoken word to a certain extent, is far more effective than anything else. More effective than the "sword" or "violence" specifically. Change can come about through peaceful exchange of words much more effectively than using any other method. So, people - let's keep it peaceful and fight for our America in the only way that will actually do any good - through peaceful, orderly discourse. We're not all a bunch of "wing-nuts" like the liberals believe us to be.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Listen

Let's say that you and I are on vacation, taking a cruise ship to Acapulco. I happen to find out that the ship is sinking and you don't know about it. Naturally, I want to try and help you, as I would want to help anyone else who could potentially drown if the ship goes down. I find you and tell you to put on a lifejacket because the ship is sinking.

Okay, what did I just do that was wrong?

If you happen to be an elitest, you would call that "fear-mongering."

If you have to ask what an elitest is, you're not one of them. That's just their newest game. Make up bad names for everybody else, so that they will look good themselves. They like to think of themselves as the only truly normal, rational Americans. They like to tag everybody and everything that's different than what they do as being bad. If it isn't a part of their channeled thinking of how life is supposed to be lived, then they label it with a bad name and by the very repeating of these names, others will automatically think like they do or risk being branded a "fear-mongerer" themselves! And that the people on the other side of the spectrum to these elitists are all rightwing extremists and bad for America. They lump everybody else who isn't trying to be one of the "beautiful people" as "nutjobs," "fear-mongerers," "un-democratic" or just plain stupid. That would be you and I they're calling those names.

So, by pointing out obvious truths, (at least if you haven't got your head up your butt), about what Obama and his people are doing to bring down this once-great country of ours, that does not make me a "fear-mongerer." And it doesn't make anybody else one, either.

Since when did the United States government have the right to dictate the hiring and firing of CEO's?
Since when could the United States government take over huge corporations such as General Motors and Chrysler?
Since when did the United States government need to convince the American people that a new health care bill would be good for us? They never felt the need to convince us of anything before - they just passed it, whether we wanted it or not. So, what is behind all the propaganda and lies and disinformation about the new Universal Health Care Plan?

Cap and Trade is un-American.

We are losing jobs at an alarming rate. What is being done about it? If anyone can tell me, don't hesitate and post it in a comment.

If you think Obama cares about America, where do you get this information from? Please show me the proof of it. When a country's government takes over it's industries and infra-structure, this is called, by the very definition of the word, Socialism.

The United States of America was founded as a free country. It was never meant to be a Socialistic country. If you are reading this, there are things that you specifically cannot do now that you could do before. Don't believe me? I could name many:
You don't have the freedom to get in your car and go somewhere without the threat of being stopped by the law. Why, the simple act of leaving your driveway involves potentially breaking a thousand laws! Do you consider that freedom or safety? If you were so worried about safety, I would have heard you talking about it before, you elitists, but you never said a word. So, I don't want to hear anything you've got to say about it now, either. You gave up your rights to speak by crawling in to bed with them who are bringing down our country. It's just another instance where they took away one of your freedoms.
You can't buy a battery for your Minolta SRT-101 camera. They use Mercury batteries and the United States Government has deemed that the use of Mercury is hazardous to your health and the planet. But yet.... they are forcing us to change our lights to the new flourescent "corkscrew" type of bulbs. Guess what? They have Mercury in them. Well, I guess they're not concerned about our health after all. Do you seriously believe they care about our health and welfare? Seriously!?
I am a veteran of the U.S. Army. Other people who have served this country in the same manner have fought and died for our freedoms. You can't smoke in an American Legion or a Veteran Of Foreign Wars club. Why is that? That's what those people died for, so that we would have the freedom to do things such as this. You say it's a health issue? If the United States Government was really concerned about our health and well-being, don't you think they would stop the biggest pollutants to our lungs? Well, yes.... if they really cared about us. But they don't. You ask, what am I talking about? Petroleum-engined automobiles spew out much more pollution that is harmful for humans than smoking cigarettes will ever do. Would you rather be locked in a garage with a smoker or a running automobile for 24 hours? You see the difference. The United States government has deemed that smoking is hazardous to our health. But, collecting tax money on cigarettes is a pretty all right thing to do. If cigarettes were truly so bad and evil and hazardous, they would outlaw them. That is, if they were really concerned about our health.

Wake up, America, before it's too late and all your freedoms are gone. Do you really want to live in a world ruled by elitists whose only care is about themselves? Your lives mean nothing to them. If they mean something to you, stand up for your freedoms. Inform yourself and speak out. And for God's, and all our sakes, stop Obama from passing any more ridiculous laws that ruin our country. Tell him no, we don't want his idea of a health care utopia.