Words & Dreams

I updated to Firefox 2.0 yesterday and, though I’m still adjusting to it, it’s growing on me. I’m not thrilled about the gray tab bar, but I’ll get used to it. I also don’t like the new icons on the toolbar (back, forward, etc.), but those, you can change. I initially tried the “Winstripe” theme from Kevin Gerich, and while that solved the icons issue, it makes the rest of the address bar quite aesthetically unpleasing.

Further googling led me here, but it only presents the original Netscape/Mozilla Suite icons. So basically, I combined the two.

Here are the Firefox 1.5.x toolbar icons (both large and small):

I grabbed these from the Winstripe theme. Then, you just follow the method presented at Captain’s Universe:

1. Unpack classic.jar from [firefox-directory]/chrome (rename to .zip[or .rar] and unpack)
2. Replace Toolbar.png and Toolbar-small.png in skin/classic/browser/ with the 2 files above
3. Zip the stuff again (make sure that icon.png, preview.png and skin/ are in the root directory of the zip) and rename it to classic.jar

This, along with disabling tab scrolling, has made me a lot happier with FF2.0.

Ok, I’ll admit right off the bat that the title is really lame. I’m sorry, I’m bored.

Have you listened to any Ratatat? This is the best shit ever. I know I’m jumping on the bandwagon a little late (I could throw in some gratuitous blog linkage here but I trust you know how to use Google and Technorati if you want to see for yourself) but better late than never or whatever. This singles are good, and that’s awesome, but it’s not just the singles. It’s fucking everything. They’re kind of what I was hoping Holy Fuck (who I saw last week opening for Wolf Parade - pithy commentary on that concert coming soon) would be. Don’t get me wrong, HF are great, but their album just isn’t that strong track to track. Everything track on Ratatat’s album is solid gold. In fact, as far as I can tell, everything they touch is. They have a mix tape out and the remixes I’ve heard from that and elsewhere are excellent too. Get thier new LP when it drops on the 22nd and get their self-titled LP, too. God, I’m behind on this shit. HF was on MFR a year ago? This is what I get for ignoring music blogs for so long. No danger of that now.

Also, if you didn’t hear, Death from Above 1979 announced that they’re breaking up last week. Bummer I suppose, but I prefer MSTRKRFT’s solo stuff anyway. However, I was thinking about how many great abbreviations it would allow people to throw around, and we know that everyone likes to throw around abbreviations to seem in the know. For example, that new MSTRKRFT (that’s pronounced Mastercraft for the uninitiated) remix? Now you can say the artist is “MSTRKRFT (FRMR DFA1979).” I mean fucking come on, that’s awesome.

Today’s my last day of work. I still need to battle my mom to get my hookah back, but either way, I’m the hell out of Wisconsin on Saturday. Thank god.

Ok, too much has happened with music that I’ve said I’m going to write about to do all in separate posts because frankly, I’m not going to remember it for much longer and no one is going to care a month after the things I’m writing about took place. Traveling back about 3 weeks…

Pitchfork Day 2
I’m really just going to hit the highlights here because a) it was forever ago and I don’t remember details and b) I guess that’s the only reason. Tapes ‘n Tapes were predictably great. Better than their set was the enthusiastic crowd. People were super-excited about them and seemed to know their music. I guess they got a good review on Pitchfork and it was their festival and all, but they were the first act of the day and people dragged their asses out into the near 100° heat early in the day just to see catch them, and that’s cool. Danielson were funny in their matching outfits but musically were pretty meh for me, considering I don’t really know any of their stuff. Same goes for The National except their clothing was a little less interesting and their music a little bit more interesting. They might be worth checking out.

Moving into the afternoon, The Liars were pretty ridiculous. Keeping in the theme of odd and/or silly clothing choices, the drummer was wearing a sparkly tube top under a translucent biohazard suit and by 3 songs into the set the lead singer had stripped down to a waitress’ outfit of sorts which was sort of like a robe-like, under which he wore only briefs. Sexy, to say the least. Besides how they presented themselves, they put on a crazy energetic set and though I suspect most people (myself included) have trouble knowing what to do with their studio work, they were very engaging live. After a brief shade break, I made my way over to the Biz3 stage for the first time and discovered there was quite a party over there as well, not to mention a totally different scene. See the girl in the shiny gold leggings in my Day 2 Photoset to see what I mean. Tarantula A.D. were playing, and for my money, this was the best set of the day. Every time I go to a post rock show, I realize a little bit more that they’re consistently the best shows. The energy they poured in was infectious and the crowd was totally post-rocking. The cellist was literally shredding his bow as he played, the guitarist played a double-necked most of the time, and they were just generally musically impressive. During this show was the only time during the weekend I worked up a set from something other than just the temperature. See them if you get the chance. I chilled in the shade during the rest of the Mission of Burma set because I don’t know anything by them and I just couldn’t be asked to fight the crowd for it. I gave Devendra a big yawn and then went and sat in the shade. Bore me a river, man.

After his set, I staked out a place for Spoon during Yo La Tengo. Under normal circumstances, I totally would’ve gone to listen even though the stuff of theirs I have has never caught my ear but I wanted to hear “I Turn the Camera On” and stuff, and again, it was just too much work at this point in the weekend. Spoon proved once again that damn, do they write some catchy songs. ” I Turn the Camera On” was bomping and, though the crowd was pretty mellow by this point, people seemed to enjoy their set. They weren’t the most engaging performers and barely spoke through their set. All the same, I enjoyed what was for me, the last set of the night. Yes, I left before Os Mutantes. I know they’re supposed to be really cool and that it was probably the only show they’ll play in the US ever, but I had to get back to Milwaukee and even leaving when I did, I didn’t get back until 2ish. All in all, fantastic weekend.

The Silver Mt. Zion (Memorial Orchestra, etc.), Cedar A.V.
I saw Cedar A.V. a few weeks ago at the same venue (The Stonefly Brewery) a few weeks ago when I “saw” Walter Meego. Apparently their guitarist was out of town (I chatted with the girlfriend of the bandmembers at both shows so I have the inside scoop on Cedar A.V.) for their first show and while I enjoyed their first show without him, they really came together with him. Relatively standard post rock kind of stuff over Dntel-style beats - enjoyable. The Silver Mt. Zion are a Godspeed side project bands that became a legitimate, independent band. While a (very) cursory listening might trick you into thinking they’re just a Godspeed clone, they actually have a very unique sound due to Efrim Menuck’s very distinctive voice. I won’t claim that everyone would love it, but it’s very powerful, and they really blew me away. “Blind Blind Blind” and “God Bless Our Dead Marines” were my favorite tracks. The former hasn’t been recorded in studio yet sadly, but you can find a totally listenable live recording over at Skatterbrain. The latter is off of their most recent full-length Horses in the Sky, which I highly recommend you check out. ASMZ are still touring, in fact, and if you live somewhere they’re playing but haven’t played yet, go. Just go, even if you aren’t into post rock and you think their name is weird, take my word for it.

Fuck. I was going to write about Holy Fuck, Frog Eyes, and Wolf Parade here too but I already just dumped 1,000 words and my work day is all but over. And frankly, I know no one wants to read 1,500+ words of concert summary. Wolf Parade is my last concert of the summer and I have Explosions the first weekend school is back in session (great timing, tell me about it) and then I’m probably taking a break from concerts until…well, fall break. Unless I also go to New York for Sunset Rubdown and Beirut at the end of September. I can’t wait until I live there and I can spend all of the money I have on concerts so that I have to start living in Central Park with the bums. That will be awesome, yeah?

I’ll get around to doing the second part of my Pitchfork recap soon, I’ve been meaning to, but between the other concerts I’ve had plus Andrew being in town for the weekend, I’ve been rather busy.

the eels and Smoosh
If I could only use 3 words to describe this concert, they would be “totally fucking great.” This show rocked (literally). the eels were such rockstars, with their goggles, flightsuits, on-stage fans for wind effect, and oh yeah, talent. But before I get into the eels, let me say a bit about Smoosh (wiki), their prepubescent opening act. I will admit, even knowing how young they were, when they stepped on stage, it was weird. At 14 and 12, Asya and Chloe looked completely out of place. It took me about 3 songs to get over the weirdness of having a couple of junior high girls opening for the eels and touring nationally, but they’re actually very endearing and totally unoffensive musically. I guess saying unoffensive sounds like damning with faint praise - they were good. Not great, but fun, and cute. They said “thank you” after every song before the applause and smiled a lot and I have to admit, they kind of won me over. Their music was bubbly and fun, pretty much what you’d expect, but damn if it’s not better than most pop music you’d hear on KISS FM’s across the country. I feel kind of bad for the kids though, because the the independent music scene is nothing if not fickle, and it seemed really obvious they wanted to be liked. And while everyone wants to be liked, that’s a hard trait to have as a musician. I know it seems unreasonable to expect a bulletproof demenor of 12- and 14-year-olds, and it is, but unfortunately the world of music is the world of music, no matter your age. In any case, I couldn’t help but smile through their show, and for an opening act, that’s good enough for me. the eels were embarrassing. Embarrassing, that is, in that they are so much more talented than the bands I’m used to seeing (Tapes ‘n Tapes, Bloc Party, basically whoever), it was just kind of ridiculous. I’m working on trying to clean up the 15+ minutes of video I have of “Not Ready Yet” so I can demonstrate what I’m talking about. “Not Ready Yet” is normally 3 minutes and change long, but they just jammed on it for close to 20 minutes, and the thing was, it didn’t get boring, repetitive, or uninteresting. That among other factors was a testament to what rock stars the eels are. From their avaitor apparel to the fans on stage to stimulate wind to the sheer volume of their show, it was (rather unexpectedly) a full on rock performance. Considering how quiet their studio work tends to be, this was a pleasant surprise. Not that I don’t enjoy their quieter studio sensibility, I do, but I love a rock show, and that’s what this was. I think some of the crowd may not have been prepared for the walls of sound the eels built into what are normally relatively sparse arrangements, but I really enjoyed it. All around, a really great show. My pictures from the show are here.

This past weekend I went to Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. I’m not so great at recaps, but I’m going to do my best because I feel like writing about it and none of my attorneys are in today.

Pre-Party: The Joggers, Voxtrot, and Sunset Rubdown
I got down to Chicago later than I had intended basically because I’m an idiot and forgot my tickets for the weekend at home on Friday morning. After picking them up, I had a reasonably unstressful drive down to the Windy City. When I arrived at Metro, one of the non-Aziz Ansari comidians was finishing his standup and apparently the Joggers had already played. Sort of a bummer as I’ve heard they’re good, but meh. Voxtrot seemed good but didn’t totally blow me out of the water. To be fair, I’ve barely listened to their music and naturally I always enjoy a show more when I know the music. There were a few catchy tunes though, so I am going to listen to them some more when I get the chance. Sunset Rubdown were fantastic. I don’t remember if I’ve actually written about it here or not, but as far as I can tell, anything Spencer Krug (lead singer of SR, one of the lead singers of Wolf Parade, former member of Frog Eyes, author of “I’ll Believe In Anything,”) touches is totally genius. Sunset Rubdown is no exception. Unlike Wolf Parade, SR feels more like a wholly Krug-driven vehicle. Their tunes translated very well to live performance, and Krug was funny and great. Sidenote: I cannot fucking wait to see Wolf Parade at Metro next Tuesday. It’s going to be so good I might die. Sidenote 2: I promise I’m not going to write this much about everyone I saw this weekend:

Festival day 1
First off, pictures to accompany day one can be found here, all tagged and everything. I arrived sometime after 2:00, in time to catch the end of the Man Man set. They were great. Totally ridiculous, decked out all in white, screaming and beating their various drum sets. Their music was good too. Band of Horses were next. They were one of the pleasant surprises of the day. I really enjoyed their set, especially “Great Salt Lake,” and I now feel more compelled to listen to their album a bit more than I have. Also, Great Salt Lake is a lot catchier than it may initally seem. It was stuck in my head for the better part of the day, despite all the rest of the music I heard. They kept the theme of the first afternoon pretty consistent musically - The Mountain Goats (aka John Darnielle) played next. His set was by far one of the best of the weekend. I know I’m not saying anything original when I say the man writes brilliant lyrics, but it’s no joke. He’s also massively prolific (he’s released something like 14 LPs over the last decade) so I was exposed to some of his stuff that I’d never heard, and I really liked what I heard. He’s also funny, self-depricating, and takes himself just seriously enough. I think he also wins for best banter moment of the weekend.

“This next song,” he said (about some song I didn’t know - did I mention how prolific this man is?) is from…this is the best thing you ever get to say as a musician, let me just savor it for a moment.” He then wandered around stage for a minute amid cheers. “This next song is off of my first 7″. I made the press the first 10 on clear vinyl.”

Does this man know his crowd, or what? Musically the whole set was great and “The Cubs in Five” was one of the highlights of the weekend for me - fucking brilliant tune. Something about the juxtaposition (I’m sorry, you have to allow for my being an English major now and again) of the glib imagery of the Cubs beating every team in the league and being able to love someone again just really works and the sing-along he insisted on made it even better. I wasn’t expecting his reception to be so warm, but his show was clearly the cause of some of the most excitement of the weekend.

Continuing on the acoustic tip, Destroyer (aka Dan Bejar) played next. Hearing these two artists consecutively highlighted that despite similar styles on paper - minimal accompaniment, acoustic lead, oft-times dense and intellectual lyrics, rabid underground following - they are very different in reality. Darinelle’s music tends towards immediate accessibility and long-term payoff (as you figure out his lyrical quirks and references, etc.); Bejar’s tends toward immediate inaccessibility but (apparently) lots of long-term payback. To be honest, I still haven’t really gotten into Bejar’s music, and it seemed that most of the crowd hadn’t either.

As the early evening started to set in (though it was still hovering around 100°), the lineup shifted from acoustic to rock and I decided to stake out a spot for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists rather than fighting the crowd over at Art Brut. I might’ve enjoyed their set, but I never really got into their studio stuff and I knew Ted Leo would rock. And rock he did. The crowd loved him, people were singing along, and he was charismatic and generally awesome. I took off from the second row (kinda) during his last or perhaps second-to-last song to get reasonably close to the stage for The Walkmen. Definitely a good decision. The Walkmen were great and played a good selection from their whole catalogue. I take it from the blurb in the schedule about them that they’re only starting to get much more well-known since their most recent album, but it was great to hear “Wake Up” (which I recorded, incidentally - YouTubification to follow when I upload it) and “We’ve Been Had” alongside new singles “Lost in Boston” and “Louisiana.”

The last show I really attended for the night was The Futureheads. I was next to a rather large and rather old man wearing a “Gabrielle, the Battling Bard of Potidaea” shirt. It was awkward, to say the least. Anyway, apparently he was there to rock, since he informed me that the Futureheads were the band he came to see. And rock they did (yes I did just use that same turn of phrase again). They’re from Sunderland and I was proud of myself that I knew they were northern as soon as they started talking; granted, they sound like they’re from Scotland, but still, it’s good to know that my time in London paid off somehow. They were, typically, better rock stars than any of the American groups, getting the crowd involved, clapping and singing along, and though I only know a bit of their music, were a lot of fun.

I’m afraid that by the time the Silver Jews were headlining, I was f’n* exhausted and I decided to watch the show from a ways back after wandering through the massive and awesome poster sale. By watch, I really mean listen, because I actually lay on the ground and looked at the 2 stars that are (barely) visible in the Chicago sky. Still, it sounded good. Note to self to actaully check out his music sometime.

All in all, the pre-party and first day were great. It was well fucking hot out and I don’t remember the last time I’ve sweated so much (I know, ew), but hey, at least I finally got a little bit of sun on anything other than my arms. Day 2 recap upcoming as soon as I write it. Don’t forget to check out my Day 1 photoset at Flickr (I didn’t upload all ~400 pictures I took, only about 70).

I’m seeing the eels tonight. I’m really excited, I just don’t don’t think an exclamation point is appropriate in discussing the eels. Woo(!)

*I also saw Aziz Ansari on opening night and I’ve been reading his site a bit today. He says f’n all the time over there and I like it. Word.

When you go out, do you find yourself looking like this?

Christ, I hope not. But I do wear skinny jeans sometimes. I also like to have gum with me, and I happen to prefer spearmint Orbit:

If you smoke, I bet you find that it’s hard to fit that huge bulky pack of cigs into your hipster pockets. Even if you get a soft pack (which will be crushed immediately), you’ll look like you have a bone sticking out of your leg. Women have purses, but unless you’re about to start carrying a manpurse, you don’t have that option.

Well, I figured out a pretty decent solution. Note that if you need to smoke a pack of cigarettes in a night, this isn’t going to work for you - cut back on your smoking! Anyway. If you want (or can survive with) just a few cigarettes, this is perfect.

Orbit Cigarette Case

1. Finish most of a pack of Orbit, and keep it in reasonably good condition.
2. Pull out out the two aluminium sleeves that hold the gum in 2 neat rows in the Orbit package.
3. Insert cigarettes into the Orbit box lengthwise; you have enough room for at least 4 cigarettes (I used Turkish Silvers, but I suspect other would work too).
4. Take 4 pieces of Orbit and lay them lengthwise on top of the cigarettes (i.e. stacked 2×2, opposite their normal orientation in the box).

And voila! You now have 4 pieces of gum and 4 cigarettes in a convenient case that will keep the latter relatively intact and is only about 3mm thick, perfect for a back pocket of your skinny jeans. Now go see Birdmonster or Cold War Kids and floss yo’ style! (Pictures and Instructable of this invention to follow, once I take/make them).

© me, etc.

I hate President Bush so much. God damnit!

Has it? Has it!?

That’s right, I’m talking about the Sufjan backlash. I’ve been waiting for it and I think it’s finally hit. I know it’ll probably get a bunch of people in a huff, but I just don’t really care that much about Sufjan. I’ve tried to care, I think some of his songs are fun and/or clever, even good, but nothing has kept me coming back. Meanwhile, everyone and their grandmother has been slobbering all over him, consistantly placing his 2005 effort Illinoise in the top 5 of best-albums-of-2005 compilations; many even placed him in the top spot.

But this is the world of indie rock, and no one can be loved that much without a good backlash. I don’t really even care all that much except that I really enjoy a good backlash and, frankly, I’m better at trashing things than praising them.

I sensed the backlash coming a few weeks ago when I read this blurb on Stereogum. Anything ribbing all the Sufjan adulation seemed like a step in right direction. Then in it’s review of The Avalanche, Pitchfork says “he stumbles and lurches like he’s been hit in the head. Shambling and off-kilter, he coughs up odd phrases instead of weaving in countermelodies.” Boom. Pitchfork even links to Good Hodgkins, a music blog I read, in its review of Avalanche, in which he calls Illinoise a pretentious, “cold, and calculated research project” (even if Ryan Dahling, the Pitchfork reviewer, goes on to explain why he disagrees).

Now Stereogum runs the headline “Sufjan Admits He’s Full of Shjit” even though it has little to do with the interview blurb that it relates to, and the snip they quote makes Sufjan look kind of like an idiot.

Anyway, I’m not really that invested in this because I think his music is fine, I was just kind of sick of everyone loving him so much. Good thing the world of indie music is so damn fickle.

So I’ve been sitting around passively formulating a post about being back in the States in my mind basically since I hit the Chicago airport but I’ve had trouble coming up with what to say about it really. I’m happy to be back, there are things that I miss, etc. - it’s hard to speak about it without becoming trite almost immediately. I made a bunch of observations (wow, there really are a lot more overweight people in America, etc.) that captured bits and pieces of the experience of coming back but I still haven’t come up with a good way to organize it.

So the point is, I’m just not doing the post. Being back in America is good in some ways and bad in other ways. Being in Milwaukee is a more pronounced version of the same: there are things about being home that I really love (not the least of which is free food), but there are things about being home that make me want to hang myself. Overall, I’m more happy to be back than I am disappointed, and that’s it.

I’m back at Quarles & Brady this summer as a rotating secretary. It’s not the most fantastic job in the world and it sure isn’t a cool CELS internship, but it’s completely tolerable, the pay is good, and the environment is nice. Plus, and I’m pretty sure this is the best thing about the job, I get to be on the company softball team. It’s awesome. We even have Q&B baseball shirts.

Aside from that, I have a few (though not enough) concerts lined up for the next few weeks and long-term for the summer that I’m excited about. We Are Scientists are, oddly enough, playing a Milwaukee show (in addition to their Mnpls and Chicago shows) next Tuesday so I’m seeing that which should be a lot of fun. Intonation takes place next weekend. I’m not exceptionaly amped about the overall lineup but there are some individual acts that I’m quite excited about. Bloc Party is playing - need I say more? About a month later, I’m going to Pitchfork Music Festival. I’m fucking excited about Pitchfork. Tapes ‘n Tapes (for the third time!), Spoon, The Walkmen, Sunset Rubdown, The Futureheads, Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Chin Up Chin Up, Mountain Goats…ok, I could go on but if you’re that curious I trust you can make it to the website. Finally, Wolf Parade just announced a short tour taking place at the beginning of August with Frog Eyes. There aren’t even words for my excitement.

Speaking of Wolf Parade (and Sunset Rubdown and Frog Eyes) Speaking of Krug-related music groups, he, along with Casey Mercer of Frog Eyes and Dan Bejar (aka Destroyer) are forming what might be the ultimate indie supergroup. They will be called Swan Lake. Their album is expected to come out this fall; obviously, I’m already excited about it. Think about how much shorter this post could be if I just told everyone “Read the news on Pitchfork and then integrate that into my life.” At least 2 paragraphs shorter.

Oh, by the way, I’m wearing suspenders right now. Woo.

One great hypocrisy that I have always found especially abrasive is the Christian Conservative stance on abortion and contraception. It’s so massively contradictory to be simultaneously against abortion and be against decent sex education programs and providing the population at large with easy access to contraception that I’ve always found it unbelievable that anyone taking so untenable a position isn’t laughed out of the room; instead, this is the standpoint of millions across the US, and apparently is considered to be a reasonable one. An article in the Nation a couple of weeks ago, Virginity or Death!, discusses the latest in the litany of hypocritical positions taken by this powerful minority in America.

A new vaccine for human papilloma virus has recently been approved by the…wait. It hasn’t been approved even though it has been successful in tests by both Merck and GlaxoSmithKline. Why wouldn’t a vaccine that could could cut the number of cases of cervical cancer annually by 70% not be rushed into production and widespread prescription? What a silly question - it would promote promiscuity! If everyone knew they wouldn’t get HPV, they’d all stop waiting until marriage to have sex and the world would fall into dystopian ruin.

Wait. I know it’s hard to accept, so don’t let reality slam you in the face: people are still having sex. Despite the risk of unwanted pregnancy and a whole catalog of STDs not to mention whatever emotional issues are tied to sex, people are still having it. People will have sex. Not only is it human nature (I know, I know, humans nature is inherently flawed by “original sin”), it’s everywhere - TV, movies, music, advertisements - it’s not as if people don’t know about it if we just don’t teach them anything. What people don’t know about, however, are the inherent risks associated with sex. I didn’t know what HPV was until this year, and I suspect that most men don’t, despite the fact that they are capable of contracting and spreading it. Granted, it’s woman who are at much greater risk with HPV and it rarely affects men despite their ability to carry it, but don’t you think men should know? And I went to a private school that never has to deal with the Christian morality breathing down its educational neck - you can be damn sure they didn’t learn about it in public school. I won’t even start a rant on Bush’s abstinence-only education programs - in short, they’re a disaster.

It’s fantastic that there are studies that show that methods exactly like the HPV vaccine don’t lead to an increase in sexual activity among teens, but in my opinion, it really doesn’t matter. Say its approval would lead to a 15% increase in premarital sexual activity. I would rather see that than more unwanted teen pregnancies and more cases cervical cancer. And understand, I’m not some kind of free love advocate. I don’t think that young teens should be having sex and that everyone should just be having sex with everyone. However, I don’t think the way to ensure that is to block products from the market that could save lives.

Katha Pollitt, the author of the article, thinks this issue is about the continuing crusade against women’s rights and against women in general by Christian Conservatism, and I think this is true. It doesn’t stop there, however. It is, much to my dismay, part of a much broader problem: the huge influence Christian morality has on world policy. The campaign against this is most explicitly not a campaign against Christianity as a whole nor against individual Christians trying to practice their faith. On the contrary, it is an attack by both Christianity and Christians trying to force the world to conform to its dogma. By all means - and I mean this with complete sincerity - take the word of the Bible as fact, believe the bread and wine actually turn into the body and blood of Christ, or don’t if you’re more of a consubstantiation kind of person. Don’t have marriage before sex and believe with every fiber of your being that anyone who does will burn eternally in the flames of hell, or whatever it is exactly that happens in hell if you have premarital sex. It is completely your right, however arrogant this latter belief may be, to do so. It is not your right, however, to try to force any of these beliefs upon anyone else, or to try to craft America into a society that has laws based on your beliefs. It is in fact explicitly not your right. It’s against the law.

“Why aren’t we demanding that religion return to the pulpit, where it belongs, and keep out of the White House and the courts?” Tony Long asks. “Where the hell is everybody?” Our country is being hijacked and we’re not doing anything about it.

Well, here’s my take, and it seems to be to be in line with his. We’re all so busy doing what I’m doing right now, blogging our little hearts away with righteous indignation that everything our nation once stood for is being destroyed, that we’re not god-damn doing anything about it. It’s not like Vietnam. It’s a fuck of a lot worse than Vietnam. We’re not just talking about an unjustified war. We’re talking about an erosion of civil liberties and the very fabric of our nation, the Constitution, through appointments - by a man whose administration proposed a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage - of conservative judges. This is the beginning of the end, and I’m not being melodramatic.

We better get off our asses and stop worrying about new rounded corner hacks for CSS and the AJAX-y goodness of form-submitting that doesn’t require a page reload or by the time we realize there’s a problem - which at this rate will probably only happen if they do something to our bandwidth, which is why the conservatives should back off of net neutrality for the own interests - it’s going to be way, way too late to do anything about it.

Oh, I leave London on Monday. Agh!