Monday, November 24, 2008

Saturday, November 22, 2008

VH1 & End The Drug War!

Are you kidding me VH1? Kid Rock on Storytellers? I'm pretty sure Kid's Rock story consists of nothing but white trash misery and talentlessness of the highest degree.

Today was a long day. We woke up at 8 a.m. after about four hours of sleep, dragged ourselves downstairs and forced ourselves to eat breakfast. We hiked over to the University of Maryland Stamp Student Union for a day of speeches by people that have long been waging a war on unfair drug policy.

We got to see a great debate between Kevin Sabet, founder of Students Taking Action Not Drugs, and Kris Krane, executive director of SSDP.  Needless to say Kevin wasn't eye-to-eye with us on everything, but Kris presented his arguments very well and with a lot of respect. We played the top game, as some say, and it just goes to show that this thing we're fighting is unjust. Valid arguments based on sound and reason cannot be argued against, and if so only from a purely perspective standpoint. 

We listened to experts speak on the topic of religion and its role in the fight against the drug war, SSDP going global and its effect in the UK and Canada, in which Mr. Tree presented compelling evidence for the argument that the United States' presence and eradication of the major cocaine cartels in South America is only making the problem worse. The way he explained it is that if you were to smash a cockroach, or in this case two, it would splinter into one hundred little cockroaches. An uncountable number of smaller distributors have picked up the clients of the major drug cartels taken down by the U.S. Drug War. 

We also heard about the mayor of a smaller town outside of College Park in which just several months ago the mayor of the town was a firsthand victim of the Drug War. His house wasturned upside down by a SWAT team, he was forced to stay kneeling with his hands bound behind him in his underwear, and the entering SWAT was "startled" by the presence of his two dogs so they shot them. Innocent animals with no malicious thought, only instinct, got between the state and their desire to present a crack-down-on-drugs image and take the easy way out in enforcing drug law. Unfortunately, this is the world in which we live.

Lunch was free and delicious and vegetarian. I bought an SSDP shirt and picked up lots of great literature on medicinal marijuana and drug reform and some cool stickers. We spent some time in the hot tub and chilled real low key tonight.

Like I said yesterday, it's great to see the incredible potential of what everyone here can do. None of us have any excuses that could get in the way of pushing our chapter to its maximum potential. 

End the Drug War!

Friday, November 21, 2008

I'm goin' down to Washington, D.C.

So here we are, in the capital of our nation, walking the halls of Congress, lobbying our congressional representatives to change drug policies that are outdated, unfair, and biased...and it feels so good.

It's incredible to be here with so many people that have the same passions and same view points about changing the same things as you do. It's incredible to see the effect that just one day has had on so many people. Washington, D.C. is a wonderful place, and it would be even more incredible if it wasn't overrun by greedy, lying, seething rats that have only money on their mind.

We walked by some official Capitol Police blockades that were in place for the Presidential Inauguration. I wonder what the future holds. It is indeed exciting to be alive and witness history being made, but we cannot let that blindfold us and forget about our struggles of the past. Our struggle for justice on all fronts for all people cannot be forgotten because we have reached a milestone in race relations in America. Our struggle for the end of all kinds of bigotry and ignorance cannot be forgotten simply because we have been promised change.

I've taken a lot of great pictures with the new camera. I've got some of the Capitol, Union Station, and various other D.C. eye candy.

Also, while waiting for the train today, I saw some really bad ass freights.

Oh and quick shameless plug, this Saturday is a show at The Nervous Dog in Akron with Hayden Calling and Blast Shields Up! Good stuff. Dec. 17th is going to be one hell of a show at the Grog Shop with the same two bands from above and (hopefully) a pretty cool band called Saint Ohio.

Things are looking up, you see? Things aren't going to be so bad.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Nov. 29/Prof. Greenhouse/Hayden Calling/Blast Shields Up!


Check it.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

J.R.R. Tolkien


Found here.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008


Listen to Nick Drake.

History


Our President. (The scanner made it look all smushed.)

Monday, November 3, 2008

OBEY

The Rux





Thanks for everything dudes. See you soon.

Jeff Tweedy just called me

Jeff Tweedy from Wilco just called me to remind me to vote! Man, what a nice guy. How did he know that I've been riding a Wilco wave recently?

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Work and school, work and school, work and school, work and school....


Listen to that.

Read this:

http://www.alternativereel.com/includes/top-ten/display_review.php?id=00080

(especially #10, 8, and 4.)

Friday, October 17, 2008

The right to choose...

I thought this was a significant advancement in the worldwide struggle for a woman's right to choose:

http://feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=11339

Check it out.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Change

In my short time as an organism of this species I belong to on this planet that we have named Earth in this universe, there are very few things that remain the same. Things are constantly changing. Everything. Every little thing you thought would be the same forever will probably change some time in your life. Changes occur whether you know it or not, like it or not, want it or not, and you better be ready for them. As I stated above, there are few things that I know will stay the same.

1. I will always love music. The genres and artists may change, but it is unlikely.

2. I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever be in the military. The draft, Uncle Sam, and his entire army can't stop me.


It's 4 a.m. Full Metal Jacket is on HDNet: uncut, unedited, and HD.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Monday, September 29, 2008

Money for jobs and education!

Not for war and occupation!

Such were the chants heard at today's 2nd Annual Kent State Anti-War Committee Rally and March. The rally was good, but the march was better. We marched from the plaza in the middle of campus, then down one of the main roads running through campus and backed up traffic for about a quarter mile.

We then stood in front of the ROTC building and chanted and yelled some more and taped anti-war pictures on the front door. Then we lined Main St., opposite several police cars, and continued to spread the good word.

We were met mostly with peace signs, waves, smiles and honks. Some people, however, don't enjoy peace as much as the rest of us and gave us the finger but never had the audacity to look at us.

Most of the police cars left, and we started to sing "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" and they pulled the paddy wagon around just to scare us. The only cop car that stayed the entire time was the one with a male cop driving and a female cop in the passenger seat video taping us. They were parked in the Wendy's parking lot. Then, ingeniously, two brave souls took a large banner across the street and stood directly in the way of the video camera. We continued to chant and sing protest songs and other songs and being merry. Below are the pictures I took with my phone because I forgot my camera. Enjoy!








Monday, September 22, 2008

Stumbling

I actually stumbled upon the same list that I had posted a couple days ago but in a more complete form. Here it is:

Black teen pregnancies? A 'crisis' in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A 'blessed event.'

If you grow up in Hawaii you're 'exotic.'
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential 'American story.'

Similarly, if you name your kid Barack you're 'unpatriotic.'
Name your kids Trig and Track, you're 'colorful.'

If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're 'reckless.'
A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a 'maverick.'

If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review,create a voter regstration drive that registers 150,000 new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor,then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.

If you are a Demoratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an 'arrogant celebrity'.
If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are 'energizing the base'.

If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are 'presumptuous'.
If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a 'shoot from the hip' maverick.

If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are 'an elitist 'out of touch' with the real America.
If you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Annapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a hero.

If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an 'empty suit'.
If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an 'experienced executive'.

If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are 'extremist'.
If you believe in creationism and don't believe gobal warming is man made, you are 'strongly principled'.

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years with whom you are raising two beautiful daughters you're 'risky'.

If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.

If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you 'First dog.'
If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you 'beautiful' and 'courageous.'

If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
If you have an abortion you're not a christian, you're a murderer ( forget about if it happened while being date raped)

If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

It can be found here: http://www.blah3.com/article.php?story=20080912193911820&mode=print

Oh, Buddha...

If you hurt an innocent person, then you are only hurting yourself, just as dust thrown into a wind is blown back in your face. - Buddha

Found here : http://www.amidabuddha.org/news/19Sep2008.html

I also acquired two new pens recently. They're awesome and they make me want to write a whole lot.

My throat still hurts but my sickness is going away.

Kent State SSDP has it's first meeting Monday October 6th! Viva la revolucion!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Truth...

http://www.grizzlybay.org/SarahPalinInfoPage.htm

Just some real information on Gov. Sarah Palin.


"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.
"
- Thomas Jefferson

Election '08!

My friend Nora posted this on facebook and, although I do not support any specific candidate for president, I found this extremely amusing and scarily real.

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're
"exotic, different."

* Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.

--------------------------
-------------------------------------------
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well
grounded

--------------------------
--------------------------------------------
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
--------------------------
--------------------------------------------
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become
the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter
registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12
years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State
Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become
chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee,
spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a
state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving
on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's
Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000
people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000
people, then you're qualified to become the country's second
highest ranking executive.
--------------------------
--------------------------------------
* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education,
including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the
fiber of society.

* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with
no other option in sex education in your state's school system
while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very
responsible.
--------------------------
------------------------------------------
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position
in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner
city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's
values don't represent America's.

* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one
DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to
vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated
the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely
admirable.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Productivity...

So the apocalypse came last night.

Well it wasn't really the apocalypse as described in various religious text, but it was a pretty bad wind storm. Short bursts of 50-mile-per-hour winds that knocked over trees and shit all over the roads and sidewalks. Of course, one of the things it knocked over was our cable/internet.

So being the resourceful gentleman I am, I chose to bring my computer to class and am writing to you now from Intro to Mass Communication, since the desk is big enough for my computer and the classroom has great WiFi access. Hopefully all is back to normal by the time I return home.

It has been raining a lot.

Watch this: http://leap.cc/cms/index.php?name=Content&pid=28

Saturday, September 13, 2008

http://poetryfoundation.org/journal/feature.comic6.html

Very awesome poem/comic. Check it out.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

My iPod

knows me, I swear.

While on shuffle on the way home tonight, I had it playing through all of my Belle & Sebastian. It played my most favorite B&S songs together and it did that on more than just one occasion.

I feel as if there is some sort of human-technology boundary that we've broken.

Or it could just be in my head.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Protest!

http://www.radikal.com.tr/Default.aspx?aType=GaleriHaber&Date=02.09.2008&ArticleID=896715&PAGE=27

Great collection of pictures of the protest from the RNC. I wish I could have been there.

No!

I woke up at 7 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up at roughly 7:30, ate breakfast, showered, checked my email and drove out to Akron to get my new shoes (they're sweet).

I refuse to succumb myself to the hangover dead. I will not laze around like a zombie and whine all day and clean up the mess from last night and piece together memories.

That's all I have to say.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

http://www.ifyoumakeit.com/video/defiance-ohio/hair-pool/

I love that band and furthermore this is a new song. The website I just found today actually and is a pretty cool collection of "intimate" acoustic sessions and whatnot. Good stuff.


Keep on keepin' on.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Don't leave the light on...

Today I cooked breakfast with a special someone, went on a bike ride, gave thumbs up to some picketers picketing, bought a xylophone (pictures of which I shall post later), got an umbrella, some composition books and some tupperware, bought a C harp and two sets of guitar strings, did some homework and made some buttons while listening to a lot of Belle & Sebastian.

Happy Labor Day!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Turn left or get shot




Just some stuff. The last might move from page to skin, but I'm not sure yet.

Rain rain go away.

So I'm sitting in the hall of the Art Building, waiting to get a seat for my terribly enthralling extremely exhilarating Art History 1. And I'm wet because it's raining outside. It's not too bad but bad enough that a ten minute walk turns into "Where the hell is the damn building?" and "I wish I had a fucking umbrella."

I ordered some Simple Shoes off of their website today. They are made from completely sustainable material such as car tires and hemp and organic cotton. I can't get a picture of them on here so I'll take a picture when they come in the mail. I hope they come soon. My poor poor Chucks just can't do it anymore.

Also, NoSweatapparel.com also has some really good deals of shoes that support union workshops and not sweat shops (and look like Chucks but aren't).

Good times.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Touch the sky...

Moved in to the new townhome the other day. Things are going pretty good, but there are always some bumps in the road when it comes to new transitions to new situations and what not. However everything is settled and moved in and a new life is beginning. Classes start on Monday.

I have a couple drawings in my sketchbook that I haven't put up yet.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

I am the Michael Phelps of Mario Kart!

I told Angel that would be the title.

I sort of moved in most of my things last night into my new place in Kent. Pictures will come soon. I also did a couple more drawings in my sketchbook but my scanner isn't set up yet and we won't have internet until Saturday.

More to come!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Just a little more...





Just a few more pictures from Wanterstock. That's all.

(P.S. - In case you folks didn't know, you can click on the pictures to make 'em bigger.)

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Join the Marines!






(but don't really.)

Today was Wanterstock 2.0 in Seville, OH in Adam Wanter's barn. The turnout wasn't as high as expected but good times were still had by all. There are some pictures up there. Saint Ohio played a great set, I am very much a fan. The kid yelling at me to join the Marines while I was playing, not a fan. Sorry Johnny America, go back to wrestling practice with the rest of your ignorant in-breeds. Oh and I might be playing this Friday at the Nervous Dog Coffee Bar & Roaster in Akron, OH with Overcoming the Trial and Blast Shields Up! so come out if you don't have anything else to do.

Audrey got me a vegetarian cookbook and sketchbook for my birthday as well as some other stuff. Here is the first drawing from the sketchbook.