McCotter Drinking The Company Kool-Aid™ Again

My illustrious congressional representative Thaddeus McCotter (R - MI, 11th district) has sent out his quarterly e-mail, dutifully towing the Republicon line as predicted - in this case DRILL DRILL DRILL DRILL! Well, actually he said...

If the government would just get out of the way, remove its regulations, litigation, taxation, and other obstacles to the production of American energy by entrepreneurs and allow free markets to work,the supply of oil will increase...

Riiiight - because de-regulatioin has worked so well for us in the past, eh congressman? Remember Enron? How about the results we're now seeing from the deregulation of the mortgage business? I can't believe neocons can still make this argument with a straight face. Then again, their nominee is blaming Barack Obama for the price of gas. Good thing their party-faithful are hateful nincompoops.

Do you know what happens when you leave businesses to their own devices with no oversight? They steal everything they can from the consumer. I've seen it time after time after time after time in my own life. Business only does for the consumer and for the public what it's required to do by law - and only then when there are enough resources to enforce it. They loot the U.S.treasury, YOUR treasury, for everything they can get.

And do you know what happens when nobody's watching our so-called representatives? Ted Stevens happens, that's what. Ted Stevens....tee hee hee hee. I knew they'd catch you with your hand in the oil drum.

Oh, and by the way, Congressman McCotter, the next time you go bashing the government, remember - YOU ARE THE GOVERNMENT GENIUS!

You Can't Escape The Batman Boyo

If I see, hear or read one more Batman "The Dark Knight" tie-in I'm gonna puke. NPR, The History Channel - all the f*cking major networks have deconstructed this stupid movie from every conceivable angle. You couldn't escape that marketing budget if you tried.

What does this level of attention given to something so ...... so......RETARDED....say about our North American culture?

That we're just as simple and shallow as the rest of the world believes.

Review of STP @ Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort

We went to see Stone Temple Pilots at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Mi on Friday night. I'd never been there before; I see most of my concerts in the Detroit area. But I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see STP on their way back around again; they'd already played The Fillmore (formerly The State Theatre on Woodward in Detroit) several months before. I chose not to go because I was a bit put off by their marketing practices. To join their fan club and view their blog it's $45 - that's on top of the $65 to $95 for tickets! A big WTF to STP! I passed. But I couldn't pass on the concert twice. Who knows when singer Scott Weiland might disappear again - or disappear permanently. He'd been busted twice for possession of heroin and cocaine in as many years and even did an eight-month stint for his bad behavior before the tour, at least according to what I've read online.

STP has been one of my favorites since the early nineties, back when Rolling Stone wrote them off as grunge-era copycats. But I knew there was more there than just hard-rock songs about rape, dead bodies and serial killers; there was a singer/lyricist who could empathize with those severely troubled souls - and do it convincingly. That takes a special personality, a troubled personality, or perhaps a very talented actor - but for some reason I don't think Weiland is acting.

The Venue

Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort is a sprawling complex whose driveway entrance is bedecked by two giant eagles with splayed wings and whose enormous, cedar portico covers eight lanes of valet parking. A dozen stories of hotel rooms are located in a seperate building to the right of the casino. Just inside the main automatic doors is the gambling pit. Slot machines and various games of chance chatter just below the pumped-in musical tones, creating a mesmerizing cacophony of sound designed to help part you from your cash. To get to the show, you have to walk past all the gambling action, naturally.

The Soaring Eagle show room is much like you'd imagine Las Vegas show rooms of the past; an enormous open room with maybe three or four levels, each level only elevated a couple of steps below the last, continuing like that toward the stage. But unlike the glamorous Vegas shows of the past which included linen-draped tables and over-stuffed chairs, this one is filled with hard, plastic, stackable chairs laid out in countless rows. Because of the low angle and the fact that there is no stadium seating, the stage is difficult to see from most points in the room when the audience is standing - which, in an American rock show, is almost always.

We were in section L3, seats 31 & 32 about mid-way back and all the way to the left of the stage. The pros were that it was easy and quick to get a beer or go to the bathroom (short, fast moving lines), but the cons were that we could barely see the stage and watched the video monitor through most of the concert. I probably wouldn't come to see a rock concert here again unless I had seating directly in front of the stage.

The Show

STP opened with "The Big Empty" and Weiland, much to the audience's delight, was wearing an Native American Fox Headdress! He tilted his head down while singing so it covered his face completely. It was kind of surreal - especially in an indian-owned casino. A stranger next to me smiled, hi-fived me and said, "Don't take it off! Don't take it off! That's Awwwwesome!" I had to agree. It was a great way to start the show.

Weiland's performance reminded of Jim Morrison's classic performance at The Hollywood Bowl I'd seen play on a loop at The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame just the week before. Morrison was INSIDE his performance - completely removed from his surroundings, a spectacle to behold. Weiland has that same unwieldy, unpredictable and INTENSE nature; it's a drag for his band mates and handlers, a delight for his audience, but probably not sustainable for the long-haul; at 41, Weiland's survived the pure rock & roll lifestyle much longer than he should have - by most accounts he should be a member of the "27 Club" with Janis, Jimmy, Brian & Kurt. According to some reports, his exit may not be too far away; a post at the STP forum claims that Scott has once again left the reservation. Here's an excerpt from the STP forum regarding show at The Chippewa Valley Music Festival the following night.

If you saw tonight's show...you know that Scott is in big trouble. The band was terrible... I don't say this lightly...I've seen STP before, and they were great...What I saw tonight was a dead man walking.

If this tour continues, Scott may not survive. If I don't read tomorrow that the tour is canceled, the rest of the band may have some serious moral issues to deall with very soon.

It's not worth the money. You're friend isn't going to make it. - posted by TheShorn

By the second or third song, Weiland pulled off the fox headdress to display a freshly-shaven dome, an unsettling haircut for what some already consider a drug-addled psychopath. But his performance was sharp and lively, dancin' the "shaky jake" while he blasted through his vocals. Never once during the show did he stand idle or disinterested. At points near the end of the show he waved Native American feathers while doing the traditional pow-wow dance (arms extended like wings, knees bent, flying in circles on the stage).

Between songs, however, he mumbled incoherently. Sometimes it was about existential matters relating to the songs, something about his mother and father, and once he even shared an explanation of his in-ear monitor which, presumably, some audience member close to the stage had asked him about.

"It's just like this," he said, landing a foot on a nearby floor monitor. "And this one, and this one, and this one," making his way to the floor monitors across the stage. "But I can hear myself and I don't have to shout. We can keep the stage volume low," he said. Adding quietly, "and I can speak like this."


I don't have the official set list so I'll just tell you which songs I think I remember. Let's see, in no particular order - "Sex Type Thing" "Coma" "Vaseline" "Plush" "Interstate Love Song" "Hollywood Bitch" "Sour Girl" "Meatplow" "Silvergun Superman" "Big Bang Baby" "Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart" and "Lounge Fly" among others. "Dead & Bloated" was one of the encores. There were choice tunes from every record they released but they didn't play "Days of The Week" or "Pretty Penny" unfortunately. Overall, a very good mix of STP. Hmm, did they play "Unglued" too? Maybe.

Other Facets and conclusions...

The show started about an hour late (around 9:00 pm) and lasted a little over two hours. But it wasn't a long wait and gave us time to get settled in and get beered up.

Robert & Dean DeLeo & Eric Kretz performances were, as usual, energetic and on the mark, a necessarily steady base from which Weiland can jump. Bassist Rob DeLeo's slick-backed hair, tear-drop sun-glasses and satin shirt always cracks me up. It reminds me of my childhood in the late seventies.

The light show consisted of psychedelic overlays on the video feed, various vivid colors and patterns and aircraft lights on towers on either side of the stage that flashed when appropriate. The only props were Weiland's Indian Headdress and feathered handles. Oh, and I think he brought out that wide-brimmed black hat during the encore.

The sound was a little dead in the heavily carpeted and fabric-laden room, but was considerably better toward the rear of the hall by the bar & bathrooms.

The STP merchandise was, as usual, overpriced - about 25 percent above the prices at the online store. There was a really cool looking "Four" t-shirt with the big white star but it didn't come in 3x for big guys like me - so I didn't buy. $50 for a t-shirt is a bit much anyway.

All in all, a satisfying show, particularly for those who could actually see the stage. Let's just hope Weiland leaves plenty of room for recovery during this grueling tour. He's got this week off, so I hope he makes good use of his time. Some long bouts of sleep and some Pedialyte are probably in order.

Didn't mean to, but....

...I spent my stimulus check on furniture and weekend get-aways. Meant to save it, but....shit.

Oh well, that check comes with a built-in rationale.

Hope the economy doesn't tank in the interim.

The continued looting of the U.S. treasury

I've just got done learning about how this whole Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac crisis started and, again, it turns out to be little more than the looting of our treasury by another bunch of asshole bankers, lawyers and accountants. Bunch of greedy mother-fuckers who gamed the system so they'd come out ahead and fuck everybody else in the process. And now we're supposed to bail out these motherfuckers who put us in a horrible financial crisis - thanks to their greed and disregard for anybody else.

They spend much of their time, energy and money preaching the wisdom of the free market and demand the government stay OUT of their business, arguing that American business and the American people will flourish if left to their own devices. The Market, they preach, will self-correct.

Then when the shit hits the fan because of their own greedy practices (namely lending money to people who don't really understand the terms and who couldn't possibly afford the loans they were getting) the once market-wise bankers want to be bailed out by the American Tax Payer. That's right, you and I get to underwrite the failure of their predatory lending practices to the tune of TRILLIONS of dollars.

I heard it described today as "...the Capitalism of Profit and the Socialism of Debt." Use that line the next time some asshole right-winger wants to argue about the burdens of oversight and regulations.

Bush: The Disaster Capitalist's Best Friend

You know, every time I hear George Bush speak publicly, I'm always reminded of his statement that he's "a uniter, not a divider". I'm reminded of it because I'm blown away by how many times he's publicly proven himself to be either delusional, or just a liar.

Todays' press conference (seen below), designed to calm the fears of Americans who might make a run on the bank due to the near collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac among the collapse of other financial giants (due in no small part to a complete lack of oversight and regulation of the mortgage industry - brought to you by the concerted efforts of high-priced finance industry lobbyists), showed again how willing the president is to hammer the Democrats in congress for not allowing the oil companies to exploit sensitive natural reserves like ANWAR - regardless of their failure to exploit the vast majority of government land leases they already hold or the failure to creatmore refining capacity in the last thirty years. Anything they gain at this point in the game is pure gravy.

But, as recent history has proven since September 11, 2001, every American disaster is an opportunity for George Bush Jr. to provide more opportunities for the industry closest to his heart - big oil. The fall of the twin towers allowed a frightened populace to be cow-towed into allowing the invasion of Iraq so energy companies could eventually divide the spoils amongst themselves - assuming we ever get the hornets back in the nest. But even now, as oil executives have recently admitted to congress, they're negotiating side-deals with the Iraqis just in case the U.S. bungles the job - which seems likely considering our current leadership.

So once again Presidnet Bush has missed the opportunity to, in essence, say "We're all in this together people, so let's pull together and fix this energy crisis", and instead accused the Democrats of impeding the progress of oil companies who would no doubt save us if they had the opportunity.

Right.

And President Bush made no call for Americans to conserve energy like President Carter did in the 1970's - well, at least not until a reporter brought it up. What a surprise.

And now.....on to IRAN

Iran is testing medium and long-range missiles in response to recent threats from the U.S. & Israel - to prove they can DEFEND themselves from an attack. The U.S. and Israel vow to DEFEND themselves from IRAN's provocations - of course, nobody is taking responsibility for being on the OFFENSIVE or provoking a war. Just in time for the election, eh?

I think a quote from Hunter S. Thompson sums it up quite well....

"The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country. Make no mistake about it: We are At War now -- with somebody -- and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives."

Democracy Is Not Personal

Yesterday I canceled my MySpace page. Then I cancelled my DetroitCity.com page. Then I canceled my PayPal account. All on a whim. No Regrets. There's an incredibly satisfying feeling I get from paring away the digital clutter in my life. I'll keep my blogger account because I think it's healthy to reflect - not in the meaningless mall-chat of MySpace - but really think out loud on the page. The internet's great and all, but it's not everything and it's sucking too much time out of my life.

Anyway, I've been reading the futurist Douglas Rushkoff for a good many years now and his latest point, which he makes in a speech @ The Personal Democracy Forum, I think, is a good one - that "Personal Democracy" is an oxymoron, a bill of goods sold to the masses to make them feel virtually empowered while keeping them actually separated and weakened as a political force in the real world.

Rushkoff says we should consider our democracy as an open source proposition that can be altered and changed by ACTIVE participation. I think it's a fancy way of saying, "Get off your $%^&* computer and get INVOLVED!" Your computer is only as good as it connects you to real people, real issues, real relationships. It's a tool, not a way of life. I need to remember that.

His A** Is Mine.... More Unsavory Christian Behavior

Well, if I had any doubts about the sexual proclivities of my uptight Christian co-worker, Shitbrick, (as reported in the blog post Unsavory Christian History), those doubts have been laid to rest by another co-worker's (let's call him "Coach") most recent find.

While packing up our office for a move to another building, Coach came across a DVD hidden high on a shelf, well out of view from any passers-by. It was titled "His A** Is Mine" (I think you can fill in the blanks) with the title strategically placed over the hairy hind-quarters of some anonymous male. Ewwwwwwww!

Ok, so it's not my bag (and that was really the wrong word to use).

Anyway, I'm not one to shame the sexual peculiarities of anybody - God knows I have my own and I'm a liberal after all. Live and let live, I always say. It's just the hypocrisy of this particular Christian who spends a great deal of time and energy shaming others for their beliefs, their lack of morals and/or judgment and yes - their sexual preferences. Then it turns out, as it always seems to with this type, that he's projecting his own psychological baggage. ShitBrick has always been a rabid homophobe who even shared a story once of how he threw a hitch-hiking homosexual out of his car, abandoning him by the side of some rural road, and boy if he had his gun he wouldn't know what he might have done....yada, yada, yada.

To me, finding this DVD, and the computer history before it, was like a gift from God - no, seriously! It's like God saying, "Hey, it's ok. See? He's not all that. He's just another frightened, confused human just like you. But he's really trying to be my devotee in his way so be kind. I know you will." Presumptuous, right? Well that's what if feels like anyway.

Even though I've personally suffered from his Christian rigidness and righteousness, I sort of feel bad for him having to harbor such a big secret. The cognitive dissonance it's no doubt creating in his conscience must be hell. But we all have our demons and it's also kind of reassuring, and poetically justified, to know that he has his.