Cool...

Be Cool
Only a jazz musician can explain the world in such a way and so well.

Great Speeches...

This is intended to be the first in a short series of remarks to President Bush's 2007 State of the Union address. Political speeches tend to arouse a bit of passion in me, both negatively and positively. It has always been something of a dream of mine to be an orator. I would love to write essays and speeches, and deliver them in such a way as rouse and feed off the energy of my audience. To become a speaker who could incite a riot if I so chose, but instead would rally people to be better or to defend themselves and each other.

Winston Churchill has always been an idol of mine. A far-seeing man of great ability as a writer and as a leader of a nation, listening to his speeches still bristles my hair and stokes the fire in my chest. I have a lapel pin of his silhouette, hat on and cigar in mouth. I have only worn it once so far. It is a good luck symbol for when I need to speak publicly. Visions enter into my mind when thinking of speaking like Churchill. I see myself, as I see him, wearing a trench coat, walking through a wind storm, holding a hat to keep it from flying away. Head down, a long swift stride, walking across a street to a house of governance. Moving through the forces against human action, to this venue, to tell the world the terrible things it does not wish to hear. Telling them the worst has yet to come, but still reinforcing everyone's will to stand firm, because they can and shall emerge from hell. (This is also how I feel when I listen to the 2nd movement of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto.)

So many speeches also bother me, not because of the speaker, but because of the writing itself. It all too often feels like trite wording, using basic techniques, to pull at emotions. Great moments in time require great thought and great writing to wield them. One cannot use Nickelback when Beethoven is needed. The people cannot suffice on cake when bread is needed. And the world cannot be understood via Hollywood when the word of God is needed.

Here is President Bush's address to the nation following the September 11th attacks. To me, the whole speech feels too simple-minded and lacking actual feeling and contemplation. "These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong." It almost seems caveman-ish. They hurt us. They bad. We strong. We good. This is not a critique on the speaker, as this is just the transcript, so I am thinking only in terms of the writing.

I'm sure it is a good enough speech for the people whose information comes solely from television and for people who have never once paid attention to a single day in history class. But for those of us who fully grasp the gravity of events but lack the abilities to use words worthy of them, we need those great speakers of the world to give a voice to the common minds of men.


Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, 4 March 1865:
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Woodrow Wilson, War Message before Congress, 2 April 1917:
Even in a request to declare war against Germany, "We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feeling towards them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not upon their impulse that their Government acted in entering this war. It was not with their previous knowledge or approval. It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and tools."

Winston Churchill, Speech before Commons (Excerpts), 4 June 1940:
"I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone." This whole speech is positively amazing, I highly recommend downloading it and listening to it with no other distractions, as one would have been glued to their radio, their only source of information.

Franklin D Roosevelt, Pearl Harbor Address, 8 December 1941:
"But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us."

Dwight D Eisenhower, Farewell Address, 17 January 1961:
"We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

It almost seems as though the greatest speakers disappeared with the end of the World Wars. But such is not the case at all. I was even hoping to stake the blame on President Reagan and his 'folksy' style of speaking, but he still did not dull the language, and went through what I consider a great gesture and spoke some in the tongue of the land he was in. Still, credit has to be given to the greatest English speaker since the Wars...

Dr Martin Luther King, Beyond Vietnam, 4 April 1967:
"So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools. So we watch them in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village, but we realize that they would never live on the same block in Detroit. I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor."

Ronald Reagan, Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate, 12 June 1987:
"Our gathering today is being broadcast throughout Western Europe and North America. I understand that it is being seen and heard as well in the East. To those listening throughout Eastern Europe, a special word: Although I cannot be with you, I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me. For I join you, as I join your fellow countrymen in the West, in this firm, this unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin. [There is only one Berlin.]"

Mikhail Gorbachev, Speech to the United Nations, 7 December 1988:
"We have arrived at a frontier at which controlled spontaneity leads to a dead end. The world community must learn to shape and direct the process in such a way as to preserve civilization, to make it safe for all and more pleasant for normal life."


At almost regular intervals in the affairs of mankind, great trials will need to be faced. Brilliant minds and deft wisdom will be needed, and thoughtful words to go with them. I'm sure I don't have what it takes, but I do believe that I would be up for challenge were it placed before me. Either way, whomever is writing speeches for those currently in seats of power is severely lacking.


"This will be another moment of time where we, representing mankind, will not succumb to fear. We will weep, and we will mourn, and we will save all we can. And through our sorrow and rage, we will remain stalwart and united.

"Our allies, so many of whom were former enemies, stand with us as friends. They will support us and defend us as we have and forever shall do for them. When you attack a brother, you have the family to reckon with. So it is with the blessings of our allies that we invoke Article V of the NATO charter.

"Together, American Citizens and all other free peoples of the world hereby declare: The perpetrators of this attack shall be found and brought before the light of justice in the World's Court. The reasons behind this desperate act of inhumanity will be revealed. And we shall lift the burden of those horrible manifestations and spare all others from the tragedy which has befallen us."

-Part of what would have been said had I been a mere seventeen years older in 2001.

A Great Idea...

I heard a wonderful idea on the radio the other day. It had to do with the disconnection of American civilians from the Iraq war. In the past, wars would touch the lives of all, at least within one degree. In the World Wars, every ounce of energy went into war production. So many men were drafted and rationing meant everyone contributed. During the Vietnam War, the draft kept all men potentially involved and no one was far removed from the conflict. With the current Iraq War, there are so few involved, all are volunteers (technically), and the most the vast majority of us ever feel is a passing feeling when we hear of yet another few soldiers dead. It has cost so many lives and over 400 billion dollars so far since September of 2001, and it will continue on for many more years.

Currently, the very idea of the draft being activated is practically nonsensical. So what, then, to do about this problem? A thought a brilliant solution was presented by a guest on NPR's All Things Considered the other day. I was in my car and only caught the middle of the interview, which saddens me, because I do prefer to give credit where it is due. So, what should be done to cover the costs and make the citizenry participate in their country's affairs? The suggestion I loved was this: a two dollar War Gas Tax.

The very mention of such a thing hit me like a ton of bricks! What a swift way to directly touch peoples' lives with the war, help pay for the war, and get them reevaluating if it's a war they don't want. I was more than happy to pay double for a tank of gas, then get pissed off and start sending letters to my congressmen. When people are forced to contribute that much of their livelihood, they then question, does my life hang in the balance? If I do not contribute, will my life end due to enemy invasion? Am I saving my friend's or countryman's life by doubling my costs for living? Are we stopping the conquest of half the world by evil, or are we stopping nationalists from freeing their country and brethren?

Within days of hearing this great idea, whenever I would flip past news channels on television, any and all government members, executive and legislative alike, were reiterating the fact that they will not be increasing taxes. Now, this strikes another chord with me: How do we justify not raising taxes when our spending increases every single year? While this is a subject for another entry for sure, it still warrants mentioning.

This concept of government spending has always boggled my mind, as it has anyone I have ever spoken to. If any of us individuals attempted to do what the government does, spending more money than it could possibly earn, we would have been swiftly referred to a "Big, Surly Man with a Bat" collection agency. We cannot continue to subsist without working toward digging ourselves out of debt. We are setting ourselves up for utter economic devastation, and when the US government has to file for bankruptcy, who will they be filing to?

For the record, the President's spending for the Iraq War hasn't gone through any standard budget methods. Namely for the reason of avoiding being turned down for the amount of money that his administration wants/needs to spend to perpetuate the war. Since September 11th and the creation of the 'War on Terror', funding for this so-called war has not been a part of the standard budget, but been acquired through emergency channels. To continue a war we didn't (and still don't) need and stretching our very defenses to the point of being useless to actually fend off an attack, the President is spending our emergency credit.

We have spent money and credit reserved for when something horrendous happens in order to invade a land that had no capability of harming us, or even our allies. (Israel, as it is armed by the United States, has more firepower than the rest of the Middle East combined.) It's like we've used our emergency credit card to rent a car and drive to a Get Rich Quick Scheme seminar. The only people who do that are truly foolish and thoughtless. Of course, that's a rather obvious truth, one which seems to be a regularly presented recurrence.


I'm sorry, that's been quite a bit of rambling ranting. I've been writing this over many days, whenever I have half a thought. And as usual, several half-thoughts still don't add up to being a complete one. But, as this is just a venue for such thoughts, they are appropriate. Good luck trying to comprehend, and feel free to chime in as you, my throngs of readers (both of you), wish.

Ta~

Oh the Mirth...

Why doesn't 007 come out with his own line of adhesives? The ad campaign would write itself...

"Need to glue something? Bond. James Bond!"

The Quiet...

A few years ago, I was reading George Carlin's book Brain Droppings, and he had a fascinating tidbit in there about the noise of the world now and the world little more than one hundred years ago. He mentioned that one hundred years ago, there were no cell phones, no televisions, no satellites, no internet, no radio. Today there are waves of nearly every form and frequency flowing through the air and through our very bodies. Constantly. We are ceaselessly bombarded now. One hundred years ago there was nothing. Complete silence. No wonder disappearing into the high California mountains has always felt so healing and clean (despite the usual company I was with.)

This thought came back to me the other day as I was getting my morning dosage of my unfortunate addiction. At the gas station, pumping through the speakers that freezing morning, was music. A radio station is on for all to hear. It occurred to me that not all too long ago, one would rarely hear music on a daily basis. At least not as we do today.

From every direction and angle, music is piped into our lives. There is now no longer a corner of our world free of music. That is not to say music is in any way a bad thing. Humans have always not only enriched their lives through music, but have used music to help define it. But now, the overuse of music has diminished its impact, leaving it trivial and empty.

Perhaps this is evidence of a different situation altogether. Having all this music around to accentuate our lives is creating something. We now can have our own personal soundtracks as it were. As though one's life is a movie (which many dream it could be), background music can emphasize, accentuate, or even change our moods. One may envelop themselves into a world of their own creation. Well, not exactly their own creation, as the music is composed (or, more frequently, manufactured as I tend to call it) by those not even remotely connected to them.

Individuals seem to now close themselves off from the world more frequently and quite voluntarily. They see and hear only what they wish to. The true reality that they are in fact touching, smelling, and hearing, is being shunned for their own preferences. A music player always in their ears and colored sunglasses in front of their eyes, they drown out the world around them to instead feel what they have carefully filtered and adulterated. The sense of distinction between what is actual versus notional, as well as the feelings of connection to what naturally encompasses us all, dull to the point of numbness.

The topic of this sort of self-absorbtion is one on which I shall assuredly return. While I am a strong believer in the idea that the individual human will is the single strongest force we know in this world, I also fall into what is simply a truth; that we are not alone and that we are inherently social creatures. The soul of a single person grows from its interactions with others, and it is this collection that creates a community, allowing us to achieve more than any one person could ever possibly do.

And that last paragraph gave me a whole other set of ideas to play with. Toodles~

Dvorak...

I've recently decided to try a little experiment. On my old PowerBook, I have decided to rearrange the keyboard. It now has the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout. I'm still quite slow on it, but I only just changed the keys last night. It does feel like a more natural way of typing the English language.

For those who don't know, here is what the Dvorak keyboard looks like:

The main principle behind its design were to make one's fingers alternate between vowels on the left hand and the heavily used consonants on the right hand. I'm actually typing this entry using this system, and I can already tell the difference. So far I think the hardest change is the 'L' key.

I have had an interest in the Dvorak system ever since I was little. I remember reading an article about it in US News and World report and being mystified by the fact the QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow a typer down. What boggled my mind even more was that people didn't switch to a better keyboard with the creation of the electric typewriter or the personal computer. So I've always had an inclination try it out, and now that I have an abundance of computer gear I figured I'd be able to learn without interfering with others' work.

While seeking the settings for this different setup, I came across this article which had apparently been originally published almost exactly one century after the invention of the first typewriter. It shows some of the research Dr Dvorak of the University of Washington, Seattle did. It is quite a fascinating read. For a little more information, I also read the Dvorak keyboard entry at Wikipedia.

So far, I like the way this works. Besides, what can it hurt? It's not like learning this new system means I'll suddenly forget how to type the other way. With each new musical instrument I get under my fingers, I'm still able to play my saxes with no trouble. I highly recommend this experiment to anyone if they have time enough without anything urgent on their plate.

Ta~

My Wandering Mind...

This I Believe is a fascinating program. It is just a three-minute essay written by anyone and everyone about what they see in the world and the things that form their beliefs. I plan to keep reading and listening to what I can, so as to inspire me to write as well.

It seems an unfortunate thing that I cannot access my blogs here at work anymore, for whatever reason. Nearly every day, something triggers my mind to fire into contemplation, but it has nowhere to go. Granted, it is difficult in itself to find a long enough span of time free to spend writing out a complete thought, but I would prefer to have access to what tools I need in order to write.

Of course, the computer is a very poor writing tool for me. I do all my work at the computer. I have most of my forms of entertainment at the computer. And these days I now have the majority of my communications over internet connections. So a computer has become a rather distracting device in my world.

At any given moment, I can tab over to a different program, changing my entire thought. My thoughts are disjunct due to the availability of media in the same space. Because of this, my concentration is not what it could or should be. What's worse is that it has ingrained itself to an involuntary action. Like a nervous tick, I look away or switch screens. I dare not hold onto a single sight or idea too long, apparently.

My life does not appear to hold time enough for me anymore. Writings are left unwritten, instruments are not practiced, and projects fall to the wayside. The actions I take are dictated by the whims and wills of everyone else. At work, I get called in for immediate action. At home, my son and my wife take attention away from my inner thoughts. Even when the others are taken care of, there are maintenance duties that I have to perform around the house if they are to be done.

I just had a brief moment here at work where I could write. And just like some chaotic clockwork, I am called to duty in the middle of a thought, so the thought is now gone. Until the timing of a thought and writing collide again, I bid you all adieu~

O those kooky Christians...

As of late, I seem to have run into more than my standard share of kooky Christians. Now, before I begin, I would like to let it be known that I have nothing against Christians who go about their business in society, regularly worship, and whose faith actually improves their lives. I am not a Christian, or even a religious man in any doctrinal or organized sense. But my respect is always given for those who believe differently and can still think others are good people.

My respect, it hardly needs to be mentioned, is not reserved for those whose faith removes them from civility. The first recent episode to get me on this line of thinking came a few weeks ago. The world, it seems, shrinks to an incredible size sometimes. As I was walking back into a grocery store in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, someone I had just walked past called out to me. I didn't recognize him at first, but he apparently recognized me. The man who got my attention was someone I not only went to high school with, but was also a fellow bandmate of mine! Of all the curious things to happen to me, this was by far one of the less likely.

Speaking with him briefly, it turned out he was out in this area on mission for his church. And for that reason, this incredible coincidence went sour. He took the opportunity of speaking with someone from his hometown over two thousand miles away in order to try to sell Christ to me. I told him that it was unnecessary, but that it would be great if he had the time to stop by for a spot of tea and to chat and catch up a bit. I left him my number and we parted ways, for I had ten pounds of beef in my hands I had to return. It haunted me a little that he went into his spiel on 'talking to me about Christ', the apparent randomness of our meeting being lost, but I shrugged it off. I was not expecting to hear from him again, and left the incident to stand alone as an odd little memory in my mind.

About a week later, I did wind up getting a phone call from him. Once again, he brought up the idea of coming to my home in order to talk to me about Christ. I told him again it was unnecessary; that I was not a Christian and that it held no appeal for me. It was about at this point, I gave up on the idea of meeting with him again to talk about things other than religion. He had some very kinds words to say about his recollection of me from band, and I had quite nice things to say about him and his brother in return (for I knew his brother better than I knew him). We bid each other farewell, and it would seem that we will never speak again.

It saddened me to think that his religion kept him from taking up an opportunity to speak with someone based on a lucky random chance. I'm sure that it was partly due to him being out here to accomplish this duty of his. But my problem with this incident still remains. I was quite looking forward to speaking with him over a cup of tea, being a proper host, and thoroughly soaking in conversing with someone hailing from the same town and now in the same area of the world as I. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. I say unfortunate, because it seems to be that his faith and views on his purpose in this world stopped him from engaging in a simple pleasantry with his fellow man and former schoolmate. It was a shameful loss, in my opinion.

The second occasion that prompted me on this line of thought came at Halloween. We took our son around the neighborhood for the very first time trick-or-treating from our new house. Everyone in the neighborhood was positively grand, and by the time we got to them, quite generous with their remaining candy. One house we stopped at had a kind gentleman handing out little goody bags, with candy and toy money and a little book. When we got home and inspected the good stuff Austin collected, it turned out that goody bag had an ulterior motive.

First we noticed the million dollar bill that came in the bag, and I originally thought it to be a fun idea for a 'trick' gift. Upon further inspection, however, it became obvious this was not simply a fun thing. Written along the edge of the bill, in tiny writing, were lines attempting to forcefully, and in a rather misguided fashion, spread the word of Christ. It opened with text about the sin of lust and pleasures of the flesh and how to reject those evils by following some church's teachings of Christ. The other object in the now cruel gift was a small booklet on tips for memorizing the Ten Commandments and how they should be considered in one's life.

The implications of all this did not hit me at first. I had long been used to being of foreign thought among Christians and having to thoughtlessly toss away the self-proclaimed truths they attempted to sell to me. There has never been a moment of my life that I could not see those ancient myths as just that, myth, and that all the 'truths' attempted to be taught to me could be torn apart by logical reasoning. (Though that is not to say if there could ever have been a meeting between Jesus Christ and Socrates that I would not have been in attendance.) So unfortunately I just tore up and threw away those unpleasant gifts given to my son (hence the lack of citation in this post.)

It was my wife who saw this neighbor's gift as a great indiscretion, and leave it to a mother's instincts to find actual truths in this world. These were not handouts for me, they were directed at my three year old son! Attempting to give messages to a child so new and innocent in this world about lust and sin is truly a horrid act. To this man, ensuring the perpetuation of his own views far outweighs a child remaining innocent in this world. Heaven (apparently) forbid people to be naive to evil, no matter how young they may be.

This is only a small sample of the many examples of why religion never stuck with me. Not only do so many viewpoints touted by religious institutions disregard or turn a blind eye to logic and evidence and science, but to general pleasantries and kindness to those who think differently. Of course, this is not the vast majority of those with faith in this world, and to them and their generosity in my life, I will be forever thankful. But it seems that all major western belief systems have those too-large-to-ignore fringes who would readily be soldiers for their faith, to the point of being against their fellow countrymen and even neighbors.

This fringe, it must be noted, would be utterly impossible for me to police. By me, I mean the secular, civil world. I can do nothing for these people, for my words would be from the mouth of a heathen and be immediately disregarded. It is for the members of their respective faiths, to which the fringe claims to belong, to police. I know it is difficult for those moderate and civil religious members of society to do, as they would much prefer to distance themselves and not make it their own problem.

My small rant here has gone on long enough, and has been a wandering mess of thought over many days. I think the general thought is these sorted situations weigh negatively on my soul. It is so unfortunate that for some, the concept of acceptance and civility towards those who may even think directly opposite does not exist. They will never have peace in their lives. I suppose it is all well and good for them, as they believe they are doing the right thing and though they will never know contentment in this life, they believe they will in their next one, so it is a tolerable condition.

It also hurts me that those who know of my ideas and work their lives to change my ideas. I do nothing to them except personally disagree, yet still they try. I fear that these regular barrages may harden my soul, turning it rough and bitter. I live my life by the view that though I may not be a religious man, I am still wholly capable of being a moral man. Goodness is a logical product of thoughts on potential actions. I try to be moral because it makes sense to be so, not because I am threaten to do so or I am to be rewarded in a way my current life will never experience. To me, this is the only life I will ever get, so why waste it on the fouler things?

Take care, folks~