I will sleep a little better knowing this ass-clown is finally getting the boot (or “going beyond” in his words) and this court case is finally coming to the States for a proper civil trial.

I like to think that if I were a youth in the 50s and 60s, I would have marched with Dr. King in Washington, or cheered on those first black students who broke the color barrier in Mobile, voted for politicians who campaigned against segregation, or had class like Peter Norman, but I forget that there were many popular and powerful forces pushing against the movement and most white folks were apathetic; I too would have sat on the sidelines and went about my day. Thirty years from now, I would like to say that although I was straight, I stood beside those who were not as they forged difficult ground towards civil rights. Today, I voted for domestic partner rights, I’m sure that isn’t enough.

When it comes to foreign policy with Axis of Evils, I used to believe in the bi-lateral approach that respected the sovereignty and dignity of the other and refused to name call, objectify their position, and attempt to see them as a reasonable and responsible equal–until I heard NPR’s brilliant Steve Inskeep totally waste his time interviewing Ahmadinejad this morning. That bag of wind managed to unanswer every question and distinctly take the piss out of every direct inquiry. Blech.

We’ve finished the music up for Urban Hymnal 4. It is good, but honestly, when Matthew Whitney attended rehearsal and sketched up this evil empire, we all felt like another sail was raised on the ship. Very excited to see this thing come together.

You hope for things, perhaps children, they don’t marry and you’re not happy, they marry and their spouse is crap, or their spouse is good and their kids are crap, you’re not happy, you’re bored, you’re not happy, you want something, you want a job, you want peace of mind, it doesn’t happen. I’ve heard that your 30s are meant to be a time of less insecurity, well I have learned to be ok with what I have and that has indeed lowered my insecurity. Who really cares what happens in the grand scheme of things–happiness is elusive, and best left to chance. I truly look forward to one thing, and it is death; the day I leave this mortal coil.

The news reported that the CDC and others are encouraging the news to not call it “swine flu” but rather “H1N1 virus”. And then, the next story: “Swine flu hits Canada!” Brilliant.

Jeff Bezos was on The Daily Show a few weeks back pitching the new Kindle® and touting the brilliance of their AmazonPrime™ program, which apparently provides you “free” two-day shipping for only $79.95 a year. Stewart’s hasty appraisal: “except it costs $79.95 a year”. When I see the “33% more free!” label or 10/$10 special that is really 1/$1, a part of me dies inside. I suppose there are marketing professionals sitting around boardroom tables loathing the reality that putting such spurious claims on their product actually improves sales, but I imagine that the majority are mostly dead inside too. So, I’ll parcel out my grief with the Consumers© too.

Sometimes our prophets have cable television programs and earn a wage mastering sarcasm.

We really should be offended when a corporation advertises that we are their product–”I am a Mac”, “Which iPod are you?” for instance–but we aren’t.

I labor for hours to string together a meaningful song lyric and once in a great while do I suspect they actually move the listener–I usually hide behind loud production and bell ringing. I think songwriters could learn a lot from our poetic peers, they truly make meaning out of the most delicate little phrases. I am in awe of the theology in this bit that a friend sent me the other day–a picture of a possible Heaven with its memory, its emotion, its grace. I know you’ll shutter at this one.

It’s Passover in Heaven
have some gefilte fish!
They’re serving bread unleavened
raising toasts with Manneschevitz

Six million Jews at Heaven’s Seder,
the Holocaust amassed.
With Adolph Hitler, guest of honor,
they’re laughing at the past.

I’ve been reviewing the films I watch now and thought that blogging them was just as good a place as any. Forgive the firehose of posts there, this is my work from January to present. These days I’m less driven by my borderline faith so I figured why not make value out of my movie-a-night trend that has marked post-graduate life. I nearly resolutioned to not watch any film that had a Rotten Tomato score under 60, but that didn’t last long. I haven’t quite figured if I like bad films when I’m depressed or bad films depress me. I don’t much care which is which when my spirits dip; January is always a gutter and I certainly hit the bad film pipe on more than one occasion. I expect to include spoilers in my reviews; consider yourself warned.