inherently different

Archive for March, 2008

I think we can all agree that Reverend Jeremiah Wright is loopy on many levels. His belief that AIDS is a result of a secret government program against its own citizens pretty much cements his place in the nut house. But not everything that has come out of this mans mouth is crazy. It would be easy to lump everything together (as many Neo-cons love to do), but if you have an IQ slightly higher than that of your average head of lettuce, you can pick out truth from fantasy.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s now famous tirade about America’s foreign policy inciting the terrorist attacks of September 11 is interesting to me. Not because it is controversial… any intelligent person can look beyond the rhetoric and understand that the terrorist attacks on the US were the result of America’s activities on foreign shores. To deny that is akin to denying that the sky is blue or that water is wet. No, what I find interesting about the whole thing is how some people reference race and color in their commentary. Read the rest of this entry »

I know many of you might be surprised to discover that this day is among my favorite holidays. Mostly because it celebrates zombies. Happy return of the living dead day to you and yours. Eat more brains.

I find it ironic that a producer of a film entitled expelled would have the cajones to actually expell a scientist from the premiere. Oh you crazy Intelligent Designers you! You know how to make a statement.

When I stopped working for ASW, I had all this free time on my hands. I What with no longer needing to spend two to three hours a day berating the homeless in San Francisco, I decided that it might be fun for me, and informative for you, to write the story of my life. I will say, before I start writing (and you start reading), that I will use creative license for some of this since it would otherwise be boring. Exaggeration is the duty of every writer after all. The content is all true to my recollection, but some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty in equal measure.

I was born in Mexico in 1966 while my parents were visiting my grandparents. It was the first time my parents had been back since they had emigrated to America.

Even though I weighed upwards of 12 lbs when I was born, it was a relatively simple birth from all accounts. It would be the last time anything that involved me would be described as simple according to my father. Of course, you can’t really rely on my father’s testimony as he once told my brothers a story about how he had walked to the United States from Mexico City in just over a day, fighting bandits, corrupt Federales and two vacationing starlets who wanted him to marry them… both.

At the age of three, I began reading. First it was just the big words I could see around me. I believe my first word was Budweiser. Shortly thereafter, my father was asked to move his collection of beer cans to the garage. I think my love of reading was a defense mechanism. I wasn’t particularly fond of people. They spoke too much, thought too slow and more importantly, they thought there was something wrong with me. It took years for those people to figure it out… I was smarter than they were. It can be a bit disconcerting when that realization comes along.

I began school early. I was just four when I was assigned to Mrs. Donohue’s kindergarten class. Mrs. Donohue was a little person. Of course I mean to say that she was a midget but most midgets, Mrs. Donohue being among them, don’t like the word midget preferring the more socially acceptable label, “Little Person.” She was just over two feet tall and at 3 feet, four inches, I thought it was great that I was taller than my teacher. My glee may have angered the gods because I wouldn’t grow much for the next 13 years.

Mrs. Donohue was the first to discover my love of the written word because I would often skip other activities, including our daily nap time, to cop a few minutes with Dick & Jane. She did her best to focus that energy into finger painting, Lego construction and general playground chaos. She was relatively unsuccessful unless she called for a game of dodge-ball or kickball. Only those two pursuits could tear me away from reading. By the end of my first year, I had read all the books in the class and had begun sneaking over to the first grade classroom to raid their book case.

First grade began with a glimpse of something that would trouble me for the rest of my life. A girl in my class, Justine Harris, who claimed to like me, kicked me in the shins each time she saw me. It wouldn’t be too bad if I had been allowed to smack her back, but my father taught me that I should never hit girls. I’m proud to say that I have yet to raise a hand against the fairer sex… even when anyone would agree they had it coming.

Anyway, first grade was a vacation from life at home around this time. My mother began to experience what would many years later be labeled Post Partum Depression after the birth of my baby brother. Unlike modern mothers who are given various psychedelic remedies to this accursed malady, my mother found solace in the idea that she had two older children who would make suitable aggression therapy tools… you know, cause children don’t often fight back.

After a while, she decided that I was better at hiding the bruises than my older brother and cast all her frustrations out on me. Burned the milk she was heating? Beat E. Dog pee’d in the house because she ignored its pleas to be let out? Beat E. Baby crying because it is hungry? Beat E.

I do agree that it her solution to her problem had a sort of elegance to it. Simple, direct, and according to the glee with which she would rain blows upon my head, satisfying.

I started finding reasons to escape… through reading at first, then through writing. I was fascinated by the written word and found that writing was the only thing that was more satisfying than reading. I began to fill up pages and pages of little composition books with my stories. Until my mother found them and burned them in a fit of rage. I learned to hide things after that.

Eventually though, as I grew older and braver, she stopped beating me. All it took was threatening to kill her while she slept. Of course, that didn’t stop the verbal abuse, in fact, it pushed it to all new levels of malice that even I would think impossible given her limited intelligence.

My father was completely oblivious to what was happening at home. He was working two jobs and focusing on making better lives for all of us. It never really dawned on my brothers and I that we should say something to him and even if we did, I doubt my father would have believed us. Not because we were not to be trusted, but his love for my mother clouded his judgment as well as his vision.

Eventually though, my mother left my father and two brothers for greener pastures. To be honest, that may have been the day I was the happiest I have ever been

To be continued…

Trent Reznor, leader of Nine Inch Nails, has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to both making music and delivering that music to his fan base. Year Zero, his 2007 album, showcased how far his disdain for the music industry has reached… In case you missed it, he released most of it (and some might argue, all of it) for free. He even went as far as asking his audience to steal his album rather than pay for it.

While most musicians make no secret of the fact that CD Album sales are a miniscule part of their income (for most bands, a bulk of their money is generated from touring), Reznor is the first to out-and-out call for a criminal act in relation to acquiring his music.

His latest album, is another “test” of the power of the internet. Nine Inch Nails is now offering Ghosts I – IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection in a number of ways. You can download 9 tracks for free, or all 36 (with a booklet) for as little as $5. There are also options for hardcore fans (including a super bonus $300 collection that is making me wet in ways I had not thought possible) that are sure to generate much more income for Reznor than would have been previously possible under the control of a record label.

According to nin.com, the new record is “almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I – IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.”

Trent Reznor explains, “I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn’t have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective – dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I’m very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts.”

As you can imagine, I downloaded this entire album the moment it was available. I have been listening to it non-stop for two days and can tell you that this might be his best album to date. It rocks in ways that I can’t possibly convey to you without hitting you in the forehead with a meat cleaver of orgasmic love.