BUZZHEAD REPUBLIC

Victoria’s Secret Model Who Quit Over Faith

2012-02-21T04:46:00.000-07:00

Don't Be This Jerk

2012-02-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

Be good to your mother. Don't be a twit.

98-yr-old woman evicted by her son: wtnh.com

A Rabbi, a Priest & an Imam Weigh in on Obama’s Religious Freedom Stance

2012-02-16T04:36:00.000-07:00

Matthew Dean Shaffer #13

2012-02-14T20:38:00.001-07:00

Sorry, I’m Not Don Draper

happy valentine's day to me

Some Of My Wall Art

2012-02-12T15:39:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I posted anything about my art or my photos, so how about photos of my art? They aren't really all that great. But I had fun making them.

This one I made with my dad:

This one was a tribute to my old rust bucket, ye olde Chevy Nova. It consists of a hubcap and random things I found at work over the course of several years. I also rigged it with lights so you can plug it in like a lamp:

This one is made up of three broken skateboards with graffiti on them:

This one I had trouble photographing, but with the two pictures you can get an idea of what it looks like in low and bright lighting. I also used sections of this oil painting for two of my (music) album covers:

Matthew Dean Shaffer #12

2012-02-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

There is a heart shaped grease stain on the floor of my kitchen. I don't have the "heart" to clean it up. Ha haaaa.... (Jeff Goldblum laugh style).

Matthew Dean Shaffer #11

2012-02-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

"We'd be making a lot more progress if Timmy Torture over here wasn't trying to kill me every two seconds!"

Is Popular Rabbi Shmuley Boteach Making a Run for Congress?

2012-02-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

Posted on February 7, 2012 at 6:51am by Sharona Schwartz

The popular rabbi known to some as “America’s Rabbi” just made New Jersey’s newly-formed 9th congressional district race a little more interesting. Best known for his book “Kosher Sex,” his television show “Shalom in the Home,” and his, for a time, spiritually advising Michael Jackson, Orthodox Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has thrown his name – or as he says “yarmulke” – in as a possible candidate for the Republican primary.
Boteach sent a letter of intent to Bergen County Republican Organization’s (BCRO) offices before the January 31st deadline stating that he is considering running, according to “PolitickerNJ.”
The letter of intent doesn’t mean he’s running for certain, as Boteach said via Twitter on February 3rd:

The next day he sounded more resolute:

Boteach laid out his reasons for considering a House run in his Jerusalem Post column, revealing he turned down an offer in 2008 from then-candidate Barack Obama to co-chair “Rabbis for Obama,” because he disagreed with him on too many issues:
And now, in the same spirit, I have cast my yarmulke into the ring by declaring my desire to seek the Republican nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s ninth district where I live. I am now actively exploring the viability of my candidacy and my ability to integrate existing responsibilities into the considerable effort a successful candidacy will entail.
Why would a rabbi run for Congress? Because the problems we’re seeing in our great nation are not caused by an economic downturn but by a values erosion, and I intend to be the values voice that Congress so desperately needs.

The values that have dominated the American political landscape for decades are the American obsession with gay marriage and abortion, to the exclusion of nearly all others, which explains why our country is so incredibly religious yet so seemingly decadent. It’s time to expand the values conversation and policy agenda.
Detailing his platform, he described his plan to save the institution of marriage by promoting legislation to make marital counseling tax-deductible. As the son of divorced parents, his show “Shalom in the Home” aimed to keep families together. He mapped out his ideas to combat materialism on which he blames the economic collapse and supports a moment of silence in public schools:

And while we’re at it, let’s consider legislation to recreate an American Sabbath so parents have an incentive to take their kids to a park rather than teaching them to find satisfaction in the impulse purchase. Bergen County, where I live, has Blue Laws that keep shopping malls shut on Sundays allowing families to coalesce around the dinner table rather than the department store.
Beyond helping the family this will also help counter the growing materialism that continues to poison the American soul leading to the near-collapse of a $10 trillion economy just three years ago when we had homes that were never large enough, cars that were never new enough, and designer labels that were never fashionable enough.
Eighty-one percent of 18- to 25-year-olds surveyed in a Pew Research Center poll said getting rich is their generation’s most important or second-most-important life goal, while 51% said the same about being famous. I am pro-wealth, but only when it is consecrated to a goal higher than mere consumption. That is why I propose a moment of silence to start the day in public schools so children are given time to reflect on issues and a Being larger than themselves.

Boteach says he believes in the separation of church and state, but not “chasing God from public life.” He supports a flat tax, school vouchers, values-based education and a dress code in public schools. On foreign policy, he believes “President Obama has allowed America’s global leadership to seriously weaken.” On the Middle East, he wrote:

…it seems that under our president’s watch Iran will build a nuclear weapon. I will push for and support the drastic measures necessary to ensure that so dangerous and murderous a regime never acquires a doomsday device.
President Obama has, thankfully, reversed course on his unfair pressure on Israel and deserves credit for increasing military and intelligence cooperation with the Jewish state. But who is to say that this has not happened because of his shellacking in the 2010 midterm elections and that the pressure won’t resume if reelected? For this reason, and because Israel is America’s most stalwart and reliable ally – championing American-democratic ideals in the world’s most dangerous region – I intend to be Israel’s staunchest supporter in the United States Congress, should the good people of the New Jersey’s ninth district see fit to choose me as their representative.

Boteach told the Jewish Standard he will base his decision on his ability to recruit the funds necessary to launch a race he estimates as requiring at least a million dollars
Boteach has authored many books including the best-selling “Kosher Sex” and “Kosher Adultery – Seduce and Sin with Your Spouse.” His latest book, “Kosher Jesus” has garnered controversy among some rabbis, one of whom called it heretical. According to Boteach, the book aims:

to offer to Jews and Christians the real story of Jesus, a wholly observant, Pharisaic Rabbi who fought Roman paganism and oppression and was killed for it. While many Christians will be confused by its assertion that Jesus never claimed divinity and not only did not abrogate the Torah but observed every letter of the Law, they will find comfort in my tracing most of Jesus principal teachings back to Jewish sources, this before he was stripped of his Jewishness by later writers who sought to portray him as an enemy of his people. This is especially true of Jesus’ most famous oration, the Sermon on the Mount, which is a reformulation of the Torah he studied and to which he was committed.

Boteach has close relations with evangelical Christians. In 2004, he wrote:

I am a Jew who is deeply in love with evangelical Christians. Although I am at odds with them on various issues, they today constitute the most potent force for good in all America, and the most influential constituency who consistently demands that America be a nation of justice, standing up for the persecuted and living up to its founding ideals of serving as a global beacon of freedom.

If he runs, Boteach will face the Democratic primary winner – either Rep. Steve Rothman or Rep. Bill Pascrell. Two other Republican candidates submitted letters of intent according to PolitickerNJ: Blase Billack of Saddle River, an associate professor of pharmacology at St. John’s University, and Bruce Wrede of Saddle River, senior technician at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission.
Boteach is the father of nine children, including a son who was nominated to West Point and a daughter who is set to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. About a month ago, the rabbi’s name was floated as a possible choice for chief rabbi of the UK.

Matthew Dean Shaffer #10

2012-02-07T03:57:00.001-07:00

"I'm sure I do... but only because Dr. Fumbles McStupid over here was in way over his head!"

‘God Drenched’: Paul Simon May Be ‘Not…Religious’ — But Believers Sure Love His Latest Album

2012-02-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

Posted on February 1, 2012 at 6:37am by Dave Urbanski

Listen again to the storied lyrics of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Sounds of Silence”—assuming those tunes aren’t already hardwired in your brain—and you might find yourself agreeing that legendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon doesn’t mind infusing his music with spiritual themes from time to time.
But for the Jewish-raised troubadour to spend his most recent album, the critically acclaimed So Beautiful or So What, singing about Jesus, angels, the afterlife, and other elements close to the heart of Christianity?
Well, that‘s a narrative turn even Simon didn’t expect.
“It’s funny,” Simon, 70, reflected in a recent PBS interview, “for somebody who’s not a religious person, God comes up a lot in my songs.”
You can watch the entire interview below:

Watch Paul Simon on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

Simon’s most recent project took 6th place in Christianity Today‘s top albums of 2011. CT’s review of So Beautiful or So What, which garnered five out of five stars, noted that Simon is “clearly content with life’s perplexities, humble in the face of what is bigger than himself.”
Spiritual things are “part of my thoughts on a fairly regular basis. I think of it more as spiritual feeling,” Simon told Kim Lawton, who interviewed him for the PBS segment and penned a follow-up piece for CT. “It’s something I recognize in myself and that I enjoy, and I don’t quite understand it.”
You don’t get that impression digging into the spiritually aware lyrics of So Beautiful or So What. One of its best examples is “Getting Ready for Christmas Day,” the catchy, vibrant opener for which Simon samples audio of a 1941 sermon (with the same title) by the Rev. J.M. Gates.

The result is a kind of bittersweet advent prayer—a mix of life’s ups and downs, with Simon’s protagonist looking toward “the power and the glory and the story of the Christmas Day”:

From early in November to the last week of December
I got money matters weighing me down
Oh the music may be merry, but it’s only temporary
I know Santa Claus is coming to town
In the days I work my day job, in the nights I work my night
But it all comes down to working man’s pay
Getting ready, I’m getting ready, ready for Christmas Day
(Reverend Gates) Getting ready for Christmas Day. And let me tell you, namely, the undertaker, he’s getting ready for your body. Not only that, the jailer he’s getting ready for you. Christmas Day. Hmm? And not only the jailer, but the lawyer, the police force. Now getting ready for Christmas Day, and I want you to bear it in mind.

You can check out the song’s music video below:

In the behind-the-scenes video (below), Simon appears a bit in awe of how Gates’ sermon just seemed “meant” for his music and lyrics:

“The Afterlife”—a whimsical tune with insightful perspectives on eternity—features a striking lyric offering that a face-to-face meeting with God should obliterate any earthly burdens we bear:

After you climb up the ladder of time
The Lord God is near
Face-to-face in the vastness of space
Your words disappear
And you feel like you’re swimming in an ocean of love
And the current is strong

And check out the opening salvo of “Love and Hard Times”:

God and His only Son
Paid a courtesy call on Earth
One Sunday morning
Orange blossoms opened their fragrant lips
Songbirds sang from the tips of Cottonwoods
Old folks wept for His love in these hard times

Based on such a collection of (dare we say) biblically rich lyrics, one can‘t help wondering what’s been going on in Simon’s soul of late, whether he understands those goings on or not.
Others haven’t waited for the fabled bard to figure it all out.
Cathleen Falsani, an acclaimed Christian cultural and arts critic, calls So Beautiful or So What “one of the most beautiful, gracefully powerful and memorable collections of spiritual musical musings in recent memory.” She adds a declaration from fellow believer and critic, Northern Ireland’s Steve Stockman, that Simon’s latest effort is “so God drenched that it could win best Christian album of the year.”
It came close, but that would seem a trivial concern to Simon, who clearly gets more out of enjoying this strange turn in his spiritual journey…wherever it takes him.
“Quite often, people read or hear things in my songs that I think are more true than what I wrote,” he told Lawton. “I feel I’m like a vessel, and it passed through me, and I’m glad.”

Treehouse Lover’s Dream: 1,800 Square Feet Spanning Seven Trees

2012-02-04T06:24:00.001-07:00

Posted on February 1, 2012 at 11:47pm by Liz Klimas

Is Michael Garnier’s 1,800-square-foot home built within the branches of seven trees the largest treehouse in the world? He sure thinks so.
Fair Companies reports Garnier saying he knows this because “I‘ve been claiming it and nobody’s saying that it isn’t. Nobody’s showed me a bigger one.”

The home is built primarily around a 300-year-old white oak, which is no longer living, but also incorporates seven trees into its structure, making it a “trees-house”.
Check out Fair Companies’s footage of the home:

Beck on the Global Caliphate a Year Later: ‘If I’m Wrong, We Bought Extra Food…If They’re Wrong, We Die’

2012-02-04T06:10:00.000-07:00

Posted on February 1, 2012 at 9:35pm by Tiffany Gabbay

Video follows below.
He was called “paranoid” and “conspiratorial” when he spent the last six months of his Fox News-hosted broadcast warning the nation about the ramifications of a pending global Islamic caliphate. He was incessantly mocked for informing Americans about the importance of emergency preparedness. Still, Glenn Beck felt it imperative to lay bare the dangers that lie ahead and said he’d “rather be called a kook and be alive” than bury his head in the sand “and be dead.”

During Thursday’s episode of The Glenn Beck Program, Glenn reviewed the past year and explained why he predicted the rise of a global caliphate accelerated by the onset of the Arab Spring — a prediction, Glenn reminds, that was “ruthlessly mocked.”
Those who want to restore an Islamic caliphate “are succeeding” as, according to Glenn, the mainstream media along with the Obama administration are dubbing them “moderate Islamists.”
“The media has become a danger to mankind,” Glenn said pointedly as he played clips of the many atrocities carried out by members of this “moderate community” that the media has failed to report on. We will suffer the “consequences of their arrogance and stupidity,” he added.
What happens to those who live under extreme Islamic rule? If you live an alternative lifestyle — in other words, you are a homosexual, or have committed adultery, or perhaps only engaged in premarital sexual relations –”you’re dead,” Glenn stated.

“That’s not hyperbole!”
Glenn reminded viewers of a horrific incident in Saudi Arabia where 15 young school girls were made to perish in a burning building as the country’s religious police barred them from leaving the inferno. The reason these innocent children were not permitted to leave a burning building? They were not wearing their Islamic head scarves.
If you’re Jewish or Christian, “you’re dead,” or, if you’re thought to be a Jewish reporter — as was the case with CBS correspondent Lara Logan – “they rape you” and if people aren’t around to stop it, “you’re dead!”
Glenn also made note of CNN‘s absurdity in blurring out the images of Logan’s rapists when the network aired a report about the incident, thus protecting the identity of the reporter’s assailants.
Glenn takes us on a tour of the Middle East and Arab Spring and warns: ”If I’m wrong, we bought extra food. If they’re [media/administration] wrong, we die.”

(Related: ‘What’s Coming?’: This Is the GBTV Segment That Has Glenn Beck ‘Scared’)

Spooky: New Photos Peer Inside an Abandoned Island Leper Colony Near NYC

2012-02-04T06:06:00.000-07:00

Posted on February 1, 2012 at 10:37pm by Buck Sexton

Debris, decay, and the unmerciful growth of nature define this abandoned island for banished people. North Brother Island was once the last refuge of society’s castaways, and though it has been left to rot for 50 years, new photographs have breathed life into this eerie facility.
Photographer and historian Ian Ference received special access to the site, and his photos have appeared in The Daily Mail. What you will see below is a haunting photographic collage that reminds us all of a long-forgotten place.

A former quarantine zone, leper colony and centre for drug addicts, these spooky buildings were once home to hundreds of patients.
But the Daily Mail has highlighted its insidious reputation, stating that it was once “a place of indescribable misery, which one inmate compared to the notorious black hole of Calcutta.”

While very few New Yorkers even know about this abandoned facility, it is only 350 yards from highly populated areas of the Bronx. North Brother Island was used as a quarantine centre for the first time back in 1885.

Soon after is opening, it was home to a few lepers, but its most infamous resident was an Irish immigrant who came to be known as ‘Typhoid Mary.”
After years moving from family to family as a cook, spreading the typhoid infection wherever she went despite showing no symptoms herself, police forcibly relocated Mary to North Brother Island.
She spent years confined to wandering her wooded prison island.

North Brother Island also had a front row-seat to the 1904 fire onboard the passenger ship, General Slocum. The steam ship, which was carrying a Lutheran Church outing on Manhattan’s East River, caught fire. Of the 1342 people on board, 1,021 were killed in the disaster, and most of the dead were women and children.
Offiicially Closed in 1963, North Brother Island has become something of an urban legend to those who knows about it. Protected species of birds are its only year-round inhabitants and armed authorities patrol the waters to ensure the former quarantine zone is never violated.

Photographer Ian Ference told the Daily Mail: “This has got to be one of America’s most important places to visit,’ he said. ‘Historically it has had a notorious and sometimes sinister reputation.”
Ference added that ‘It was established as a forced quarantine camp for people suffering from infectious and often fatal diseases such as typhoid, scarlet fever, yellow fever and typhus. There were six people suffering from leprosy confined here in wooden huts.”

During this time in New York’s history, there was widespread fear that unclean immigrants from European countries like Ireland and Italy were forced to live in crowded and unsanitary conditions that allowed dangerous disease to spread like wildfire.

‘Health authorities had a mandate from the people to track down and detain those infected with certain diseases. Unless they happened to be wealthy enough to afford a private clinic, these poor souls would be sent to quarantine areas. And among the most notorious quarantines was North Broth Island.

Conditions on the island, even for the time, were considered deplorable. The mortality rate for patients there was high, and it appeared in many cases to be more of a place one was sent to rot and die than recover and re-enter society.
According to Ference:

”Its first inhabitants were those unfortunate patients with communicable diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis, scarlet fever and diphtheria, who were forcibly removed from the city’s teeming streets. Living conditions were primitive, a hotch-potch of pavilions, tents and cottages flung up around the central Riverside Hospital.”

Ference also described harsh living conditions on the island:

“When bad weather stopped ferries from running there were food shortages and in winter, frequently little heat. Incarceration on North Brother was often a death sentence. Those who did return from its shores spoke of a hellish environment like ‘the black hole of Calcutta.”

Unlike modern New York, with ubiquitous cellular phones, internet, and even live video chat, back in the heyday of North Brother, those sent to the island were completely cut off from the rest of the world. Many patients were never seen or heard from by their families ever again.

Today, only a handful of ornithologists are allowed to visit the island to document its colony of black-crowned night herons. City patrol officers keep watch on the island, though some intrepid bloggers have described their illegal trips to this abandoned place for those society had forgotten.
There are even more of these stunning, yet haunting, Ian Ference photos here, and additional historical descriptions of the island, courtesy of The Daily Mail.

‘What’s Coming?’: The Possibility Of A Scary Future For America and the World

2012-02-04T05:42:00.000-07:00

Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:04am by Billy Hallowell

Last night, we brought you Glenn Beck’s commentary regarding the establishment of an Islamic caliphate (something he says Islamists “are succeeding” at accomplishing).
Now, we have a report by Beck’s expert panel on radical Islam, including Retired Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, CBN News’ Erick Stakelbeck and Frank Gaffney from the Center for Security Policy. The group discussed the potential calamity and international unrest that may be coming as a result of the growing prominence of radical Islamists. And it’s a segment that Beck categorized as “scary” on Thursday morning.
(Related: Beck on the Global Caliphate a Year Later: ‘If I’m Wrong, We Bought Extra Food…If They’re Wrong, We Die’)
The segment, called “What’s Coming?,” explored what’s occurred in the past year and what, based on the events and rhetoric we’re seeing, may be on the way. The discussion opened with what Boykin called America’s achilles heel — the nation’s dependence on foreign oil — and the dangers this weak-spot poses to the country’s survival.
“If we lose Persian Gulf oil and then if Chavez was to cut off our oil coming out of Venezuela, we could not fight — we couldn’t re-open the Persian Gulf,” Boykin said.
While this, in itself, was concerning, Stakelbeck‘s signaled warnings about Iran’s potential plans to seek the destruction of both Israel and America.
“I believe this is the year of reckoning for Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” he said. “I also believe that Iran might get this started off by instigating a proxy war on Israel’s borders.”
Later, Stakelbeck reiterated this warning and said that America, not Israel, is Iran’s main target.

“Our own Pentagon issued a report in 2010 saying that by the year 2015, Iran may have intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the East Coast of the United States within three years,” he said. “Those missiles will be nuclear-tipped. We are the ultimate prize. Israel is a bump in the road.”
Gaffney’s words mirrored these warnings.
“One of the things that the Iranians have repeatedly said in the person of the president is — not only do they want to wipe Israel off the map — that’s old news — but that a world without America is not only desirable, it’s achievable,” Gaffney claimed.
He continued, claiming that there is truly only be one way that such a demolition would be possible. Unfortunately, he said the method – electromagnetic pulse — is something the world has been watching Iran publicly prepare to have the capability to achieve. Back in November, Stakelbeck explained this method on the CBN News web site as follows:

A nuclear weapon detonated above the U.S. would emit powerful electromagnetic pulses, frying America’s electrical grid and shutting down necessities from cars to computers to airplanes and refrigerators.

“If you take a missile and you launch it over the United States and you detonate it with a nuclear warhead outside the atmosphere, you can crater this country,” Gaffney explained.
“I‘m with these guys that there’s a war on,” he continued, referring to his co-panelists. “I don’t know where and I don‘t know whether we’re in it — but it’s not going to be good for freedom.”
In describing the caliphate that may be forming, Boykin said that Turkey is going to be key. He said:

“What this Arab Spring…is also resulting in, is a huge power struggle that ultimately is going to bring about change in Turkey. Because Turkey wants very much to be the center of the caliphate as it is being established — as does Iran. We are going to see a substantially different turkey a year from now than we do now.”

Stakelbeck went on to claim that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “viciously anti-Israel” and that he all-too-frequently advises President Obama on issues related to the Arab Spring. According to Stakelbeck, the Turkish leader continues to assure the president that the Islamist movements are moderate and harmless, despite their potential dangers.
Boykin, too, said that Erdogan may prove to be a problem, as he was welcomed by the Muslim Brotherhood as the new head of the Islamic world — yet another clue that the caliphate may be on the horizon.
While the segment may be horrifying and concerning to some, it provided a great deal of information, especially concerning the infiltration of Islamist influence here in America. This, of course, is a subject we’ve discussed in detail on the Blaze.
Despite these warnings, Beck had a message about faith and the way in which all Americans can help stem the impending chaos.
“I will tell you the only answer…is God. Only turning back to him, doing the right things according to him,” he said. “He is begging us ‘get behind me, just get behind me…I’ll take care of it.’ A lot of pain coming. But miracles are coming as well.”
Watch this important segment, below:

Google Agrees to Censor Blogs in Certain Countries

2012-02-04T05:29:00.000-07:00

Posted on February 3, 2012 at 10:03am by Liz Klimas

Late last week Twitter announced it would block tweets in certain countries — while still allowing the rest of the world to see them — in order for it to “enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression” and prevent blocking of the tweet completely. Just a few days later, Google announced it would follow suit with a similar policy on Blogger, the company’s blog platform.
Techdows (via PC Mag) reported that bloggers using the .blogspot service outside of the United States may actually see a country-specific URL, like .blogspot.in if you were in India for example. Why? Google states:

Migrating to localized domains will allow us to continue promoting free expression and responsible publishing while providing greater flexibility in complying with valid removal requests pursuant to local law. By utilizing ccTLDs, content removals can be managed on a per country basis, which will limit their impact to the smallest number of readers. Content removed due to a specific country’s law will only be removed from the relevant ccTLD.

Google goes on to explain that if you’re visiting a blog that does not “correspond” with your current location, you will be directed to the domain associated with the country that correlates with your IP address.
Google also states that bloggers are able to request content from a specific country by using the http://[blogname].blogspot.com/ncr URL. “NCR” stands for “No Country Redirect”.

The Daily Mail reports that Blogger, purchased by Google in 2003, was banned in countries like Syria, Iran and China. Although Twitter and Google state this action will actually help spread Internet freedom, some groups are concerned over the move. The Daily Mail has more:

Internet freedom group Open Net Initiative said of Twitter’s recent policy change, “The change marks a new trend in American Internet companies bowing to the demands of authoritarian regimes.”
[...]
Tech blog Techdirt said, “If more and more companies follow the lead of Google and Twitter, as seems quite likely, it could represent the beginning of the end of the truly global Internet.”

“In its place will be an online world subject to a patchwork of local laws.”

Still, others share the similar convictions as the companies about the action to censor in specific countries because this means the blog posts and tweets will not be blocked completely as they were before.
Related: In Nov. 2011, Sen. Joseph Lieberman petitioned Google to create a function allowing people to “flag” terrorist activity or terror-supporting sentiments on the Blogger platform.

Beck & Rabbi Lapin Show Why You Should Care About ‘Baal’ & Rising Secular Fundamentalism

2012-02-04T04:05:00.001-07:00

Posted on February 3, 2012 at 9:01am by Billy Hallowell

On Thursday evening, Glenn Beck teamed up with Rabbi Daniel Lapin to explore the rise of secular fundamentalism.
During their discussion, they tackled the elements comprising this growing phenomenon and explored how its expansion and prominence is taking form in contemporary society. Due to the importance of the subject, GBTV has made the entire, five-part interview available free-of-charge (watch it, below).
In Part I, Beck and Lapin discuss the historical nature of Baal and the vast cultural and societal changes that we’ve seen here in America over the past few decades. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of Baal, Lapin provides a very pointed definition (this quote is present in Part II of their discussion):

“Think of it as spiritual gravity. It is that which tugs our better natures downwards — to everything that is a yielding to bodily appetites, a yielding to darkness, a yielding to hopelessness and pessimism, a yielding to a sense of shortage and misery. All of these things that are so easily capable of overwhelming us as human beings as we struggle to remain encouraged and bright and filled with faith. That is the tension that exists within our hearts.”

In a world dominated by negative media messages, false idols and temptations, it is this concept of Baal — this “spiritual warfare” — that holds the potential to prevent human beings from connecting with God and from being the fulfilled individuals God would like them to be.
“The dark and depraved side of human nature is as evident today in the United States of America and in the most sophisticated corners of America — perhaps specifically there,” Lapin explained. Here’s the first part of the discussion:

Below, watch Part II, during which Lapin sets up the premise, history and the Biblical mentions of the Baal. Additionally, he further explains this gravitational force that purportedly exists within the hearts of mankind:

In Part III, Beck proclaims, “The forces of Baal are just as strong now as they were 3,000 years ago.” In this section of the interview, Lapin and Beck take on the contemporary presence of and “the terrifying, seductive power” of the Baal. They mention this spiritual force and its involvement in Occupy Wall Street, Woodstock and other moral conundrums:

The Baal’s appeal toward violence is tackled in Part IV, among other issues, as Beck and Lapin continued their discussion about the phenomenon’s contemporary impact:

“The only hope for our economy, for our military security, for our cultural viability, for a civil society — the only hope for all of these things — is a revival of fervent, committed, evangelical Christianity,” Lapin concludes in Part V:

New Whiteboard Video Blasts Obama‘s ’Islamist Sympathies’

2012-02-04T03:46:00.001-07:00

A new animated video created to accompany Andrew McCarthy’s new book “The Grand Jihad” highlights the dangers of Islamism, while explaining the history and overarching goals of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East. Additionally, it alleges that the Obama administration has not adequately addressed — and has continued to ignore — the horrific potential associated with the group’s power siege.
“President Obama does not seem to see the problem,” the short film’s voice-over proclaims. ”The Obama policy of courting the Muslim Brotherhood has not changed the Brothers. It has empowered them to advance their anti-American program.”

The video then goes on to explain the radical group’s history, while exploring the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire and Sheikh Hasan Al Banna’s (an Egyptian) subsequent founding of the Brotherhood in 1928.
Al Banna, the video proclaims, hated the West, was anti-colonial, embraced Shariah law and was intent on seeing Islam dominate across national lines.
Watch the clip, below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dRr854zxbA&feature=player_embedded

The description accompanying the video provides more information on McCarthy and on the Brotherhood:
The real threat to the United States is not terrorism. The real threat is the sophisticated forces of Islamism, which have collaborated with the American Left not only to undermine U.S. national security but to shred the fabric of American constitutional democracy.
In The Grand Jihad, bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy provides a harrowing account of how the global Islamist movement’s jihad involves far more than terrorist attacks, and how it has found the ideal partner in President Barack Obama, whose Islamist sympathies run deep.

McCarthy is the former federal prosecutor who convicted the notorious “Blind Sheikh” and other jihadists for waging a terrorist war that included the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. In his national bestseller, Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad (Encounter 2008), he explored government’s conscious avoidance of the terrorist threat, which made the nation vulnerable to mass-murder attacks. In The Grand Jihad he exposes a more insidious peril: government’s active concealment of the Islamist ideology that unabashedly vows to “conquer America.” With the help of witting and unwitting accomplices in and out of government, Islamism doesn’t merely fuel terrorism but spawns America-hating Islamic enclaves in our midst and gradually foists Islam’s repressive law, sharia, on American life. The revolutionary doctrine has made common cause with an ascendant Left that also seeks radical transformation of our constitutional order. The prognosis for liberty could not be more dire.
For more information about “The Grand Jihad” go here.

A Long December

2011-12-31T11:30:00.042-07:00

A long December and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last. - Counting Crows

Walt Whitman once said, "Re-examine all you have been told... Dismiss what insults your Soul". I am an introspective person, and I have done this more times than I can count. As the year comes to a close I feel I should share what has insulted my soul the most.You guessed it, it has something to do with music. Lots of unknown people on the internet told me this year that I will never make it.

I never got the call I was promised. I never ended up on MTV Europe like I was promised. I sank (and my parents did also because they helped) over $500 for empty promises. I know the industry is hard to get into these days, but it should never be this hard. If what I am doing today was out there in the late 80s, early 90s I wouldn't have a reason to write. I would have been signed years ago.

Now, before you laugh, let me explain. Today's music conditions, whatever you want to blame them on, internet, economy, technology, have made it so that you have to be perfect or you get overlooked. Not just by the industry but by the consumer as well. Few people care about originality anymore. They might say otherwise, but they prove it with their paychecks every week. Some of you might say, "what about Justin Bieber? He made it. So it must be your voice."

I'll be the first to admit that my voice sucks. But it's better than a lot of famous artists. The difference between me and them is the recording studio, equipment, and engineer. I barely have something that qualifies as a studio, almost no equipment, and I am not an engineer though I try my best.The other difference is they had the benefit of getting a record deal in a time when a perfect recording wasn't expected. Here are just a few examples of bands and/or artists who vocally sound comparably equal to or worse than me:

Husker Du
Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices)
The Pixies
Beck
Thom Yorke (Radiohead)
PJ Harvey
Sonic Youth
Butthole Surfers
Archers of Loaf
Built To Spill
Smashing Pumpkins
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails)
The Cranberries

If you said, "But they sound better than you," well of course they do! It is a grave injustice to me to compare my lo-fi home recordings to hi-fi studio recordings of equally lo-fi bands! Just listen to their raw un-produced tracks if you don't believe me. In some cases I sound perfect compared to them. Oh, and the same argument goes for my "sound".

DON'T WRITE ME OFF JUST BECAUSE I DON'T SOUND PERFECT! ...[sigh]... This is what insults my Soul, and I dismiss it.

The nightmarish SOPA hearings

2011-12-19T02:10:00.000-07:00

Posted at 03:28 PM ET, 12/15/2011
The nightmarish SOPA hearings
By Alexandra Petri

Last night I had a horrifying dream that a group of well-intentioned middle-aged people who could not distinguish between a domain name and an IP address were trying to regulate the Internet. Then I woke up and the Judiciary Committee’s SOPA hearings markup was on.

It’s exactly as we feared. For every person who appears to have some grip on the issue, there were three or four yelling at him.

“I’m not a nerd,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D- Calif.). “I aspire to be a nerd.”

“I’m a nerd,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).

If I had a dime for every time someone in the hearing markup used the phrase “I’m not a nerd” or “I’m no tech expert, but they tell me . . .,” I’d have a large number of dimes and still feel intensely worried about the future of the uncensored Internet. If this were surgery, the patient would have run out screaming a long time ago. But this is like a group of well-intentioned amateurs getting together to perform heart surgery on a patient incapable of moving. “We hear from the motion picture industry that heart surgery is what’s required,” they say cheerily. “We’re not going to cut the good valves, just the bad — neurons, or whatever you call those durn thingies.”

This is terrifying to watch. It would be amusing — there’s nothing like people who did not grow up with the Internet attempting to ask questions about technology very slowly and stumbling over words like “server” and “service” when you want an easy laugh. Except that this time, the joke’s on us.

It’s been a truism for some time that you can tell innovation in an industry has ceased when the industry starts to develop a robust lobbying and litigating presence instead.

As long as there have been new technologies, the entertainment industry has been trying to get them shut down as filthy, thieving pirates. Video cassettes? Will anyone tune into TV again? MP3 players? Why even bother making a record? Digital video recorder that lets you skip ads? That’s a form of theft!

But SOPA is threatening to touch something far more precious than that — the glorious sprawl of the Internet.

SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, is a bill that, in the name of preventing online piracy of copyrighted work, creates a horrifyingly large censorship authority for the Internet. Among other things, it requires service providers (which have come out opposing the bill) to block access to entire sites if a user on the site is accused of copyright infringement.

There are dozens of reasons this is wrong. The biggest and most pressing is that not only does the bill not do what it sets out to do, it also creates a horrifyingly blunt instrument to censor the Internet.

One of the underlying assumptions of our system of government has always been that even though people mean well now, that doesn’t mean you give them the authority to do terrible things later. The attorney general now may use SOPA in only the most narrowly tailored of cases. But as the Founders knew, it is unwise to give people more powers than you would like them to use.

There ought to be a law, I think, that in order to regulate something you have to have some understanding of it. And when people are saying things like, “This is just the rogue foreign Web sites” and “This only targets the bad actors” and “So you want universities to host illegal pirated versions of copyrighted content?,” it’s enough to make you claw out large fistfuls of your hair. No! No! Nobody is hosting anything. This bill would require service providers to cut off access to entire Web sites where users are deemed to be engaging in copyright infringement, not take down stolen content they posted themselves. That’s already against the law. But no one seemed to be able to express this.

When you have a signed letter from the engineers responsible for creating the Internet pointing out that this bill would jeopardize our cybersecurity, balkanize the Internet and create a climate of uncertainty that would stifle innovation, it seems odd to ignore it. As a general rule, when the people saying that this will have a horrible, chilling impact on something are the ones who created that thing in the first place, and the people who are saying, “Oh, no, it’ll be fine, it only targets the bad actors” are members of the Motion Picture Association of America, it seems obvious whose opinion you should heed.

And the rush to legislate struck many of the committee members as odd. “Haste makes waste,” Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) noted. Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) asked, “Why is there this rush to judgment?,” noting, “I have rarely been part of a committee operation where we have not had . . . technical experts to deal with major concerns that have arisen.”

This is enough to paralyze a person with dread.

When Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) proposed an amendment to exempt colleges and not-for-profit institutions from the unfunded mandate of having to shut off access to certain sites — like freedom, Internet censorship isn’t free — it was shot down 23 to 9. When he proposed another amendment to target the restrictions not at IP addresses (which, as he noted, can be dynamic and assigned to toasters) but at domain names, it fell just as easily.

This afternoon, the hearings markups continue, with even more amendments. But at the rate it’s going, it looks likely that SOPA will make it to the floor.

I just want the nightmare to be over.

Stop SOPA! A Plea from the Inventors of the Internet

2011-12-19T01:57:00.000-07:00

Stop SOPA! A Plea from the Inventors of the Internet

By Tony Bradley, PCWorld

What happens when you combine an overzealous drive to fight Internet piracy, with elected representatives who don’t know the difference between DNS, IM, and MP3? You get SOPA--draconian legislation that far exceeds its intended scope, and threatens the Constitutional rights of law abiding citizens. And it may just pass.
Similar Articles:

An open letter to Congress written by luminaries of the Internet, such as Vint Cerf--co-designer of TCP/IP, and Robert W. Taylor--founder of ARPAnet among others, implores Congress to back off and squash both SOPA, and its sibling PIPA legislation. The letter states, “If enacted, either of these bills will create an environment of tremendous fear and uncertainty for technological innovation, and seriously harm the credibility of the United States in its role as a steward of key Internet infrastructure.”

The letter goes on to ominously caution Congress. “If the US begins to use its central position in the network for censorship that advances its political and economic agenda, the consequences will be far-reaching and destructive.”

Paul Tassi, a sometimes writer for Forbes, makes his primary living from a website he co-founded. Unreality.com is a movie, TV, and gaming review site—a site that relies on linking to clips and screen captures of movies, TV shows, and video games.

Tassi pleads, “The internet is my life now. It’s how I pay my rent and it’s how I’ll support my future family. By passing a law that turns me and millions of others into copyright criminals, there’s no way to sink the economy faster than by shackling the one industry that has more innovation and growth than any other.”

You only really need to know one thing about SOPA to realize that it’s bad legislation that must be stopped: it is supported (and probably written) by the RIAA and MPAA. These organizations are like crotchety old men yelling at the neighbor kids to get off their lawn. But, in this case their "lawn" is the Internet, and instead of "yelling" they’re threatening to fill it with landmines that effectively make it useless.

It is almost 2012. It has been nearly 30 years since services like Prodigy and America Online introduced the mainstream world to the Internet. It has been almost 20 years since Netscape came on the scene, and the Web took the world by storm. It is no longer tolerable for an elected representative to be clueless about how the Internet works. It’s just not acceptable.

If the bill passes, it could have devastating, cascading consequences that ripple across the Internet and affect the freedom and civil liberties of every citizen of the United States. It seems our current elected representatives may just be dumb and/or crazy enough to pass it, though—so speak up and let your representative and senators know what you think of SOPA.

New Tunes

2011-11-10T00:28:00.001-07:00

Joy #4

2011-10-24T02:27:00.001-06:00

In Case Everything Goes Sideways

2011-10-15T17:51:00.000-06:00

Highlights from last night’s GBTV special

Friday, Oct 14, 2011 at 9:15 AM EDT
Last night on GBTV, Glenn laid out steps people can take to prepare for any upheaval that might be coming to America. You can tune in to catch this special for free by signing up for a two week free trial!
In the clip below, Glenn explains why he put together these action steps for his family and his audience:

Glenn then explained some of the preparation steps:

He spent a good hour going through the steps, and covering everything from business to jobs to money to faith and family:

And while many in the media may say that Glenn is motivated by anger, they could not be more wrong. Below, Glenn explains that he’s not angry at all, but motivated by love:

Joy #3

2011-10-02T04:50:00.000-06:00

A piano melody pulled straight from my heart. This is from the movie "The Baxter". The song is "Hero" by El May. It is a joy to hear that there are still songs produced in that obscure 80s and 90s underground (but not really) style. If that even makes sense.

Joy #2

2011-10-01T00:58:00.002-06:00

6 Movie and TV Universes That Overlap

2011-09-29T02:10:00.000-06:00

6 Movie and TV Universes That Overlap in Mind-blowing Ways

#3. Conan the Barbarian and Cthulhu: Best Buds Forever?

Cthulhu art via fantasyflightgames.com

One is an action/fantasy hero famously portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger and his once mighty pectorals. The other is perhaps the most significant creation in 20th-century horror literature and H.P. Lovecraft's signature character. A Conan/Cthulhu connection seems unlikely, if not impossible -- and probably would be if not for the fact that their creators were BFFs.

Wikipedia
Their dapperness united them.

H.P. Lovecraft and Conan's creator, Robert E. Howard, published their most famous stories in the same pulp magazine, Weird Tales. The two writers became friends in the 1930s, and as friends often do, started slipping references to each other's work in their stories. For example, the very first Conan story mentions Lovecraft's "Old Ones" and explicitly named Cthulhu in the original draft. That's right: Conan's adventures were part of the Cthulhu mythos from the beginning.

Get the ftaghn out.

There are numerous other references to Lovecraft in Conan stories, but we'll admit they don't seem so shocking now, what with Cthulhu showing up pretty much everywhere these days ...

South Park
There's also that Simpsons episode where Homer helps him deal with his fear of escalators.

However, this is different because Lovecraft himself included several shout-outs to Conan in the original Cthulhu stories -- one story features a character from Cimmeria (Conan's homeland) who is named after Conan's nemesis, and another mentions the Serpent Men of Valusia, best known as the bad guys from the cheesy Conan cartoon:

In fact, in that same cartoon (as in Robert Howard's stories), the Serpent Men worship a snake god called Set -- that's another name for Yig, one of Lovecraft's Old Ones. Incidentally, the Snake Men from He-Man are thinly veiled rip-offs of the Serpent Men (just as He-Man is a thinly veiled rip-off of Conan) and worshipped practically the same ancient snake deity. And say, what did Skeletor's lair look like, again?

retrojunk
"In his house at R'lyeh, Dead Skeletor waits dreaming."

The snake monsters and such are probably the only connection to Lovecraft that still survives in the Conan franchise -- just take a look at the trailer for the new movie. As Conan's popularity exploded (and the character started being dumbed down for other media), most Cthulhu mythos references ended up being edited out of his original stories and ignored by subsequent writers.

fantasyflightgames.com
"Edited out" in this case means "forcibly removed from the memories of."

But hey, at least he didn't become an overused Internet meme.

#2. The Guy from Wolfenstein Is the Grandfather of the Kid From Commander Keen

You probably won't be too shocked if we tell you that id Software, the company best known for shooting games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake, also did a cutesy Mario-like platform game called Commander Keen. After all, this is nothing new -- the company that made Resident Evil also did the Megaman series, and the creator of Dragon Quest also published disturbing toddler porn games for PC. In fact, video game companies rarely stick to doing the same type of game over and over.

Of course, there are exceptions.

What's surprising in this case is that id Software seems to have gone out of its way to link its vastly different franchises together -- you wouldn't expect one of the kids from Yu-Gi-Oh! to show up in Silent Hill, or Ms. Pac-Man to be an unlockable character in Mortal Kombat.

Although we could totally see that happening now.

Commander Keen was id Software's first big hit in the early '90s, and it stars an 8-year-old boy called Billy Blazkowicz who fights cartoony aliens and vegetable people with his pogo stick. It's a pretty Nintendo-esque game, which is explained by the fact that it started as a project to bring Super Mario games to PC.

That thing on his head is a helmet, and sadly not a glorious chinstrap beard.

A couple of years later, the same company released Wolfenstein 3D, a violent first-person shooter about an Allied soldier shooting his way through a castle full of Nazi atrocities. The name of the protagonist? William Blazkowicz, Billy's grandfather.

"Sit on my lap, Billy, and let me tell you about the time I blew Robot Hitler's head off."

There's more: id Software's next hit was Doom, an even more violent shooter about a futuristic soldier fighting space demons (or something: nobody's quite sure). The identity of Doom's protagonist has never been officially revealed by id Software, but it's been hinted that he's a member of the Blazkowicz family, too: In Wolfenstein RPG, the Nazis summon a demon called the "Harbinger of Doom." William Blazkowicz defeats the demon by cutting off an arm and a leg, and as he's banished back into hell, the demon swears to return one day and haunt William's descendants.
If you've played the original Doom games, you might remember the exact same demon from this part:

Note that the robot parts replace the limbs William blasted off.

So apparently the Doom guy is the descendant of Wolfenstein's protagonist, which means he's a family member of Commander Keen, too -- unless they are actually the same person.

This screenshot from Doom 2 says otherwise. id Software -- you're sick, sick people.

#1. Daredevil and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Were Created in the Same Traffic Accident

Superhero crossovers are nothing new, but what makes this one special is the blatant illegality and in-story significance of it. Daredevil had existed for 20 years before the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles showed up in the '80s -- and yet their origins establish that they are both the products of the same traffic accident and the same mysterious goo.
Daredevil's origin, as shown in Daredevil #1, is that when he was young he saved a blind man from getting hit by a truck, only to have a radioactive canister fall off the same truck and hit him in the face. This was before, of course, the "Put Some Time into Securing Your Radioactive Shit" shipping laws that we take for granted now.

Daredevil #1 (1964)
"Call an ambulance? No, I'd rather stand here and commentate."

Between the radioactivity of the substance, the impact of the hit and the cylinderness of the container, Daredevil was left blind. But he was extra good at his other senses, so he ended up a superhero, obviously. The real question wasn't "How is getting blinded by a can after saving a blind guy an origin story?" It was "What happened to the mysterious canister after it bounced off proto-Daredevil's kisser?"

Getty
It doesn't look like it did Ben Affleck any harm.

Fast forward 20 years: The creators of the Ninja Turtles were big fans of Daredevil, especially the issues by Frank Miller. Not content with simply borrowing Daredevil's origin, they actually went ahead and wrote their characters into it. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, we see the exact same scene as before only from a different perspective. The radioactive canister hits the boy in the head ...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (1984)

... then falls into a sewer and mutates some baby turtles into cowabunging ninjas.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (1984)
As opposed to, say, sewer alligators.

Of course, the boy is never explicitly identified as the future Daredevil, but that's because the character belongs to Marvel Comics and the Ninja Turtles do not. Still, it's pretty obvious that it's the same kid, and the fact that the canister turned out to be full of mutating goo does explain how getting hit in the head by something could possibly give someone superpowers. (Life tip: It usually doesn't.)

Daredevil #1 (1964)
You're usually advised to open the lid first, duh.

So if young Daredevil hadn't been there, the canister probably wouldn't have fallen into the sewer and those four regular turtles probably wouldn't be fighting crime today. All the TMNT cartoons and movies show variations of the same origin, and the radioactive ooze in particular has become an iconic part of the Turtle brand -- even though it was completely stolen from another comic.

kokos
"Warning: May cause irrevocable blindness."

Maxwell Yezpitelok lives in Chile and likes to waste his time writing back to scammers or making stupid comics.
For more strange relations, check out 10 Animals You Won't Believe Are Closely Related. Or see your favorite fictional kids all grown up.

Joy #1

2011-09-24T18:33:00.001-06:00

Break Dance Robot

2011-09-24T00:54:00.001-06:00

Again I say turn down your volume before watching this. Robot Rock.

http://jayztothe.ytmnd.com/

Beavis and Butthead Are Still Cool

2011-09-22T17:53:00.001-06:00

( ._.)

Turn down your volume for this one. Seriously.

http://dirtbuster.ytmnd.com/

If He Can Do It Then So Can I

2011-09-19T23:43:00.001-06:00

Beck had to do wild songs by himself to get noticed. I did the same thing differently. I made a pop album (in my style) to get noticed. (Still not quite sure if it worked.)

Once Beck got noticed he was able to eventually get to do songs he always wanted to do like this one off his 2002 album Sea Change. I only pray that everything works as well for me (if not better)!

If They Can Do It Then So Can I

2011-09-10T04:05:00.003-06:00

Proof that musical dreams do come true. The Smashing Pumpkins won awards for this song (Tonight, Tonight) and the music video that was done for it. I believe this is them performing at the Grammy's. If you listen to the original recording of this song it sounds like it was recorded late at night in Billy's bathroom. It sounds no better or worse than any of my recording. The only thing different is he had a studio, band, and record producers who could help bring what was in his head to reality, and bring the song to its full potential. Soon, God willing, I will have that too!

You Will Be On MTV Europe

2011-09-09T01:43:00.000-06:00

It's 12:59 in the a.m. and I can't sleep. I got a little restless wondering what was going on with my album so I called "Scoe" one last time and left a message. I say one last time because I don't see any reason to continue calling if my calls aren't getting returned. ...Maybe he'll call back this time.

Nothing I'm writing right now is meant to be a downer, I'm just writing. In fact, I am in high spirits! I really believe that my life is finally making a turning point for the better! I'm not even worried about what might happen because I know that what is best is what's going to happen. We have the power to change the universe around us and it comes down to our thoughts, words, and emotions.

My thoughts are of a successful music career. That thought alone, of being able to do what I love the most for a living, brings me great joy. I can't help but smile! I think that if you want something to come to pass you need to have faith and act as if you already have it. But that doesn't mean pretending. I think it means you need to imagine yourself where you want to be and imagine what it would feel like if you were already there. It takes a lot of emotional control because you have to put aside all the negative emotions that tell you it will never happen. My words (though I'm not always good at this) reflect my thoughts and emotions.

I was told by "Scoe" last year that I will be on MTV Europe this year, and that I needed to believe it. I told him I did, and I still do. We are getting close to the last quarter of the year to release new music. So unless we go on a crash course to release my album (or at least a single) and shoot a music video so that it makes sense that I'm on MTV Europe, unless you want me to stand in a room waving at the camera for three minutes, we are too late.

But you know what? I believe in God and He is never late. NEVER. I have had that proven to me more times than I can count, and I have witnesses who can testify to that. Some of them have even wished that God would not come through so that they could prove to me once and for all that He didn't exist. Guess what. He came through at the last possible minute and proved to them that He did exist. I see my current situation as being no different. God is never late so I am confident in saying right now that I will be on MTV Europe before the year is through! Don't believe me? Just watch. I'll be announcing it as soon as it happens.

Fed Raids Gibson Guitars At Gunpoint

2011-09-01T23:12:00.002-06:00

Gibson Guitar, of all companies, has been the target of multiple raids – at gunpoint – by the Federal Government for alleged importation of illegal wood. Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz is claiming the Feds told him that his problems would ‘go away’ if the company used Madagascar labor. Juszkiewicz called into the radio program today and spoke with Glenn about the situation on radio today. Check out the interview in the clip above.

Matthew Dean Shaffer #9

2011-08-30T14:09:00.001-06:00

[sigh in text form]

Declaration of Rights & Responsibilities

2011-08-29T01:05:00.001-06:00

As the American Declaration of Independence clearly states, when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for people to band together and collectively declare their rights and responsibilities to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle and bind them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should disclose the causes which impel them to such.

Therefore let us declare that we still hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But with those rights come responsibilities.

In order to continually experience life, liberty and happiness as promised, nature’s God demands obedience to His law to protect those rights. This is where we have fallen short and therefore, in order not to lose the blessings of freedom, the people of the world must turn from the sole focus on rights, and recognize the inherent and required responsibilities that we have.

Among the responsibilities to which we must adhere to maintain our God given rights are honor, courage and vigilance.

Over time, we believe that these basic human responsibilities have been trampled, and replaced with degradation, fear and apathy.

But when a long train of abuses of the people and conscience by the media and by other segments of society, pursuing the same path of reducing them to ridicule, scorn and even sub-human status, it is their right, it is their DUTY, to peacefully, but vehemently take a stand.

Men want to be king, and the more we concentrate on our rights and the more we are told not to worry about our responsibilities, the more we lose our rights.

Just as physics show, for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. The time has come to declare that at least for the western world human rights are generally accepted and moving in the right direction however a new movement is required, a movement of human responsibility.

The media, politicians and large institutions both academic and political have been lying to us, and we must demand the truth be told.

With that demand, comes the responsibility that we tell the truth first, in ourselves. Too many of us delegate our responsibility to the media…and too many believe there is no personal responsibility at all.

Political correctness has polluted our language and clouds our every discussion.

What was once accepted as good and right, is now considered bad and evil, and that which was bad and evil is now presented to the world as good and decent.

Opposing thoughts or opinions are referred to as crazy, insane, non-factual and utterly without merit. Furthermore, we are told, they should not even be heard.

Now, the time has come to take a stand by exhibiting the traits – honor, courage and vigilance.

What is honor? It is being honest in all of our dealings. It is showing loyalty and fairness, and being a beacon of integrity in all our beliefs and actions. It is showing respect for others.

Ruth honored Naomi when she told her that she would not leave her. That she would go wherever Naomi went, that she would live where Naomi lived and die where Naomi died. Her God would be Naomi’s God.

Courage is the ability to face danger, criticism or scorn – not without fear, but while overcoming fear to deal with that which comes our way.

When no one else in the Kingdom wanted to face the mighty giant, Goliath, young David was willing. David must have felt fear at the sight of his foe, but overcame it, and courageously vanquished his enemy.

Vigilance is being watchful for all forms of treachery and tyranny, lies and deceit. The person in the watchtower, waiting all night, suddenly sounding the alarm that the enemy is coming. The careful observer of the markets and economies who proclaims to the world, all is not well, there is trouble ahead and the outspoken critic of the powerful, going against societies’ grain, warning that all is not as we’re being told. These are the vigilant.

We implore all people to stand with these characteristics – honor, courage and vigilance.

To that end, we must restore honor in our own lives. Seek after the truth. Declare right now, that no longer will we simply accept what is told us by the media or anyone else.

The media has the responsibility to tell the truth, we have the responsibility to learn it.

Stand with courage, even if it means the end of our jobs, the end of our positions in life…or even the end of our very lives.

We must have the courage to be peaceful, while recognizing the courage to defend and respond to threats and/or attacks when necessary.

Turn the other cheek when possible.

We must be vigilant. We must think the unthinkable. The holocaust occurred because no one could imagine it, but evil never sleeps, and neither must we.

As Edmund Burke said, “all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” We must DO something. Stand watch. Speak up. Become involved.

Thus, we the people do hereby declare not only our rights, but do now establish this bill of responsibilities.

1. Because I have the right to choose, I recognize that I am accountable to God and have the responsibility to keep the 10 commandments in my own life.

2. Because I have the right to worship as I choose, I have the responsibility to honor the right of others to worship as they see fit.

3. Because I have freedom of speech, I have the responsibility to defend the speech of others, even if I strongly disagree with what they’re saying.

4. Because I have the right to pursue happiness, I have the responsibility to show humility and express gratitude for all the blessings I enjoy and the rights I’ve been given.

5. Because I have the right to honest and good government I will seek out honest and just representatives when possible. If I cannot find one then I accept the responsibility to take that place.

6. Because I have the God given right to liberty, I have the personal responsibility to have the courage to defend others to be secure in their persons, lives and property.

7. Because I have the right to equal justice, I will stand for those who are wrongly accused or unjustly blamed.

8. Because I have the right to knowledge, I will be accountable for myself and my children’s education…to live our lives in such a way that insures the continuation of truth.

9. Because I have the right to pursue my dreams and keep the fruits of my labor, I have the responsibility to feed, protect and shelter my family, the less fortunate, the fatherless, the old and infirm.

10. Because I have a right to the truth, I will not bear false witness nor will I stand idly by as others do.

Unconditionally, while maintaining my responsibility to compassionately yet fiercely stand against those things that decay the natural rights of all men. And for the support of this declaration, and with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, fortunes and sacred honor.

Feature Film: Rumors of War 2

2011-08-27T01:52:00.000-06:00

There are a few previews for things on GBTV at the beginning of the film. The actual film starts at about the 3:00 mark.

Restoring Courage Recap Part 4

2011-08-26T00:25:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, Aug 24, 2011 at 2:17 PM EDT

Read Parts 1, 2, 3
On August 24th, 2011, Glenn welcomed the world once again to Israel. What began at the coastline of Israel and moved then into the outer city of Jerusalem, ended as the final Restoring Courage event moved to the Old City of Jerusalem.

After a blessing by Rabbi Riskin and the Israeli National Anthem, the Mayor of Jerusalem took to the stage to offer some of the show’s opening remarks. Speaking of the unprecedented freedom experienced by Jerusalem under Israeli rule, the Mayor declared, “Jerusalem will never be divided again,” a statement which received a huge ovation from the stage.
It was then that Glenn took to the stage to talk about the three faiths that all have such strong ties to Jerusalem.

“We meet today in a very small plaza, on the edge of a modest mountain, overlooking a shallow valley, by a tiny stream. This place, so modest, so small, is where God chose to first reveal himself to mankind. And God fills it with His majesty. For as long as man has known God, he has come here, to Jerusalem, to touch the mantle of the divine.
Three faiths. Three people. And while our faiths may take us away from each other, we always come back to Jerusalem,” he told the audience.
“This plot of earth may be tiny. But it has been large enough for three faiths… and the pilgrims and faithful who come here. It must be as big as God’s heart. And it must be open to all,” he told people watching in person and all over the world via GBTV.
As he spoke, the music of each of the three faith played that represented the Jewish faith, the Christian faith, and the Muslim faith.

As the music faded, Glenn welcomed people form all over the world to the Jerusalem.
“There are more than 1,000 people here, and there are more than 1,400 viewing parties around the world watching this live. Some of them are watching in places where our message of courage and freedom and truth is not welcome. Places like China and Cuba,” he said.
“People have risked their lives and reputations to come here today. They join us from Pakistan and Qatar. We have members of the EU parliament here, and other seats of government.”
“So whether you have joined us in person, or electronically, whether you are sitting in comfort and freedom, or under the darkness of repression, whether you are in a home, a hut, or a house of worship, please know that we thank you, and we recognize your courage.”
In the vein of Restoring Courage, awards for Faith, Hope, and Charity were given out to th Fogel family of Itamar (posthumously), the Jewish and Arab co-owners of Maxim restaurant, and Rami Levi.
It was then that Glenn took to the stage to give his final remarks.
(Read the full speech here)

The speech was very much the culmination of many of the thoughts and themes that Glenn has been building on since 8/28 in Washington, DC. Rather than tell people to turn back to God, he brought the faithful to God’s throne in Jerusalem.
While his message was one personal responsibility, a common theme, Glenn took aggressive new steps in shifting gears from a passive observer and commentator to an active participant and leader in a new global movement to encourage others to stand up, be active, and couple rights with responsibility.
“If we want to be endowed with rights – real human rights, we have to act with responsibility. We must not be comfortable with rights. We must be comfortable with responsibility. We cannot use our few short years on this planet enjoying our rights… we must do everything we can living by our responsibilities to our fellow man. Rights and responsibilities. The two go hand-in-hand, arm-in-arm, together,” he said.
Read the Declaration of Rights & Responsibilties here.
“In the coming days, I want each of you to print them, read them, carry them, and make them a part of your lives. Share them with your family and friends. Remember all that God has done for you, teach these lessons to your children, and obey God’s word. And join me on a historic march towards human responsibility.”
Glenn plans also announced his intentions to take his message global

“Some people call Israel an apartheid state. I reject that. And so immediately following this program I will fly to South Africa, which is where apartheid actually existed. I will broadcast from Cape Town tomorrow morning to remind the world what the evil of apartheid really looked like,” Glenn said during the event.
“And I will learn from the people who conquered the hatred, ignorance and bigotry and who chartered a peaceful course for a new South Africa.”
“Then on Friday I will fly to South America to plead the case of human responsibility to a group of nearly 5,000 local leaders from all over the continent and ask them to join me in standing in defense of Israel, the Jewish people and responsibility.”
“Finally on Sunday, I will speak to 5,000 Americans in Dallas, Texas. I have chosen to end my week in the town where I will headquarter the charitable division of my company, Mercury One. Dedicated to the idea that one man, inspired by one God, makes a difference.”
“This trip will end where a global moment begins.”

Restoring Courage Recap Part 3

2011-08-26T00:02:00.000-06:00

Monday, Aug 22, 2011 at 3:36 PM EDT

On August 22nd, 2011, Glenn brought Restoring Courage to Jerusalem with the second event – Restoring Courage: The Courage. From the old train station Glenn was again joined by a huge crowd of people eager to stand with Israel!
Raj Nair kicked off the event with a live pre-show, as he explained what would be going on that night to the GBTV audience. He also explained why Glenn selected the old train station as the venue for the second event, as it represented the expansion of Jerusalem beyond the walls of the Old City. When Glenn took the stage moments later, however he joked, “There are only so many places that can hold this many people.”
The events of the night focused on the events of the Holocaust, with the train tracks of the venue paralleling the train tracks of Auschwitz. The opening prayer also contained many allusions to the events of the 1940s and the attempted genocide of the Jewish people. But even with the sad subject matter, the focus was on those who helped the Jewish people when half the world was out to destroy them – people like Corrie ten Boom and Oscar Schindler.
Glenn then brought out Jon Voight onto the stage to a huge ovation.

“Several years ago I visited Israel and spent time with the victims of suicide bombers, and gave honor to those I would call martyrs, who by sheer miracle, survived barbaric attacks by the Palestinian terrorists in Israel,” Voight told the audience.
“What I witnessed would tear my heart out. Many were without limbs. Many lost children, wives, and husbands. How did we come to a time when the slaughter of innocents, blowing the brains out of babies, even genocide, are acceptable means to a political end? I feel complete outrage at anyone who could make excuses for this barbarism, and I feel complete contempt for anyone who is not intelligent enough to see that this propaganda in the media, painting the Palestinians as poor victims, is capable of destroying the Jewish nation in Israel.”
“We are witnessing a new type of Holocaust, and good people of all faiths should express outrage, and demand the truth be heard: the Palestinian radicals have only one prayer on their lips, and it is to kill and rid every Jew, young and old, from Israel.”
“Tonight, let us pray for courage to stand up and fight against all this antisemitism that has found its way to all the evil-doers. And let us pray for peace – but with the understanding that we will not bend to terrorism in any shape or form for the sake of peace,” he said.
“Very few did what Jon did. We called, I asked, he accepted,” Glenn said as he returned to the stage.
Glenn then began to introduce the film that would be discussed this evening, Kleiner Rudy.
“Last night we talked about love, tonight I want to focus on it’s polar opposite: fear,” Glenn said.
Glenn began to talk about his visit to Poland, where he met a woman who at sixteen years old in the Polish ghetto became one of the “Righteous Among the Nations,” and he asked her how something like the Holocaust could happen. How could people, no matter their language or place in the world, allow something like that to happen?

She told him that while everyone has the seed to be one of the “Righteous Among the Nations”, they must water it with God. She also said the righteous don’t suddenly become righteous, they hold fast as the rest of the world goes over the cliffs.
Glenn said that he later met a man who had been saved by that woman in his New York office. He didn’t want to remember. Glenn, knowing he could never tell someone else what they should do after going through such a horrific experience, nevertheless encouraged him to do so. While Glenn doesn’t know if he will do so, he wanted to the audience to hear the story of someone who had gone back.
He then asked the audience to watch Kleiner Rudy, which tells the story of Rudy Wolff.
The description for the film follows:
Rudy Wolff, an eighty-five-year-old Holocaust survivor, invites his granddaughter, director of the film, to join him in visiting his German birthplace. Once there, Wolff meets his childhood friends, giving us a first-hand glimpse into the after effects of the Holocaust, such as how do Germans deal with their past? How do Jews handle forgiveness and reconciliation? Is it in fact possible to accept, understand and forgive?
Glenn then invited Michelle Teery, Rudy’s daughter and director of the film, Mike Evans, David Brog, and Rabbi David Greenblatt to the stage for a panel discussion.

Following the panel discussion, Glenn was joined by the descendant’s of Rudy Wolff, showing the power and impact that saving just one life could have on the world. Benjamin Wenzelberg, a extremely talented young vocalist, sang as the audience participated in a candle ceremony before Dr. Mullins closed the event with a song.
Look for more coverage on these events today and throughout the week.

Restoring Courage Recap Part 2

2011-08-25T23:43:00.000-06:00

Sunday, Aug 21, 2011 at 7:55 PM EDT

Read Part 1 here

Following Dr. Evans’s stirring speech, more leaders of faith joined Glenn and David Barton to share their tales of inspiration and love.

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin spoke at length about courage and love. “I am overwhelmed by the presence this evening of so many of our Christian brothers and sisters united with us by their great love for Israel,” Riskin said as he opened his speech.

Rabbi Riskin discussed many things, among them the difference between courage and strength. Riskin said that while “strength” revels in power, “courage” reaches out in love. “Indeed, Courage begets and demands love; the very Hebrew word for love Ahava, derives from the root verb HAV which means to give,” Riskin explained.

“To give to and to love someone who is like yourself is only an extension of loving yourself; that is merely the self aggrandizement of strength not the self sacrifice of courage. To love someone who is different from you, who disagrees with you, who may be weaker or stronger than you, smarter or stupider than you, of a different color or different ethnic background from you – that requires courage, the courage to applaud and love difference, otherness,” he continued.

Riskin was happy to see so many Christians standing with the Jewish people and with Israel at the Restoring Courage event.

“Despite the fact that we are different, that we are Jews and not Christians that we accept Jesus as a Jewish teacher but not as a messiah or a god. You have the courage to stand together with us we feel your heart, we respond to your love, especially in our time of need even today as rockets and missiles and grads are falling on the Southern part of Israel. The love relationship between us proves the amazing power of love of God – sent love to all of his children and it is one of the great miracles of our very fateful and glorious times,” Riskin told the audience.

Pastor Tom Mullins also spoke, focusing on the charity of God’s divine love. He told the story of Nehemiah, who while living in exile received word that Jerusalem had been laid to ruins. After fasting and prayer, Nehemiah did the impossible and led people to restore the Holy City in just fifty-two days!

“In just 52 days the impossible became possible. The gates and walls of the city were rebuilt! Even their enemies couldn’t help but see God’s hand upon them. One man’s compassion fueled a dream of great possibility. One man’s compassion united a nation. One man’s compassion brought a people back to God. When the compassion of God’s love flows through us, we are compelled to make a difference with our lives.”

“Together, may we be filled with the same compassion as Nehemiah – driven to our knees in prayer and committed to make a difference. Together, may we stand to honor the covenants of God with great conviction and charity, unwilling to shrink back from our duty,” Mullins said.

The final guest speaker was Pastor John Hagee, a man of faith who has come under attack in the United States but has remained a firm proponent of Israel. Pastor Hagee’s speech, which encouraged audience members to declare themselves as Israelis, moved people to cheers as well as tears.

“All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Israel,” Hagee told the crowd. “Therefore as a free man, I take pride in the words – I am an Israeli.”

“Israel’s fight is our fight. If a line has to be drawn, then let it be drawn around both of us – Christians and Jews, Americans and Israelis. We are one, we are united, and we will not be discouraged and we will not be defeated,” he told the audience.

By the time Pastor Hagee left the stage, the crowd was proudly standing on their feet.

As Glenn returned to the stage to close out the program, he again called for the people around the world to stand with Israel. He also asked the Israeli people to know that while the governments of the world may not be standing with their country, the people of the world were. “We are not our governments. We stand with you.”

Glenn then brought participants from throughout the show to make a declaration of courage, love, and support. He said that he would soon be calling on people around the world to make a similar declaration.

As Vernessa Mitchell again dazzled the crowd with a her powerful vocals, a dramatic fireworks display lit up the amphitheater and the coastline, bringing the first night of events to a dramatic end.

Tomorrow, join Glenn, Dr. Mike Evans, and others for the second Restoring Courage event, The Courage to Remember. The event will air on GBTV LIVE at 1:00pm ET, and be rebroadcast at 8:00pm ET! Sign up here!

Restoring Courage Recap Part 1

2011-08-25T23:34:00.000-06:00

Sunday, Aug 21, 2011 at 4:07 PM EDT

WATCH THE PRIMETIME REBROADCAST AT 7:30PM ET on GBTV!
On August 21st 2011, Glenn Beck kicked off the Restoring Courage event with a live broadcast from the Caesarea amphitheater in Israel. People from all over the world came to join Glenn, David Barton, Pastor John Hagee, and Dr. Mike Evans. It was a packed house with over 3,000 people in attendance.
The event opened with the phenomenal singing of Vernesa Mitchell, followed by Glenn arriving on stage to a huge ovation as he welcomed not only those in attendance, but also those around the world tuning in from over a thousand viewing parties and on GBTV! People were tuning in not only form Israel and America, but also Brazil, Egypt, China, South Africa, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and more!
David Barton was next with his focus on the history of Israel and Judaism. He told the audience that they were literally “sitting in the middle of history.” Barton said, “It was right here in this very theater where you are now seated that Paul was put on trial. Had you been here 2,000 years ago, you could have witnessed his trial.”
“It was here in this theater in June 1961 that a stone was found with an inscription dedicating it to Tiberius Caesar from “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea.” This was the first ever archeological proof of the actual existence of Pontius Pilate, and it was found right here in this theater,” he added.

Barton the discussed the importance of the Jewish people to civilization, and used the words of John Adams to emphasize this connection. Barton quoted Adams “I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation.” Adam continued, “[They] preserve and propagate to all mankind the doctrine of a supreme, intelligent, wise, almighty Sovereign of the Universe, which I believe to be the great essential principle of all morality, and consequently of all civilization.”
“Israel is the birthplace of monotheistic religion – of the worship of God Almighty, in which we will all participate tonight,” Barton added.
As Barton exited and Glenn returned to the stage, Glenn explained some of the things that had led him to Restoring Courage – and described a moment of divine providence that led to an important addition to the Restoring Courage event.
“I want this summer to change your life,” Glenn told his children earlier in the year. Glenn asked each of my children to read the story of one of the “righteous among the nations.” He told his children, “Tell me the story of someone who saved someone during World War 2.”
Glenn chose to read the story of Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place. He loved it so much that he insisted his wife, Tania, read the book as well. It wasn’t long after that he got a phone call from a man named Mike Evans.
After reading The Hiding Place, Glenn received a phone call from Dr. Mike Evans. “When I got that phone call from Mike I need he had to be here to share his story and the story of Corrie ten Boom”.
Mike Evans tale was one of personal tragedy and triumph. His mother, a Jew, told him when he was young that Christians kill Jews and that Jesus is dead and he shouldn’t “dig him up.” He was beaten in school for being Jewish, verbally and physically. Evans took his mother’s words to heart, and believed that Christians were out to get him.
His relationship with his father was even more abusive, His father, a Christian and an anti-Semite, would beat his mother and call her a “Jew-witch” and call Evans a “bastard”. His father beat him as well.
At the age of 11, Dr. Evans was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. His answer? “I want to be 20.” His only wish was to stay alive until he was twenty years old.
Evans then told the story of his first prayer and the moment his life changed. He asked God, almost mockingly because he had never felt love, “God, why was I born?” And then something happened. The room turned white as snow and out of a glowing light, two nail scarred hands reach out to him. He saw a man who said, “Son, I love you. I have a great plan for your life.”
Evans said that ever since that day he has a new mother – Israel, as well as a new father, the God of Israel.
As the event continued, Glenn was joined by other leaders of faith including Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Pastor Mullins, and Pastor John Hagee.
Read Part 2 here

Sub Pop

2011-08-21T03:44:00.000-06:00

Okay, I've contacted Sub Pop. I don't know why it has taken me so long to do this.They are really a more perfect fit for me than Def Jam or Island (sorry guys, you took too long to get back to me).

I hope I hear back sooner this time around. ...you know, it would be fun to be on the same label that inspired me to become a musician and do things my way more than 15 years ago! Of course, this is me trying to be positive. I've been rejected in one form or another for a long time now. It's hard to keep picking myself up and going for it again.

You know who else inspired me? Sonic Youth.

Matthew Dean Shaffer #8

2011-08-03T04:14:00.001-06:00

Matthew Dean Shaffer #7

2011-06-23T08:29:00.002-06:00

How many cups does it take to get some service around here! ...oh wait. [sips coffee, thinks to self, gets up, refills coffee in kitchen, sits back down]. Why is it whenever I try to think of lyrics (my own or someone else's), the first thing in my head is: "Two jumps in a week, perhaps you think that's pretty clever, don't you boy?" Those are lyrics from Radiohead's album The Bends. It's the song High and Dry. I don't really like that song that much, and I haven't even heard it in maybe ten years, or possibly longer. And I usually don't remember lyrics to songs. I wonder what they did to make the lyrics stick..... Maybe that's why they are inextricably famous in a common world of strict formulas. Hmm...... Maybe it's some weird frequency that the government can use to -Wait! I don't want that! ...Come to think of it, someone is listening. It might be coincidence, but I've been noticing this a lot lately; I've been getting junk mail related to things I've talked about to people in person, not online, not on the phone, but in person. I haven't even done searches for these things. I have had no activity online for a bot or whatever they use to get information to find this stuff out about me. The most recent example is I needed new tires for the borrowed (from my mom) car that I'm driving. My dad told me, again in person, that he would get me some tires this weekend. The next day I get emails for tires, used cars, new cars. I have never received a single email about cars or tires until now. Okay. Again, it could just be coincidence, but here's another example. I was talking to a few people (in person) about the need for residual income. The next day I receive an email that states, "Your friend residual income has sent you a message". Obviously that's one of those emails that you get when someone is phishing info from your searches. The creepy thing about this one is I have never searched for anything even remotely related to residual income, not even for anything related to the individual words "residual" or "income". This one makes me feel a bit paranoid. I could say that if someone really wanted to sell me something they could be eaves dropping on my conversations when I'm outside. But, and this is the kicker, I only talked about residual income twice, and both times I was in the car driving.

Seven and A Half Months and Finally An Update

2011-06-23T07:45:00.001-06:00

...but it's not a big one. I was finally able to get through and leave a voice message on Anthony "Scoe"'s phone. I hope he has good news. I absolutely don't want to find out that my getting on MTV Europe was a lie.

That's it. But that won't be it. I'm staying positive, and for me even a worse case scenario is better than where I am now. I am going to make it! You'll see.

Four Months Today and A Free Download

2011-04-10T03:02:00.006-06:00

Four months and still no word from Def Jam or Island Records. I have started contacting other record companies again. Hoping to hear back from Sub Pop.

I really need a breakthrough soon. I had to sell furniture to finish covering the rent a couple of months back, and I've been putting off getting new glasses for over six months. I thought I finally was able to get something as simple as that, but my car tags renewal notice came in the mail. That's top priority, so there went my glasses money for this month. Maybe next month, but I don't know. I have to take an extra $50 out of every paycheck (I get paid once a month) to cover taxes for next year. That pretty much takes all the extra I have after I pay bills. I have no debt, and I only have three bills to pay every month, so I'm actually in good shape that way, but I just don't make enough money. I sacrificed everything for music. It was and still is my passion. I just need a major breakthrough.

Some people have been telling me lately that my music is complete and utter crap; that I shouldn't bother waiting for a record deal, because it is never going to come. Maybe, but I was signed once with a former band and I'm way better than they ever were. I also toured for several years and even made it to England. If it could be done then, then it could definitely be done now!

I also contacted some recording studios in town to get my foot in the door some other way. Haven't heard back from anyone yet.

All this lack of interest, response, or even eagerness from others sure gets my hopes up (he says sarcastically). ...sigh....I really hope the naysayers are totally and completely wrong about me.

I've been reworking the post production on my most recent album, "The Lemon Revolution". It is less harsh, and has a warmer "feel" to the overall sound. I put together a meta album complete with artwork, lyrics, and artist notes. Here's a free link to download it. Please enjoy it and share it with everyone you know: Buzzhead Republic - The Lemon Revolution

Tired Pony - Dead American Writers

2011-04-03T23:24:00.001-06:00

This band is produced in one of the ways I want to hear my music produced. Oh I wish I was getting help with this right now.

Prorate video

2011-03-30T14:24:00.000-06:00

Run Lola Run video

2011-03-29T14:44:00.001-06:00

Three Months and Fifteen Days

2011-03-25T02:58:00.004-06:00

It has now been three and a half months since I went to the Def Jam/ Island Records music showcase. I still have not heard back from anyone even though they said they would contact me. ....I don't know what to think. I just don't. I believe I'm really good, and I would only be better with the help of professionals. And, I know my sound is different, but I'm sure it has high market ability in Europe.

There have been times when I have felt like giving up, but I can't give up now. Not when I am this close. It has been hard though, to keep hanging on; and going through the same hard routine day in and day out, hoping against hope that it is just a matter of time. In trying to stay focused and positive I have been envisioning what I want.

This is what I see:

I quit my job as a janitor.
I am recording my first album with Island Records.
I am doing studio and production work for Def Jam.
I have the same producer that My Bloody Valentine had (and that Nine Inch Nails had on "The Fragile").
I am touring all over the world but primarily Europe promoting my new album.
I have multiple hit songs on the radio and music videos on MTV Europe and elsewhere.
I went to the dentist and didn't get turned away because I didn't have enough money.
I bought a car so I wouldn't have to borrow one anymore.
I hired a caregiver to help my disabled mom while I am gone on tour, and recording, and being busy with my career.
I am not a one hit wonder.
I have a life long career doing what I love.
I continue to use what I have been blessed with to bless others, but in even greater ways than before.

Those thoughts (and more personal ones) are what keep me going on. I know it will happen! It has to happen!

Here is a new song and video I finished today:

New Video: Goodbye To All That Was To Be

2011-03-18T09:18:00.000-06:00

This is pretty much what my life feels like right now.

Matthew Dean Shaffer #6

2011-03-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Sirs,

Alright! Enough is enough! Let's get things rolling... NOW!

Sincerely,
Matthew Dean Shaffer, aka Rooster

Two Months Today, and A Song By Me

2011-02-11T00:50:00.000-07:00

It has been two months today since I went to the Def Jam conference. I thought I was supposed to get a call from someone, Anthony, Lenny, Def Jam, Island, someone, anyone, within a couple of weeks. I have tried calling several times, but the mail box is always full. Haven't received any emails from them either. I thought I was showing a lot of patience by waiting this long .....I know, it's not that long in the music business. I may have to wait several more months. I guess I'm just frustrated because I re-injured my back at work this week. I don't have a bad back, it just gets strained from time to time because of the work I do. My job is not worth the pain I am in right now! If I was in pain doing the job I was created for, it would be like nothing at all!! Music is fun to me. No aspect of it feels like work. It is just pure joy. And that's all I want to do with my life. Well, anyway, I'm going to make up some lyrics right now:

Too many more days to go
And I'm running out of show
And there's nowhere else to go
But I'm feeling kind of uneasy

The cupboards came today
Let's all go out and play

All of these things have passed
And our future is in our past
And we gave in way to fast
But I'm feeling kind of lazy
All the battles are in the fist
And I'm keeping track with this list
And today was what I wished
But tomorrow is kind of hazy

The cupboards came today
Let's all go out and play

I think I will call this song Go Out and Play.

Matthew Dean Shaffer #5

2011-02-08T23:24:00.002-07:00

I hope everything is alright.

My Top Songs of 2010

2011-01-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

Pictures of the Floating World inspired me to make my own list of the top songs of 2010. I know it's a little late for a New Year retrospective blog post but what the hey. There is no particular order to these songs. They are just songs that inspired me and/or I could relate to. Usually I don't pay attention to the lyrics because I like to study the music (you know because I'm also a musician). There are a few songs that I liked for the lyrics though.

1)My Bloody Valentine - Cupid Come, (When You Wake) You're Still In A Dream, I Can See It (But I Don't Feel It. This is one of my favorite bands of all time. Their guitar tunesmithery (new word!) is still inspiring even after 22 years. Coincidentally, they had the same producer that Nine Inch Nails used for The Fragile album. I didn't know this when I started obsessively studying The Fragile and the My Bloody Valentine albums, Isn't Anything and Loveless for my personal music. Going a little off the beaten path can really help you get creative with your own music. On Wikipedia I just found out that My Bloody Valentine were signed to Island Records, which is the same company looking at my music. Now I really want to be signed to Island, considering also that I want the same producer! Favorite for this year is I Can See It (But I Don't Feel It).

2)Nine Inch Nails - No You Don't, The Great Below, The Perfect Drug, The Beginning of the End, Survivalism, Capital G, The Great Destroyer, In This Twilight. Favorite for this year is In This Twilight.

3)The Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway. I was listening to a lot of Europop/Synthpop this year. This was my favorite.

4)Built To Spill - Kicked It In the Sun. I like the lyrics. My favorite lines are from the second half of the song:
it's alright now I'm getting over getting mine
it's alright now I'm getting over getting mine

he seemed so unashamed of how he operated
corresponds to the facts that you want
despite his expectations
he turned out mediocre
his master plan was so so
we're special in other ways
ways our mothers appreciate
that net does not make me feel safe
all those holes make me nervous

he woke up late that morning
went to the window and saw the sun had stopped its shining
so so
we're special in other ways
ways our mothers appreciate
we're special in other ways
ways our mothers appreciate
we're special
we're special

5)Courtney Love - Letter To God, Pacific Coast Highway, Happy Ending Story, For Once In Your Life. This album, Nobody's Daughter, is autobiographical, and I think she wrote it while in rehab. The lyrics also suggest that she found God.

6)The Frame - Sad Songs. Makes me cry every time I hear it. Seriously, I can't listen to it at work because of this. These are the lyrics of a man resigned to his fate, giving up ever making it. Incidentally, he did end up making it. It is inspiring because I feel like I'm where he was before he made it.

7)Girls Against Boys - Wow Wow Wow. Another sonic flood of tunesmithery. I literally looped this for two hours one day.

8)Johnny Cash - Solitary Man. I have the original version by Neil Diamond on vinyl, and I like that just as much. You'd have to spend a day in my shoes to understand why I like this.

9)Local H - Lovey Dovey. A song about others being in love when you are not.

10)Mission Of Burma - That's When I Reach For My Revolver. Obscure Punk/Alternative band from the 80s. It has a good feeling kind of like the Kids In the Hall theme. I also swear I heard this when I was a kid but can't think of when or where, or how for that matter.

11)Nada Surf - Popular, Do It Again. Strangely, Popular is more relevant than it was when I was in school. I really just like everything about Do It Again including the lyrics. Favorite line is: 'Maybe this weight was a gift, like I had to see what I could lift.'

12)No Longer Micah - Fractured, Restored. These lyrics are perfect. They really couldn't be written any better.

13)Orbit - Carnival. Great lyrics, great music. Nice and loud 90s Alternative/Grunge.

14)Pixies - Wave of Mutilation, Monkey Gone To Heaven. I like the lyrics of both songs, but the sound of Monkey Gone To Heaven is fantastic.
.
15)Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - Having An Average Weekend. The Kids In the Hall theme. Need I say more? ...Makes me feel like a kid again.

16)The Sundays - Goodbye, Love, Blood On My Hands. 90s Alternative girl rock.

17)Paramore - The Only Exception. Great lyrics for the most part. I wrote a blog about this song. Line most like me: 'And I've always lived like this, keeping a comfortable distance, and up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness.'

18)Pavement - Cut Your Hair. About change. The music video shows them sitting in the waiting room of life. Waiting to cut their hair. Grow up. Come of age. Change. This song gets more relevant the older I get.

19)Flyleaf - Missing.

20)Roisin Murphy - You Know Me Better. Has a good familiar feel to it.

21)Whale - Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe. Obscure 90s Alternative/ Grunge/ Hip Hop band. This is the only song I can find to put on my mp3 player. They had a unique sound. An entire genre could be built around them. They were very inspiring to me. The same goes for the last entry:

22)Tricky - Hell Is Around the Corner. Great 90s British Hip Hop.

Back To Work

2011-01-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

I didn't have to work yesterday because it was called off due to snow. It's good to get an extra day off to do something I really want to do, like write music. I got a really great new melody going! It has some jazz chords in it too, so it's a lot of fun to play!!

It's back to work today....(sigh).... I really wish I knew what was going on with my album in the hands of Island Records. It would be nice to have some solid knowledge that I won't be working at my crap job for the rest of my life. ...Is it sad that I can feel my heart breaking every time the weekend is over?

Buzzhead Republic Players (You Can Share These)

2011-01-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

New Widget Shows My Press

2011-01-06T02:29:00.000-07:00

Waiting Isn't Easy But Hope Is

2011-01-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

I want to write something but not sure how to start...

Two hours till I have to leave for work. I'm not ready for having to do that crap job again. I haven't been ready all week, but somehow I keep getting through it. I'm tired. Tired of getting paid a third of what my work experience says I should get paid. Tired of working my butt off while everyone else goes on vacation, and when they come back, only getting a complaint about not doing something that I did do. Work is work. I know that. There's no expectation of a thank you for doing what I am paid to do; but I do the work of three people more efficiently than some coworkers do the work of just one. If that makes any sense. Occasionally, I get a note left by someone that recognizes that I have to do more work because of the unusually large mess they made that day. Such notes are few and far between, and they help, even if just a little. But I'm tired.

Being tired has sometimes been the only thing that has driven me to keep writing music. It's my ticket out, and it's all I know to do. One day I will be famous. The wait is just hard. Some might say I'm delusional, especially if they have heard my older material. But I got invited to a showcase by a top A&R president or vice-president. I can't remember but he's top; and a major label was there too. I won't mention names or labels because I don't want to somehow ruin everything by writing this. It was my impression that they really liked what I was doing. One of them kept saying I'd be on MTV Europe next year (now this year). Maybe I miss heard this; it is possible, I was in shock at this point, shock that the big guys liked what I was doing. One of them said don't worry. I'm trying not to. It's just been almost a month since this happened and I still haven't heard from anyone. Many of my friends say that these are big names and because of this they are in no big hurry to contact me. I'm trying to be patient. It's just hard when I've spent 16 years working to get to this point, and now I'm in some sort of limbo.

I don't want this to sound negative and maybe it's too late. I really am feeling positive and hopeful. I know everything will work out. The way I see it, delayed blessings and or dreams can be a test. A test of patience, trust, faith, maybe just so others can see that you won't give up and quit. I will never quit! One day I will be famous! (for all the right reasons of course) I hope I don't have much longer to wait.

Oh. Just a last little thing. Here's a photo of one of the few notes I have received. I think it's funny that the thank you is plural, when there has been only one person (me) doing all the work in this area (location kept vague on purpose) for over a year.

Crapbook One (1998-2006) pgs 43-74

2011-01-04T02:51:00.001-07:00

Crapbook One (1998-2006) pgs1-42

2010-12-31T21:08:00.004-07:00

Matthew Dean Shaffer #4

2010-12-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

Myspace Beta: Now Slower Than Ever!

2010-12-15T12:38:00.001-07:00

I hate myspace. I've been trying to update my page and it has taken me an hour to do 3 things. I'm trying to change my profile also and all I get is an error page. Ugg!

Matthew Dean Shaffer #3

2010-12-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

The following statement is true: There is a cow in the art room where I work.

Matthew Dean Shaffer #2

2010-11-30T02:57:00.000-07:00

Loneliness is a black cup of coffee.

Matthew Dean Shaffer #1

2010-11-28T22:20:00.003-07:00

Three thoughts, separate but connected:

1)Yes, I believe God exists, and I believe that coffee and music exist too, but not in the same plain of existence, well, yes, in the same plain, but lower. Wait. Let me start over. God is far more important than coffee or music; but I say I love all three. Sometimes I wonder if I use love a little too casually where God is concerned.

2)We love coffee (or tea if that's your thing; perhaps hot chocolate?). We love music (or AM talk radio if you're one of those people who doesn't like music; I have been acquainted with one such person). But do we LOVE God or do we just love God? Or do we just kind of like Him? Or worst yet, do we just mildly tolerate His presence? What do we mean when we say we love Him? I ask this because I have heard the word "love" used interchangeably with all of these terms of endearment (or lack there of).

3)I would have to say in my life, keeping things in their proper perspective and order of importance, the following statement is true: I LOVE God. I love music. I love coffee too. I mildly tolerate tea.

Peace

2010-11-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

One Crushed Melon

2010-11-14T22:18:00.001-07:00

Video: Zerthscape Vol I-04

2010-11-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

The video is fixed and rendered properly.

Video Mistake

2010-11-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a new video. Well... it's more of a song. Well..... it's not really a song. ...It's just a mistake that happened in rendering that I liked.

Two Buzzhead Republic Videos

2010-11-08T03:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm too avant garde for my own good. Wait, I'm not sure you can be too avant garde.

The One With the Deer III

2010-11-08T00:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't been writing much lately. I've been really busy. I've been over worked and under paid, and I have been taking my mom to one doctor's appointment after another (almost daily) for the past few weeks, maybe months.

I love my mom and she deserves all the help I am able to give her so I don't resent her for any of it. I just want her to get better, so we can both live our lives again.

For those who pray, please keep her in your prayers.

So. Now even though I haven't been writing, it doesn't mean I can't post other stuff like photos and videos. I have some of those that have been just laying around.

Here are some more photos of the deer that have been hanging around my property. I mentioned in an earlier post about the deer that one of them had an injured leg. Well it lost the lower half of its leg and it looked like it was well healed. It was moving around fine and looked like it was getting enough food. There might be some shots of it in these photos.

The photos were taken a while back and I haven't seen the deer since so I think it may have died. Sad.

Uhhh

2010-10-17T23:39:00.001-06:00

Oh yeah. I have a blog I never update.

And Now For Some Sensitivity

2010-09-22T02:43:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while I find a song that makes me cry. Usually it is a combination of what I call the "familiar feeling" that is part of my entire music collection and the lyrics hit home in such a way that I could have written them, and only wish that I had... The song I am referring to right now is "The Only Exception" by Paramore. I never liked this band but this song is putting their album in my collection. The only thing I don't like about this song is the last part of the bridge speaks about that premarital sex crap that pisses me off so much. TRUE love waits.

Here are the lyrics that speak to me:

When I was younger
I saw my daddy cry
And curse at the wind
He broke his own heart
And I watched
As he tried to reassemble it

And my momma swore that
She would never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love
If it does not exist

Maybe I know, somewhere
Deep in my soul
That love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways
To make it alone
Keep a straight face

And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable, distance
And up until now
I had sworn to myself that I'm
Content with loneliness

You, are, the only exception

And I'm on my way to believing
Oh, And I'm on my way to believing

The One About Pay To Play

2010-09-20T01:32:00.000-06:00

Well it's been two weeks since my last post and I thought I'd write a little about what's been going on with my music. As I said in a previous post, I have a really well produced album in the DIY sense. I have found out though, as I have been trying to figure out how not to have my album shelved indefinitely while I raise money for production, that the industry expects you, with today's technology, to present them with a professionally mastered and produced album. It is the least you could do in their eyes. As I have also said before, pay to play is a whole lot more expensive than it ever was. Kurt Cobain had nothing to complain about. He had it easy. So, just to protect my rights as an artist and get the privilege of being listened to by any professional in the industry, I need to do the following:

1) have my album mastered at a minimum cost of $890
2) get individual ISRC codes embedded into each track on the master copy, which I have a sneaking suspicion also costs something and therefore will bring the mastering cost up
3) buy a bar code for only $20. I wish everything else was this cheep. This allows someone to keep track of sales so that I know how many units are sold. Great, except I can't sell anything I don't have a record or distribution deal. I've been told you don't need to be signed to sell albums, but when you are a one man band it's kind of the only way to get your name out there. This bar code needs to be part of the artwork so I need to redo my album art.
4) I can get my album art done professionally, which I'm going to have to do (sorry Nate) because I have discovered that the sizing and design for the type of release I want to do is way to complicated for a DIY to look good. Cost for this is $1890 but may be higher due to the fact that this is a double album and I can't get a price quote because double albums are now considered custom jobs.
5) use Discmakers to produce the album and sell it online. The minimum cost for a professionally pressed album including the packaging and promotion (100 posters and 24 shirts) is $4494 and also may be higher because of it being "custom".
6) I also need to copyright this and register it. I have no idea what the cost is for this. Discmakers will probably help with this.

Grand total (and this is a minimum estimate): $7294

Now the sad part for those that don't know. I'm a janitor. I only take home $12,000 a year. Thankfully, I have no debt, but the cost of living takes about 3/4 of what I make per year. So if I can manage to have no additional expenses like new glasses, tires for my car (which isn't even mine, I'm borrowing it. I just have to take care of it.), oil changes, eating out, etc., etc. So if I do nothing and spend nothing extra than the minimum to live off of, then I will be able to save the money for the cost of this in two and a half years. Even sadder is I didn't include the six singles I wanted to release at the same time. Sadder still, I have to do this just so I can have an acceptable album to submit to the record labels. Submissions also cost anywhere from $4 for a chance to get played on an internet radio station to $79 for a guy from a major label to listen to it not for a potential record deal but for his critique. I'm not joking.

Driving Home From Goldfield

2010-09-06T04:49:00.000-06:00

Urban Exploration: Garage Office (West of Goldfield, CO)

2010-09-06T04:37:00.000-06:00

Urban Exploration: Garage (West of Goldfield, CO)

2010-09-06T04:31:00.000-06:00

Urban Exploration: Cars, Trucks, Machinery (West of Goldfield, CO)

2010-09-06T04:15:00.018-06:00

Urban Exploration: Chicken Coop (West of Goldfield, CO)

2010-09-06T04:05:00.000-06:00

Urban Exploration: Shed 02 (West of Goldfield, CO)

2010-09-06T04:01:00.000-06:00

Urban Exploration: Shed 01 (West of Goldfield, CO)

2010-09-06T03:58:00.000-06:00

Urban Exploration: Trailer (West of Goldfield, CO)

2010-09-06T03:55:00.000-06:00

Urban Exploration: Two Mines (West of Goldfield, CO)

2010-09-06T03:46:00.000-06:00

Urban Exploration: Guest House (West of Goldfield, CO)

2010-09-06T03:29:00.000-06:00

Urban Exploration: House (West of Goldfield, CO)

2010-09-06T03:19:00.000-06:00

I spent some time with one of my friends on his parents property this last Saturday. We explored all the old buildings and a couple of mines past the property. I took a lot of photos. I also got to shoot some .44 hollow point rounds with someone's revolver. I was having so much fun that the day was over before I knew it.

There are a lot of photos to post so I'm going to break them all up into separate groups. The following photos in this blog post is of the main house.

The One With The Deer II

2010-09-05T17:26:00.000-06:00

The deer were back in my yard again this week. One of the younger deer (the one with the spots) was limping the last time I saw it. I only saw it laying down when I took these photos, but today I saw it walking around without any trouble.

Mmm Mmm Chocolate!

2010-08-31T13:23:00.001-06:00

I was at work cleaning toilets. (That's what I do to pay my bills. I'm a freakin' janitor.) We were on a tight schedule so I asked my friend (who is also my boss) if I should bother cleaning the inside of the toilets, and he said, 'Only if they've got chocolate'. Which is a funny enough thing to say as it is but for some reason I sang this jingle when he said that. It made us laugh so hard I decided I would record it. He said I had till Wednesday to get up, so here it is. The Buzzhead Republic chocolate jingle: Mmm Mmm Chocolate!

Saturday Was A Good Day

2010-08-30T14:19:00.000-06:00

On Saturday my friend, Nate had a birthday party. He's one of those people who likes to be generous on his birthday, so he bought steaks and kabobs, and we had a barbecue. Brian bought him a ginormous cigar. He said it hurt just trying to smoke it.

I took pictures of his cat which doesn't even have a name really. We've called it everything from blanco, gato, or cat to some Greek mythological name that I can't remember. It is part bobcat, and is currently about half the size it will be in a year. Also, notice it's bob tail and longer than usual hind legs.

We also played a game of Settlers of Catan. It is a board game that is quick to learn, take about an hour to play, and is lots of fun.

When I got home that night I noticed a moth on my mailbox that had a small spider that was messing with it. The moth was a lot bigger than it was, so every time the spider got on it's back, the moth would flap it's wings and knock the spider off. I tried to get a good picture but the lighting wasn't cooperating. This was the best I could do and you can't even see the spider. I like the colors of the picture enough that I'll trying to sharpen the resolution a bit and possibly turn it into a cover for one of my singles.

A Most Revolutionary Disappointment

2010-08-26T16:06:00.000-06:00

I have been working on my double album A Most Revolutionary Lemon for nearly two years. I finished the recording and mastering part almost six weeks ago. The artwork was done about a month ago. I have six singles to go along with it too.

In the past I have made my albums as internet only mp3 releases, but this time I poured so much time and energy into this album that I wanted to make at least a hundred physical copies of it. It has taken several months to get all the material ready. I'm about halfway done with the packaging. I haven't been expecting to sell them very fast because I don't have a venue where I can sell them. I would sell Physical copies through the internet, but everyone wants money upfront to do this. I don't have enough disposable income to do something even as simple as that. Usually the starting level (for anything worthwhile to a musician) is a months wages or higher for me. To save up that kind of money with what little extra I have every month would take me at least two years. This is why I have only made internet releases until now. Like I said, I put too much into this album to make it an internet only release.

In addition to making physical copies I was still planning on releasing this the same I always had through the internet. That was through We7.com. They are a company that includes unsigned artists in their catalogue with signed artists. The idea being that it gives us unsigned artists a fair chance. We still had to pass a pier review before getting on the site, which I did. In short, it was my best chance to get noticed, because it didn't cost me anything (which I couldn't afford anyway), to get some of the exposure I needed.

Today I have found out that even though I am on We7.com I now have to submit all my new releases, not through the internet but in physical form, to somewhere in England, and if my release passes some new review then it will get to be released on the site that all my other music is already on. Maybe this will be a good thing in the end. I still have to read more about it, but from what I have read it looks like it is going to cost me, again, more than I can afford.

So what it looks like right now is I have an amazing double album and six singles that may get shelved indefinitely. Obviously, I'm a little ticked off. There is nothing left that I can do except save my money for the next two years, hope no one steals my truly original and unique sound (I'm not kidding)in the meantime, and trust that God will take care of it. Really, at this point, only He can do something. He has done amazing things in the past. I can attest to that. Sometimes it's hard though to realize you are helpless without Him.

The One With The Deer

2010-08-25T03:13:00.002-06:00

Now that I have a blog that is more conducive to writing than my previous blog was, I seem to be unable to write anything more than a few sentences worth of opinion. Yet here I am still trying. I guess I can start with a few things I am thinking about at the moment.

While I am writing this I am watching an episode of the X-Files. It's from season two, episode ...whatever. It's called Excelsis Dei, and it has an actress that also played the doctor (the first one) in Stargate SG-1. My observance of her acting capabilities is that she was slightly better in this episode. Usually actors get better over time but she is almost the same despite the roughly 8 year gap between shows. I can't say that it has anything to do with the writers because both shows had equally great as well as equally terrible episodes. Really great actors can take a script, no matter how bad, and make their character shine. She is definitely not one, but in fairness she is decent. She works great as a secondary character, even if on occasion she sounds like she's reading from the script. I'll have to wait for the credits to get her name.

I was also thinking about how I've been so busy that I don't have much time to do what I want, that is if I want to get enough sleep too. So I've been doing the stupid thing and not sleeping as much as I should. Although, after a few days of sleeping only 5 to 6 hours a night, I end up crashing for 10 or 12. When that happens, it sucks, because my day ends up being something like this: I get home from work, I go to bed, I wake up, I go to work with nothing else done in between. That's no way to live so I go back to depriving myself of sleep for the next few days. Hopefully, I won't be quite so busy in the next few months. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of being tired. -sigh- I would love to spend an entire month in England by myself with nothing but a notebook and my guitar (so I can play in parks for fivers). And I would love to revisit Whitby (the one on the North East side). I didn't spend enough time there. I wish I owned a camera last time. I think that is at least part of why I want to go back there.

The X-Files episode just ended but the extras credits didn't have a name I recognized. I wonder if the actress in question got married in that 8 year gap...

There was a deer in my front lawn today. I took a couple of photos but (again) didn't have time to try to get closer shots.

My Friend's Wheelchair Is Photogenic

2010-08-21T23:10:00.001-06:00

You know, sometimes the simplest things can make me joyful. Like today. I bought some cheap Totinos pizzas and watched Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Shoutcast TV. There is just something about eating a cheap pizza and watching MST3K that makes me feel like a teenager again. In fact I am going to do it again before I go to bed and maybe I'll eat a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream too. Yay! I'm excited just thinking about it.

Yesterday I stopped by my friend's house after work. I discovered, much to my amusement, that my friend's wheelchair was extremely photogenic. It made me laugh. Another silly thing to be joyful over.

-yawn-

2010-08-20T09:59:00.002-06:00

I didn't know what to post this morning but felt like posting something, so I recorded my yawn, and then took a picture of the back of my head to look for signs of male pattern baldness. None that I can see. But I do have an interesting swirl.

The Books I've Read....

2010-08-19T15:10:00.002-06:00

I haven't read much in the past two weeks but for some reason I was reading like crazy for the three weeks prior. These are all the books I read:

This one I actually have been reading off and on for about two years (it's that long). I don't recommend reading it at all, but it is good for Greek and French references. I have heard that a modern translation from 1990 is a much more enjoyable read. Unfortunately I read the translation done by some guy in the 1700s and it sucked.

This one is from a similar time period. It makes a lot of the same references as Gargantua and Pantagruel, but is even more boring. I stopped reading after 30 pages. I do not recommend this book at all. I know that some colleges require you to read this. Avoid those schools at all costs. They obviously don't have a clue about good literature.

Everyone says this is a classic. It isn't. It has only become a classic because it is old. It has no substance, and it was not supposed to. It is the pulp fiction of its time. To say that this is a classic is like saying that in 150 years Star Trek: The Motion Picture (the book adaptation) will be a classic. Time does not make something better. Imagine that this book was an apple. Now it is a 150 year old apple. I can't believe this is required reading in public schools. Oh wait....

Speaking of pulp fiction, here's a sci-fi "classic" from the early 80s. It's like James Bond in space, but worse. I read about 50 pages before I quit.

Yes, John Travolta wrote a book. He's a pretty good story teller too from what I've seen. This is a short story and is kind of enjoyable.

This author tries really hard to be shocking for the first chapter and fails. He only comes across as an author who tries really hard to be shocking. After that though, I really like reading this. It's a page turner.

Another page turner. Kind of depressing if you happen to be a musician. Sometimes the writing is absolutely beautiful and descriptive. I recommend it simply for that alone.

Written for adults who were deviant 14 year old boys, who had a good taste in music, dreamed of being in a band, wanted to be detectives, were conspiracy theorists, and complete dorks.

A book written in footnotes. Interesting approach. Worth reading just for that.

A biography of Peter Sellers of Pink Panther fame.

At this point the Hitchhikers trilogy has gone too far, and I don't mean in a good way. Kind of boring and not worth the time to read.

The companion to the BBC series. Highly recommended!

Great book. Absolutely worth reading.

New Blog continued...

2010-08-18T12:28:00.000-06:00

Okay. So here are the photos. I had to resize them on my other computer using Paint. I usually resize images that way. It seems that none of the other paint style programs make it easy to do that (at least not that I've been able to figure out) they're too complex.

New Blog

2010-08-18T02:32:00.000-06:00

So here it is. My new blog. I had one that ran off my website buzzheadrepublic.com but it was limited and aggravating. So much so that I almost never used it. I hope to use this one a lot more though.

I bought a camera recently too. After you see the following pictures you may ask yourself 'Who gave this man a camera?' Actually if you flip through the pictures really fast it kind of looks like that's what I'm saying. Ha ha! I crack myself up.

.....Well I can't seem to get the pictures resized right now. They are too big to just post them as is and I'm too tired to bother with them anymore tonight. I'll just post them at a later time.

Take It All. Take It! You Won't Regret It! I Don't Need It!

2010-01-20T03:00:00.001-07:00

All my music is free to download from the Discography section of buzzheadrepublic.com. I'd rather let people enjoy music and let it grow on them, than have it sit, not being bought except by a few people who think it is worth it right away. As my best friend Heather puts it, "You're a sleeper." Meaning that it takes a while to realize that my music is actually brilliant. These are not my words. My words were something like, "Really?"

Anyway, enjoy it. Share it. I hope it brings you as much joy as it brings to me and my closest friends.

New Singles Out Today!

2009-10-20T10:49:00.000-06:00

New singles are out today! Man's Theme and Jennifer Taught Me. Both singles contain remasters of the original single as well as remixes and previously unreleased tracks! Both are available for purchase through We7.com. You can listen to them for free, and if you are a resident of the UK, downloads are free too!

"Into God's Hands" (Producing For Friends and Loved Ones)

2009-04-25T17:49:00.000-06:00

Two of my best friends lost their dad last week. One of them wrote a song for him which I produced. It is called "Into God's Hands". You can listen to it here at ReverbNation:

Mercadante

I am also starting the remixing and remastering of material from No Longer Micah. They are a great band! My favorite song is "Fractured, Restored". It makes me cry every time I listen to it. You can also hear it and many other songs of theirs at ReverbNation:

No Longer Micah

My reasons for helping all these friends are many, but the main reason is that I have hit a wall, so to speak, regarding the production capabilities of my own music. I don't think I can go farther doing this all on my own. I will need outside resources, namely a record deal. Do you hear that ATO Records? Sub Pop? Matador? Smells Like Records? Please SIGN meeee!
....too pathetic?

Anyway, I know that God didn't give me this passion for music for no reason, so I should at the very least give of my talents, experience, and resources to help others who have less resources. I know God honors that kind of selflessness. Besides, how can I expect God to help me in my situation if I am unwilling to help others in a similar situation?

Please help out these guys by taking the time to listen to their music.

Thanks.