Continue reading »]]> I regularly mourn the loss of music on this site. Some of my friends and critics argue I am too “old fashioned” and simply need to give some contemporary music a fair listen, but I firmly believe the quality of music being generated today, on both a mass market and independent level, falls well short of any period during the recording age. I could fill a book with theories on why music is in such a bad place, but one of my less controversial theories is the death of the album.

Truly the digitalization of music has been a double-edged sword. On one hand, we can download whatever songs we want, without having to download the entire album. This has put more emphasis on the “single” and as a result, it would seem that musicians spend less time perfecting the “album.” As a result, the overall quality of music has deteriorated over the past ten or twelve years.

Entertainers record songs; artists create albums.

As such, if we have any chance of rescuing popular music from the mire, it’s prudent to take a look at those albums that have had the greatest influence on music in the past. The Internet is full of “Top Albums of All Time” lists, most notably Rolling Stones “Top 500 Albums of All-Time.” I don’t have the resources to dedicate to determining my own personal 500 top albums, but I do have a simple–somewhat scientific–formula for determining the 100 albums I feel qualify as the “greatest of all time,” and starting Monday, May 14, 2012, I will begin a 10 part series where I unveil my “Top 100 Albums of All-Time.”

The process began with me formulating a list of approximately 300 albums I felt should be considered (live albums and anthologies excluded from consideration) and then sifting through each one, ranking every song, on every album, using the iTunes 1-5 star ranking system. An average ranking was determined for each album, which became the album’s “Geoausch score.” Additionally, a “cultural score” of 1 to 5 was assigned to each album based on the albums cultural impact. Since this is my list, the “Geoausch score” is weighted more heavily, accounting for 2/3 of the albums final average score, while the “cultural score” accounts for only a 1/3 of the final average. As such, my personal music tastes will bleed through from time to time, but you’ll find than in any list.

Feedback is encouraged, so come back on Monday when I unveil #100-91.

Continue reading »]]> Skip to Yahoo! WebPlayerBy now, you have probably heard the story of Anthony Federico–the ESPN editor fired for using “Chink in the Armor” in a headline referring to the New York Knicks’ phenom, Jeremy Lin. Lin is Chinese-American, so you can see where the use of the word “chink”, if you taken out of context, could present some problems. However, the phrase “chink in the armor,” in and of itself, is not racist.

Racism always implies intent. Obviously, this was not Mr. Federico’s intent. Was it poor journalism? Probably, but definitely not racist.

Perhaps the good folks at ESPN and all those offended by the headline could learn a thing or two from Avenue Q. It’s the Broadway musical that taught us that “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.” Take a listen….

Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist

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Hopefully by now, you have purchased your special someone their Valentine’s Day gift, but if not, or if you’re looking for gift ideas for your special someone for your anniversary, birthday or Christmas, I have the perfect idea for you. Let’s begin with the two widely accepted theories–1.) women love shoes 2.) men know nothing about women’s shoes.

Enter Milk & Honey Shoes, a Los Angeles based shoe company that allows customers to design their own shoes. They offer gift cards for every budget and it’s not just another “give up gift card.” Once you order the gift card, it will be delivered electronically to your special someone, who can then log on to the company’s website and begin designing their ideal pair of shoes.

It’s a win-win for guys all across the United States. You don’t have to wrestle with crowds in the store. You don’t have to worry about picking out something your special someone won’t like. And your special someone will be happy enough that you’re bound to get what you want at the end of the day.

Isn’t that what Valentine’s Day is all about?

Continue reading »]]> Shortly after 9/11, I had a friend who moved up to Seattle to pursue a music career. When he came back to visit a few months later, and I began to question him about life in the Emerald City, he did not want to talk about the city’s music scene or its Bohemian culture, but rather the church he found. This was odd because I’d never known this particular friend to be spiritual or religious. In fact, quite the opposite. Yet all he could talk about was how this place and their pastor had changed his life.

Based on my friend’s description, this was the perfect church for a musician. According to him, David Bazan and Jason Martin were known to occasionally attend and lend their talents to the worship services.

The name of the church was Mars Hill Church and the name of the Pastor was Mark Driscoll. While I cannot substantiate the rumor that Pedro the Lion and Starflyer ever attended any services at Mars Hill, I do know that it is a bit of a cultural landmark in Seattle and one of the most famous evangelical churches in the nation. It wasn’t until recently, thanks to some outlandish antics, that Mark Driscoll has made his way into the mainstream press that I have begun to learn about the man in charge of the Church.

Yesterday, I found this piece on Slate, which profiles the case of a former Mars Hill member shamed out of the church because he committed adultery. As I began to read the profile of Driscoll, I began to see many similarities between and Scientology’s leader, David Miscavige–a ego-maniac who enjoys being the judge, jury and enforcer at all time. Indeed, I could definitely see why many people feel that Mars Hill is cult-like.

But then I reread the second paragraph and it all began to make sense.

Driscoll is an unusually polarizing figure within the American evangelical community. Though he can resemble a hipster ex-wrestler as he paces the stage in sneakers and jeans, his theology is old-school Calvinist. Driscoll reveres masculinity even in matters that seem merely aesthetic: He’s a fan of mixed-martial arts but calls yoga “demonic.” If Mars Hill’s discipline practices are indeed oppressive, it’s hard not to make the connection to Driscoll’s fascination with powerful manhood.

Driscoll is not trying to be David Miscavige; he is merely trying to emulate his theological idol–John Calvin.

I don’t proclaim to be an expert on Calvin or his theology, but I do remember a bit about him from history class. I know that in 1537 he penned his Articles Concerning the Government of the Church, a Confession, and a Catechism,  which gave the church–translated Calvin himself–the right to intrude on the personal lives of not his congregants, but also the citizens of Geneva.

According to the piece on Slate, when a person joins Mars Hill, they sign a “covenant”, which includes the following language:

I covenant to submit to discipline by God through his Holy Spirit, to follow biblical procedures for church discipline in my relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ, to submit to righteous discipline when approached biblically by brothers and sisters in Christ, and to submit to discipline by church leadership if the need should ever arise.

As a Methodist, this seems awfully intrusive, but based on my understanding of Calvinism this is “Calvinism 101″–as much a part of that theology as double predestination and divine providence.

In college, I took a course on the Renaissance and Reformation. In that class we used Jonathan W. Zophy’s book A Short History of Renaissance and Reformation Europe: Dances Over Fire and Water“. On Calvin and discipline, Zophy has this to say:

Discipline especially was rigorously maintained over all segments of society. The chief instrument of enforcement in Calvin’s Geneva was the Consistory, made up of twelve elders and five pastors and presided over by a member of the Small Council.

Clearly, Driscoll has attempted to set up his own “Consistory” at Mars Hill.

Understanding Driscoll’s love affair with Calvinism also explains his blatant misogyny. Along with fellow Calvinist, John Piper, Driscoll is a leading voice in a new breed of  “reformed” theology that seeks to “masculinize” Christianity by eliminating the feminine or simply silencing females. Calvin was never too fond of women, especially in leadership positions. He had some especially awkward interchanges with Queen Elizabeth.

As for the subject of the Slate piece, I suggest he look to the case of Michael Servetus. Zophy tells the story of Servetus, a man Calvin ordered “burned at that stake” for the crime of “heresy.” His execution prompted one of Calvin’s colleagues, Sebastian Castellio, to openly question him.

Men are puffed up with knowledge or a false opinion of knowledge and look down upon all others. Pride is followed by cruelty and persecution so that now scarcely anyone is able to endure another who differs from him. Although opinions are almost as numerous as men, nevertheless there is hardly any sect which does not condemn all others and desire to reign alone.

I think this pretty well describes Driscoll, Calvin and Miscavige.

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The thought of Rick Santorum as the Republican nominee elicits all sorts of powerful, negative emotions within me. As a social conservative/fiscal liberal, Santorum represents everything wrong with the political Party I love. Even so, I recognize that reckless attacks on Santorum and his supporters will resolve nothing. We share a common goal, to see Barack Obama ousted from Office, and in order to accomplish that, we must be willing to work together.

While I don’t consider him to be the “perfect candidate,” I support Mitt Romney. On this blog, I have defended Romney from his religion, laid out a clear presentation of the Republican world view and broken down conservatism to its most basic elements, all in an attempt to dispel the most common misconceptions regarding the (still) frontrunner and to lay the groundwork for constructing a narrative in which Romeny defeats Barack Obama on November 6, 2012.

I’ve said it before a million times, but it’s worth repeating. Roughly one-third of this nation identifies as Republican, one-third identifies as Democrat, and another third identifies as politically independent. Although in recent polls Republicans have seen their numbers slip, while independents have seen their numbers rise–slightly.

Ostensibly, a national general election comes down to the candidate who can win more independent voters than your opponent .

How do you accomplish this?

It begins with an understanding that regardless of your own personal beliefs and convictions, politics is the art of compromise. This does not mean selling out to your political opponent, but rather buying into the democratic system. If a candidate cannot sell that they are willing to live by this maxim, they will have a hard time winning over political independents.

Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all ran campaigns based, at least in part, on their proven history to “work across the aisles.” Ronald Reagan won big in ’84 by championing his history of working directly with the Democratic Speaker of the House, Tipp O’Neil.

Obviously it takes more than a willingness to work with the opposition. Bob Dole and John McCain both fashioned campaigns on their bi-partisan successes, yet both lost by considerable margins.

It could be said they lacked that certain je ne sais quoi needed to connect with and to energize the electorate. In this way, Presidential Elections are not too different from the student council elections of our youth, where the most popular, not necessarily the most qualified, end up winning office.

Probably more so than any other Presidential candidate in history, Barack Obama possesses this rock-star quality. He’s young (relatively speaking), hip and handsome. He gives inspirational speeches and, as we recently learned, even sings a little Al Green to his wife.

Regardless of how you feel about the President’s politics, you have to admit he is cooler than you and Americans want their President to be cooler than them.

There is not a politician alive today that can compete with the cult of personality that surrounds Barack Obama, but some are perceived as more relevant than others.

Somewhere below Obama and Reagan, and above Dole and Kerry, you will find Mitt Romney on the personality scale. If President Obama is Bob Dylan, then Mitt Romney would be Tom Petty, a rock star, but maybe not a cultural icon.

Romney presents himself as a very affable character capable of connecting with independent voters, especially in key swing states like Ohio and Florida. A majority of Americans realize this country is heading in the wrong direction and they would gladly vote for a challenger, provided that candidate possess the right temperament and cogent policy positions.

In short, Mitt Romeny can beat Barack Obama.

Rick Santorum, on the other hand, may play well at CPAC, but how would he do at Coachella?

He comes off as the paternal figure who yells at you for playing your music too loud and demands that you get a hair cut–a sharp, domineering, abrasive figure–more concerned with legislating his morals than fixing our economy. Sure, Obama favors a paternalistic form of government as well, but at least he’s the cool daddy government type–Matthew 25 type of stuff–Santorum just comes off as mean-spirited.

Santorum does not come off as the type of politician who would be willing to work with the opposition to solve this nation’s problems.  In fact, he comes off as an infantile obstructionist who would prefer plugging his ears and stopping his feet, to working with Democrats to creative compromises to get our economy moving again.

I’ve questioned many Santorum supporters about his winning narrative–how he would beat Barack Obama–and not a single one has given me a response. Instead, they simply list off the reasons they like him, which begin and and end with social issues.

Take for example this response from a Santorum supporter, after I asked her to sell Santorum to a pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, fiscal conservative:

How do they plan on selling Santorum to political independents or moderate Democrats if they can’t sell him to a fellow Republican?

So, I’ll issue this challenge to any and all Rick Santorum supporters, construct a narrative outlining how your candidate will beat Barack Obama in a general election if given the opportunity. I respect the 1st Amendment here, all comments are welcome, so open up and let ‘er rip.

Continue reading »]]> I recently stumbled across some YouTube video posted by an old friend. The following clips comprise a movie he wrote (and directed) for a Spanish class when were in high school. I believe this was shot when we were sophomores, so it would be the 1994-1995 school year. I did not take Spanish; I took French instead (real helpful in Texas), but I do have a part in the film. My car, a black Pontiac Grand Prix, steals the show.

Obviously, we were all huge fans of Cool Hand Luke and this was my friends’ attempt to bring it to a Spanish language audience and get an “A” in their Spanish class at the same time. After Cool Hand Lupe, we would all go on to film Thunder in Bivins, an attempted remake of the Hulk Hogan classic, Thunder in Paradise. Sadly, no known footage of Thunder in Bivins remains.

Without further delay, I present, in its entirety, Cool Hand Lupe. Enjoy!

Continue reading »]]> I’m normally not big on Internet quizzes, but found this one rather interesting. Over the past three years, I’ve had several arguments with my left-leaning friends regarding some of my rhetoric of President Obama’s policies. One of my harshest critics, my best-friend from high school suggested I break out of my “cultural bubble” and socialize with people outside my own socio-economic circle. I don’t claim to be most diverse person in the world–I do live in a part of Dallas known as “The Bubble”–but I am very different from my neighbors. I’m rather proud of my score, proves I’m not monolithic after all.
How about you? How did you score?

How Thick Is Your Bubble?

In other words, even if you’re part of the new upper class, you’ve had a lot of exposure to the rest of America.

Continue reading »]]> Yesterday, the Dallas Mavericks raised their first championship banner and I had the privilege of being in attendance. As a lifelong Mavs fan, I honestly thought I would never see the day my franchise was on top of the Association. For those of you who have waited patiently, but were unable to attend yesterday, I shot the following video of the pre-game festivities.

Continue reading »]]> I have to give the Occupy movement credit. They remained civil and culturally relevant much longer than I originally anticipated. However, it appears those days are now over.

From the beginning, this group has claimed to represent “the 99%”–a nebulous term, apparently meant to refer to anyone who doesn’t work in finance, but almost every image that comes out of the Occupy camps looks more like a Phish concert than Main Street America. Not to say the Occupiers aren’t welcome on Main Street, just that those living on Main Street might not feel too welcome among the Occupy crowd.

Certainly the movement raises some good points. If you look at the events that led to our current financial crisis, there are four main culprits–financial institutions, investors, unqualified borrowers and the government.

In order to correct the mess we’re in, and to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, each of these four entities must change the way they do business. It does no good for the government to crack down on financial institutions, if they’re not willing to change the way they do business. While the list of grievances committed by each entity differs greatly from the next, they do share a common denominator; they all bet on money they didn’t have. It stands to reason then that we should be demanding financial responsibility and accountability from these entities.

The Occupiers have the demanding accountability from the financial institutions and investors down to an art. Demanding accountability from borrowers and the government? Not so much.

Responsibility? The word is not in their vocabulary.

Examine the group’s actions and rhetoric and you begin to see why some labeled this a “Romper Room Revolution” from the start. Indeed, the Occupiers’ constant defiance of authority seems more like the product of disaffected young adults than a the courageous stand of a principled adult.

Some of the movement’s more rational minds seem to understand this and have sought to remind protesters appearances matter. Consider this tweet from Sean Hubbard, a fringe Democratic candidate for Senate:

You “appeal to the conscience of our nation” by observing the rule of law and outlining the abuses by some in the financial sector.

You “appeal to the conscience of our nation” by exposing our government’s addiction to the spending and the disastrous effect it has on our economy.

You “appeal to the conscience of our nation” by educating American consumers, especially those in lower income brackets, on how to manage their personal finances.

In short, you “appeal to the conscience of America” through dialogue and debate, not camping, chanting and drum circles.

The problem is–and the reaction of the evicted Zuccotti Park protesters proves this–that a good chunk of the protesters object to the idea of capitalism. Free markets and private property infuriate them. They seek not to fix our current problem, but to radically overthrow and transform our nation and way of life.

Until the Occupy movement distances itself from these radicals, it will be impossible for them to “appeal to the conscience of our nation.”

Continue reading »]]> Interesting piece on NPR yesterday from an African-American listener in New Hampshire. She talked of the racism she has experienced as a life-long New Englander, a region virtually void of “people of color.”

Reminds me of the stories my friend Quimby would tell of his times in Minnesota. Like me, Quimby was a native East Texan, an area heavily populated by African-Americans, yet synonymous with racism (see Jasper, Texas). Unlike me, Quimby is African-American, so I think he would be qualified to speak of an areas acceptance to African-Americans.

In the great white north of Minnesota, he said the racism was completely different than the racism down South. Up North, he was viewed as a novelty item (e.g. “the black guy” ) and this particular sugar-coated racism was more widespread.

In East Texas, he said, the racism, while definitely more intense, was isolated. You see, where we come from, you’re constantly surrounded by “people of color.” We went to school in some of the most well integrated school districts in the country and grew up in integrated neighborhoods. I just assumed it was like that everywhere, until I got to college.

Some of my suburban friends in college began looking through my high school yearbook and couldn’t believe how many black people went to my school. This puzzled me because I never thought anything of the ethnic make-up of my school (approximately 50% white/50 % African-American), I considered it normal.

A few years later, I traveled to Kansas City with a group of high school friends to visit one of our other high school friends (an African-American), who now lived in an affluent KC suburb. We went out to eat at a casual dining restaurant (4 white boys & 1 African-American) and received stares throughout the entire meal. This sugar-coated racism would never happen in East Texas (or anywhere else I’ve ever lived).

I slowly began to realize that most of the country is either void of a minority presence or, even worse, suffering de facto segregation. Yet places like East Texas continue to get dogged in the media for being behind the times in terms of race relations.

Again, I’m not naive enough to believe there are no racists in East Texas or throughout the Deep South. Indeed the Confederate flag is still flown proudly by some, BUT the vast majority of folks down here live completely integrated lives without incident. Conversely, based on the NPR piece and my own personal experiences, it appears that a much greater segment of the Northern population participates in at least the more sugar-coated forms of racism. In other words, it would seem that an African-American would be far more likely to become a victim to an act of racism up north, than down South.