Happy Trails

I had two job interviews on Saturday. If I accept them both, clone myself and simultaneously work at both locations I can earn a combined sum of fourteen dollars an hour. The two positions are at two affiliated record stores, one of which is managed by a friend that I wouldn't mind working for- if I could survive on eight bucks an hour. I can't. He said I would be a great asset to the business, but offering me less than a living wage is a bit insulting and it left me feeling sour.

The other store offered me six dollars an hour.

Six dollars is what I made at my first 'real' job (dishwasher) twenty- four years ago. Things are considerably more expensive in 2007 than they were in 1984 and I think my next salary should take that into account. I was speechless when I heard "six" but I'm sure my expression spoke for me, daggers and scowls is all I had by way of reply. The manager told me that everyone wanted to work there ( is everyone an aggressively pierced poseur kid who lives at home and thinks working in a record store will launch their indie rock career?) and that experience wasn't really what they were looking for, contrary to what I had been told the previous night.

Twice in one afternoon I was told that I am worthless. Saturday sucked.

Saturday night was...fodder for a later post.

Sunday was much better. First, there was my weekly radio show:

XTC- Dying/Sacrificial Bonfire
Alan Parsons Project- Don't Let It Show
Eleanor McCovey- Whisper & Prayer
Billie Holliday- Don't Explain
Cat Stevens- Life
Steeleye Span- The Blacksmith
John Prine- Grandpa Was A Carpenter
Loreena McKinnett- All Souls Night
Marianne Faithfull- Guilt
Atomic Rooster- Stand By Me
Chieftains & co.- Millenium Celtic Suite
Jefferson Airplane- Thunk
Eleni Mandell- Man In The Paper Hat
Pentangle- Night Flight
Mitch H. Price- Love Roller Coaster
Moody Blues- Ride My See Saw
Faces- Stay With Me
Pretty Things- The Sun
Stranglers- Ships That Pass In The Night
Fred Frith- Balance
The Kinks- You Don't Know My Name
Ray Davies' younger brother wrote and sings the lead on this song. Ray's brother's name is Dave. My name is not Dave.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer- Still You Turn Me On
Claanad- Love and Affection
Fairport Convention- The Way I Feel
Bruce Cockburn- The Strong One
Neil Young- Looking For A Leader
Clash- Lost In The Supermarket
Roy Buchanan- Tribute To Elmore James
Anuna- Peperit Virgo

Afterwards, my maternal uncle took the Twin and I to see his property in the country.
It's beautiful and the work he's done is amazing. There's an extensive bull-dozed maze of roads designed for motorbikes and ATVs; there are hills, loops, mud jumps, all perfectly suited for raising off-road hell- I knew my uncle was good at building things, but I didn't know he'd built an entire universe in the middle of nowhere. He rocks!

This is where my uncle is going to build his house.

The Twin is smarter than me. He wore a helmet.

I was scared at first. I figured I'd hit a tree and split my head open. I was half-right.
Vroom! Bam! I hit a tree after 10 seconds. Nothing hurt but my pride, though. I rode for hours without mishap, really grooving on the speed, sounds and sights.
Before we left I was jumping the mudpit, all four wheels in the air- man-what a thrill! I'll be sore tomorrow, but it'll be worth it.

My uncle rode his bike and led us on a scenic backwoods trip that wound up down at the river.


Twin: "Having fun?"

Me: "Hell yeah! This is better than sex!"

Twin: " How's that?"

Me: "This thing doesn't call me 'Dave' when I ride it."








A perfect day. Only one thing to make it better... 17-14, Patriots lose!

A Perfect Season has to include the Super Bowl. Ha ha ha ha ha ! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Ha!

Playbook Lookback

I started following politics the same year that I started following pro football. That year was 1972.
I was six years old and very impressionable- my favorite animal was the dolphin and the best NFL team in history were the unbeaten 1972 Miami Dolphins- they became my favorite team.

By that logic, I should be a Republican.
In the 1972 Presidential Election the Democratic Party got it's ass whipped. Hard.
But my adults told me that Nixon was a liar and a criminal and that if he got elected, we'd see some bad things happen. My adults were correct.






I am still a Miami Dolphins fan. This year's Dolphins may well be the worst NFL team that isn't the 1976 Tampa Bay Bucs, but I'm still a believer. One day we will win a game. It just won't be this year.



This season, Miami fans are so ashamed of their team's shoddy performance that they have started wearing bags on their heads at home games. They still attend, but only to display their outrage, sorrow and frustration.


That is how I feel about the current state of American politics. If I lived in Iowa, I'd be making a bag right now.

I am not certain who I want as President but I do know a few things:

- I don't want a Republican. I'm not exactly gushing with love for the Democrats, but they are slightly the lesser of two evils.
Ralph Nader was wrong. It did matter who won in 2000. And 2004.

- I don't want anyone who voted to give George Bush the power to start a war in Iraq. I knew that was disaster in the making- I wish I had been proven wrong, but I wasn't.
I said Bush was a liar and a criminal and if he got his war, bad things would happen. This was a dangerous opinion in 2002, but I stuck to it and I still do.

- I would rather have a platitude-spewing, egg-laying evolutionary freak in the White House than a Bible-thumping, war-mongering Creationist.

-There is no Platypus Party- but there should be.

Being Australian, Patty (above) sets an exemplary democratic example. Australia recently voted their Prime Minister out of office for being too much like George Bush. Strangely, in Australia the Liberals are the conservative party- I think it's because they are south of the equator. Bullshit flushes backwards in the Southern Hemisphere.

Honestly, I can't imagine why anyone would want to be President. They- and we- are fucked from Day One. It's like accepting a job as manager of a store that has "Going-out-of-Business" signs posted on the windows...I did that once. It didn't work out.

Good luck.

Hang in there, baby!

Remember: The plummet of a thousand feet begins with a single step!