:: Archipelapogo ::

:: 30.8.01 ::

Okay, logged back on just to take a second and explain where i got the name "archipelapogo" from, b/c I don't think i ever have. I got the word "archipelago" from the massive novels "the gulag archipelago" by Aleksandr Solzheitsyn, a great author from my favorite "genre" being russian lit. I love solzy, dostoyevsky, and tolstoy, and hope to read some nabokov soon. Anywho, i bought the first volumw of the gulag some time ago, and it's dame initidating, like a bully in a schoolyard. It's roughly 620 pages long, and there's three volumes. I really want to read it all eventually, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. Anyways, the name "archipelapogo" was conjured up by me during a managerial accounting class at TCC i took with my mom three years ago. Sadly enough, in that class, by mom made the highest grade (like a 97 or something), but I made an A too (like a 90.05) amd transferred it to Baylor, getting me out of one horrible class to pay $1000 for. During the class, i got really bored and started coining words. Archipelapogo was the best one i came up with. I really wanted to do something with it, thinking of everything from a record label to a bookstore to a bar. (any of those three could still come true, btw). Anyways, this weblog was the first time i had the chance to come up with a completely creative name for something, so here it is, like it or not!
:: Scott [+] ::
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On mr. ridiculous, I read a review of a band i'd never heard of, but the review was really cool. The band is called Strike Anywhere, and they're from Richmond, VA (home of one of my fav. bands, Avail). The review likened them to bands such as Minor Threat and Gorilla Biscuits, two of my all time favs. Positive Hardcore is hard to find these days, but I'm downloading some stuff by them, and if they're cool, then i'll go see them play in Lawrence soon. Maybe. I can't even afford to go to the Against All Authority show in OKC in a week or so, so we'll see. I'm so looking forward to having money to go to shows, buy music, etc. But, I went to the Strike Anywhere website and read some of their lyrics. Not to dog them, but i know i could come up with better stuff. Whether it be about typical hardcore themes (the scene, alienation, friends that are gone, etc.) or about other stuff, i know i could do better. Both Denise and Ryan (2/3 of the people that will read this) have encouraged me to write. I dunno. This is a note to self entry, (stream of consciousness as well) so bear with it if you're reading this. But, hey scott, write dammit!!!!!!!!
:: Scott [+] ::
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I surfed around tonight on one of my favorite sites, misterridiculous.com (it's damn hard to type in when you want it). Their record reviews and show reviews are amazingly written, especially when James never makes it to shows, but writes about his night anyways. Steam of consciousness as it shuold be done. Great stuff none-the-less, and some cool vegan recipes.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Sean,
Yeah, reluctantly I'll admit that human life is more valuable than animal life (i do mean reluctantly) in most cases. I presume (being a preacher and all) that you can/are coming from a religous perspective of not ending life prematurely and leaving the timing to God, which I tend to agree with (you know how i feel about death penalty, war, etc.) The point you raise about ending life vs. prolonging death is an interesting and sticky one. The rhetorical question is, where does that line lie, and when you are convinced it is crossed, what are appropriate actions? Do you just stand idly by and let nature take its course? Or do you assist in the process? Not just looking at terminal illness, but also people on life support. Does life support follow the interference clause of religion? If so, then it shouldn't exist, following the line of reason.

However, the side of the issue that hasn't been raised in this is that God is also a pragmatic being. I don't think that helping a fellow human, be they family, friend or stranger, in alleviating an illness is a bad thing (and some humans do deal with all-consuming illness...it is obivously running and ruining this british lady's life). I'm also quite confident that God has no problem with taking the resources spent in fighting a useless struggle and using them for the greater good. Simply making the treatments as less painfull as possible isn't working. Look at the debate on medicinal marijuana. Many people, some of whom are powerful and rich, are fighting tooth and nail against it. My granddad's ex-wife was taken off of her chemotherapy b/c she couldn't handle the treatments anymore, yet med-pot has been shown in many studies to make the chemo and other treatments tolerable and helping fight cancer. Shortly after she was taken off of the chemo, she died (within about 2 weeks).

People who want to live have every right to. It's constitutional, moral, and just intrinsically right. However, in this land of the "free", you do not have the right to die when you want to. You can actually be arrested for trying to commit suicide. Why? People on death row are put on suicide watch, which is absolutely absurd. I guess the governments want to spend more money, and have the ability to say that they are the ones that killed him for "justice's sake". Why? Because people cannot get through their heads that you cannot legislatel morality. There are higher dimensions to this argument concerning religion, ethics, etc. However, that should be up to the individual to decide. We are supposed to live in a country that has no established religion (like it or not, that's the way it was set up and we must either change that or live with it), yet this is another example of legislation of judeo-christian ethics on people who do have a right to decide for themselves, a right to live AND a right to die.

What do you think?
:: Scott [+] ::
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Ralph Nader was on the Diane Rehm show on NPR this morning (guest-hosted by Laura Knoy) (thanks for the heads up ryan -- you know i would've slept right through it). He has started a new people-based community group called Citizen Works. I haven't had the time to check the site out fully, but it seems to offer many good sources of information for groups, such as how to get tax-exempt status, how to use the Freedom of Information Act, etc. I called into the show, and got through to ask him a question, but i was denied in the screening process b/c someone was already holding to bring up my topic. Sure enough, some jerk from dallas, of all places, did ask my question. It was regarding the lawsuit he's filed against the National Debate Commission for violation of his first amendment rights (escorted out by police for wanting to join an audience in an adjoining building in both Mass and St. Louis). It was an overall good interview, but kind of short, and some of the questions raised were pretty attacking, but Ralph is a very intelligent man (although he's not the most eloquent speaker) and handled himself well.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Okay, it took a couple of days, but my head is clearer, and i've been, uh, busy? not really, but back off! Let's discuss euthanasia, shall we?

dictionary.com lists it as: eu·tha·na·sia n. The act or practice of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition, as by lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary medical treatment. it goes further to say that is derived from Greek for "good death". Interesting, eh?

In case you don't know, the problem with my dog was that his kidneys were getting really weak. They weren't performing their function of flushing toxins out of his system like they're supposed to. The toxin levels in his blood were getting really high, and it was destroying his whole system. To rectify this situation, the vets said that they could give him these fluid injections that performed the function for the kidneys (I think this is a dialysis, but i'm not sure.) So, we took him in to the vet's every day for about 10-15 days for these treatments. They were given through a needle that rested under the skin on the back of his neck, about 350-400 mgs per day. They seemed to work well, but when the vets tested his blood again, they said that the toxin levels were still rising, but at a slower pace. That's when we figured out that it was a futile struggle. However, he still seemed to feel fine, and was eating like he hadn't in a very long time.

My parents and i decided that we would continue the injections as long as he still felt good after them, and he didn't seem to mind going through the procedure. However, we decided that as soon as it got to the point where he seemed to start suffering, we were going to have him put down. We didn't wnat the poor little guy to live his last days in pain. It seemed (and still does seem) the humane thing to do, and I doubt many people would disagree. When the day came, last thursday, it was pretty obvious that he was having more than a bad day, and that the time was right. Of course it was hard, but I'm confident we did the right thing.

A British woman has made headlines lately for her battle with voluntary euthanasia (or assisted suicide, if you want to call it that). Her disorder is obviously bad, and she has the support of her family. Yet, she fears for her husband's well being were he to help her. This would be the same case here in the states, if there was someone raising the same questions (doubtless, there are many people here, and around the rest of the world suffering in much the same way with little hope). It must be tough on her husband and children to see this woman suffering so much, yet not have any options to remedy the situation.

Why is it so acceptable in society to end the suffering of an animal, but not of a human life? I know this is not a new question (kevorkian, etc.) but it really has been in my head lately. Do we value human life that much more than animals that a suffering human can not be treated the same as a suffering animal? I know there are people that expect miracles, and miracles do happen, but if a person of sound mind that is suffering badly wants to end their life, I have no problem with that. If I was in an immense amount of pain, physically and emotionally, I would much rather begin my afterlife at that time than six months or a year later, or whatever, after much suffering and cost. It's not pragmatic, and it's not humane. Pull the plug or shoot me, i don't care (just get a good, clean shot, b/c i want to go quickly), but don't make me, my family, or my friends suffer the trauma that can result of a terminal illness that is so unbearable. The suicide rate for AIDS patients has risen (and is much higher than the normal suicide rate) dramatically in the last few years, because people just give up hope and want to go out without suffering. Why can't we let these people go with dignity? If we care about them so much, shoudln't we just give them their so-to-speak "dying wish" and give them a "good death"?

end of rant.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Um, let me be dichotomus for awhile.... A very happy 26th birthday to my sister, Stacie, who has never once seen this site. And, unfortunately, we had to put my puppy down today, after almost 15 years of life. It sucks. Look tomorrow for a rant about euthanasia, or however you spell that.
:: Scott [+] ::
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I have realized lately that i'm super add, just b/c i constantly play Microsoft Hearts while i'm on-line, waiting for dial-up or for pages to load. Anyone else suffer from this?? I'm going to bed....peace!
:: Scott [+] ::
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I'm now considering myself slacker supreme. Denise started her job yesterday, and Ryan starts grad school today. Sean, of course, is always busy and preaching and teaching and influencing folks like he does. Me, on the other hand, I'm not doing a damn thing. Time for some decisions to be made and some stuff to start happening in my life. It has been a great summer though. I've done some badass travelling, had some great talks with various people, and read some cool stuff (not to mention played about 50 rounds of disc golf!). So, here's to summer (salud!)
:: Scott [+] ::
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This is for all of you skeptics out there that looked at me funny when i talked about Tintin, the red-haired kid that went around the world solving capers. There was a guy in my business club at baylor that looked just like him! I never saw the animated series (until a couple of weekends ago in Norman, we ran across an episode at Nader's house. He remembered Tintin!) {kind of via Sean}
:: Scott [+] ::
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I had heard something on CNN about a protest taking place in Independence, Missouri, while Pres. Bush was there, but i can't find a damn thing on line. anyone know anything about it????? Please let me know, Independence isn't far from here.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Keep an eye on this in this news (if it gets covered)....from mumia.org
"In a surprise move, strongly reminiscent of his original trial, Mumia
Abu-Jamal has just been ordered to be kept away from his upcoming August
17th court hearing. On July 27, 2001, Judge Pamela Dembe ordered Mumia
Abu-Jamal to appear in the Pennsylvania State Court of Common Pleas. Yet,
yesterday, August 13, 2001, the Court Administrator of this same court,
Joseph J. DiPrimio, the Court Administrator of the First Judicial District,
stated that Mumia should not be transported down to Philadelphia, as there
will not be any room in the Philadelphia prisons to house Mumia. Of course
we know that in 1995-6, when Mumia was present in the courtroom, he was
actually housed in a prison outside of Philadelphia."
:: Scott [+] ::
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There was a great discussion today on NPR (talk of the nation, to be exact) about pets and medicine. In the words of the NPR website: "From gene therapy to psychotherapy, there are a few types of medical treatment available to people today that are now also available to pets. Join the show in its second hour as Juan Williams talks with vets about high-tech pet healthcare." Okay, gene therapy and psychotherapy are a little extreme (rent the movie Best in Show for a great example), but many of the callers spoke points for and against the spending of mass amounts of money to keep a pet alive. My dog is about 14, and he's having kidney problems. We've had to take him in every day for the last week and a half to get fluids intraveineously injected into him. My family has no idea how much this is costing, but we're willing to do what it takes, b/c otherwise, he seems happy and healthy. I guess these treatment will go on until either he gets better, or we have to put him down. I can see the point that people make about how the money spent to save a dog's life could impact many people around the world in different, fantastic ways, which is very true. Other listeners spoke about animal lives being worth less than human lives, and the western fallacy that it's worth X amount of money to save a dog's life while we eat, wear, and hunt other animals. Proponents of this medicinal spending argue that pets are a luxury item in a capitalistic society, and people can spend money on whatever they choose, and that any money spent (macroeconomically speaking) fuels the economy and is good for all. I felt passionately persuaded by most of the callers as they spoke from various points of view (as i was ironically sitting in the drive-thru lane at Arby's buying a $2 Roast Beef sandwich for my dog), and I'm still not sure where I land, but it led me to a thought I've had many times over that disturbs me. In movies and on television, I've never really been disturbed by people being tortured, killed, whatever. I've always been able to seperate fact from fiction, and I realize that these things happen every day, and it destroys people and families in unspeakable ways. However, I've always been much more disturbed and discomforted when it happens to animals. Is this because I value animal life over human life? Doubtful, but I don't know. My best guess is that it comes from the fact that animals seem so innocent and pure, and that anything bad that happens to them is from an exterior, evil motive, and they're being exploited or harmed by corrupt humans. Where do you stand? I want feedback, people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:: Scott [+] ::
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Denise pointed out to me that my post on governmental funded birth control was contradictory, if not vague, so i guess i should expand. I guess I'll just state my opinion. I have absolutely no religous or moral qualms with the practice of birth control, whatever the method. The idealist in me says that all children, whether planned or not, should be loved and taken care of in a home, whether it's their natural parents or not. Sadly enough, this is all too often not the case. Unexpected children can bring a family to all kinds of stresses that they would not otherwise experience, be they financial (most likely), emotional, psychological or otherwise. This is my reasoning for advocating birth control at all levels, ages, races, classes, etc. Humans have the desire to procreate, it's scientific. Sadly enough, many of those who fulfill this desire are not smart enough or do not have the financial ability to prevent unwanted pregnancy. This is why I feel like the government should provide these people with birth control. It's morally correct in my mind, and it's a good example of preventative medicine in a lot of ways. I firmly believe, however, that people that can afford to provide themselves with the contraceptive of choice should do so on their own. It's like food stamps. Bill Gates should not get them, but people who really have the need should. Is it a double standard? Yes, but we deal with hundreds of double standards every day....if you're not used to it by now, there's no good involved. And, from my second hand knowledge, there's plenty of birth control to be had at discounted rates, or for free, at planned parenthood, STD testing sites, etc. It would be great to not have to deal with this problem, but we have to, it's reality. So, in summary, we need less (if not zero) unwanted children. It's not fair to those who are brought into the world to have such a hard life. Sadly enough, there are people who will still have them if no one hands them the contraceptive and tells them how and when to use it, so this serviice should be done. The government is the most capable at doing this, so they should, but the line should be drawn (don't even ask me where) between those who need and those who want. I get the feeling this didn't make a whole lot of sense, but that's what happens when I type as I think. If you have any questions, e-mail me, call me, or pull me aside. I don't care. I'd love to discuss further.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Even funnier, go to www.bushsucks.com. It's a mirror site for the bush/cheney 2000 website. How funny that someone (doubtfully george) had the insight to pre-censor someone's point of view. It really put a smile on my face. Other mirror sites: www.georgebushsucks.com, www.bushbites.com, www.georgebushbites.com, www.bushblows.com, www.georgebushblows.com......well, you get the point. On the other hand, www.goresucks.com is not a page. Maybe they bought it and left it blank, but we don't know for sure. Gotta love politics!!!!!!!!!
:: Scott [+] ::
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Badass denise hooked me up with the link to this site (roevbush.com). I haven't had the time to check it out in its entirety, but there's definitely some worthwhile links, including this piece in the opinion section from a St. Petersburg, FL newspaper. I'm not sure if all women should receive insurance for birth control, but there's too many women (and men for that matter) that either can't afford it, or don't care enough to go through the process to obtain good birth control and planned parenthood advice. More unexpected children are not needed in this world, especially to those who are financially strained as it is.
:: Scott [+] ::
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On my most recent road trip, this past weekend, i did a fair amount of highway driving, most of it in texas. I love looking at the stickers people put on their cars. some are funny, soime just dumb, and some are really disturbing. about 20 miles north of dallas, i saw a pick up tuck with a sticker on the back that read "If you can read this sticker, your losing/" If you can't spot the grammatical error, go back to fourth grade. i wonder if anyone has told that guy? Then, i was driving from Austin to Waco on Saturday, and there was a guy that passed me in an 80's pick up truck that had at least seven confederate flags on it, the SS lightning bolts from the Nazi era, and a bumper sticker from a place called "Economy Tires" that, in addition to the confederate flag, read "Racial Purity is America's Security". Wow, what a fucknut. I guess the Economy Tires place is somewhere in Central Texas, b/c it had a 254 number, but i'm not sure if it's in waco or not. Maybe I'll look them up and give them a call sometime. hee hee hee.....
:: Scott [+] ::
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Did anyone happen to see the review of the Jessica Simpson "Dreamchaser" tour that came through tulsa in Monday's Tulsa World? It was phenomonal. i tried to find an on-line copy of it, but you have to pay, so i said screw it. But it was an extremely well-written, funny piece.
:: Scott [+] ::
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I finally finished the book I've been reading. It's called The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement. It's the companion piece to the PBS documentary that I found in the bargain bin of an unnamed corporate bookstore that I rarely enter. This biography was not particularly well written; in fact, it closely resembled a text book. However, what was lacking in the prose, etc., was more than made up for by the interesting, busy, and often frustrating life that Cesar Chavez led. I picked the book up because Chavez was someone who I knew very little, if nothing, about. Now, I feel i know quite a bit about him, and his inspiring life. From his early days picking lettuce to the huge national Grape boycotts that he led in the attempt to get decent wages and bargaining power for the farmworkers, he was a very passionate person that was committed to his ideals on ethics, religion, family, and non-violence (he even won the Martin Luther King Nonviolent Peace Award in 1974, presented by Coretta Scott-King, Martin's widow). While I wouldn't highly recommend the book, i would definitely recommend learning a little more about Cesar Chavez and his life. I don't even remember talking about him in histroy or anything. What the hell? Anyways, on to Founding Brothers. yippee...
:: Scott [+] ::
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Okay, now, for real, i have my counter up. I forgot to transfer it when i changed templates, and then i put one on, but shorted the counter value by one hundred, so i had to do it again, but blogger was down and couldn't publish, short story long, it's up now. Yeah.

I haven't talked about disc golf much on here lately b/c there's not been anything interesting to report, but today, i played Haikey Creek and finished at +1, which is way good for me, so I'm happy. my short term goal was to finish sometime at +5 or less, and i rocked that today. go me!

On the way back from playing disc golf, i was listening to the radio, and they were playing "plush" by Stone temple pilots. the dj came back on after the song and called it a "flannel flashback". i almost puked. (lots of that today, eh?) anywho, i found it extremely cheesy, and am not looking forward to that term for the next 40 or so years everytime they play "jeremy" or "come as you are". the radio sucks pretty bad anyways, and the whole "flannel" movement was something coughed up by time magazine and your local gap outfitter trying to make money. it wasn't the reason for the music. give me a break. i admit, i had my flannel shirts, but i was also in 9th grade. if eddie veddar had worn a suit made of spam, i would have too, probably. now that i'm old enough to differentiate and discern a few more things, i realize that the whole "movement" was a big coincidence that was marketed really well. besides that, calling it a flannel flashback made me feel old, something i'm not quite ready to do yet.
:: Scott [+] ::
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On a brighter note, i recieved my Frontline video on "the merchants of cool" from PBS in the mail today. it's the thrid video i'm going to show in the film series, that i still need a fourth installment, location, and publicity for. but i'm psyched about it. check out the website to learn a little about it, ok?

:: Scott [+] ::
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wow. so i went to MetLife financial services today to take an "assessment test" for a position. Little did I know that basically, they wanted me to be an insurance salesman, working for cimmission. nauseating, eh? they had the balls to ask questions like "how many people do you know in your area?' , "how many people from high school or college do you keep in touch with?", and the kicker that puts it all together, "how do you feel about mixing business with friends and family?". This totally reminds me of the cutco knives crap that a friend of mine fell for in high school. if i wanted to be a salesperson, i would go into real estate or something like that, not freaking insurance! i left that place feeling sick to my stomach. back to the job hunt, eh?
:: Scott [+] ::
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Right on! what a cool weekend i had. got to spend good times with good friends, see shawn preach (it was a re-run, though) and go to a couple of shows. ryan and i played probably one of the worst disc golf courses ever, but it was fun regardless. We got to hang out with some people from Saudi and UAE, and saw citizen fish, and conjunto clave (different bands, different shows, different nights, different scenes). Plus i got to see denise for the first time in a while, and she and sean finally got to meet, which was cool. the conjunto clave show was really cool. very different crowd than the time ryan and i saw them at the bowery. lots of dancing. some good, most laffable. there was a tad of a frat party element to it, but they're from norman, that's to be expected. they have some extremely talented musicians, though. the show was at this cool part of OKC called the Paseo, or something to that effect. very artsy, big city-ish type place. rare for this middle earth we live in called oklahoma. the citizen fish show was rad. it's the first punk show i've been to since i saw cf last november in austin (i find myself getting more and more picky about what i'll drive to see), and honestly, the show in austin was probably better, sound-wise, b/c you could hardly hear the vocals at this show, but they still played really well. plus, I scored a home video and a seven inch split with a chicago band called the grabbers, who i've never heard. i'll let you know if it's any good. the opening band last night was HORRIBLE, and there was a lot of this mentality that people get in the punk scene of the whole "reckless abandon" that people like VH1 and Carson Daly will tell you that punk's about. i couldn't disagree more, but i know i'm in the minority. I don't feel like ranting right now, so i'm going to sum up by saying that it was great to see the citizen fish guys again, and it's an inspiration to see that these guys still believe so strongly after twenty years that what they're doing is important, and worth the sacrifice of a normal, peaceful existence with many of the smaller luxories in life.
:: Scott [+] ::
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I heard one of my all-time favorite songs on the radio the other day. "Baba O'Riley" by the Who (some of you may know it as the "teenage wasteland" song). It reminded me of the story behind the synthesizer in the song, most notably at the beginning, but it runs throughout much of the song. In Pete Townshend's words: "This was a number I wrote while I was doing these experiments with tapes on the synthesizer. Among my plans was to take a person out of the audience and feed information - height, weight, autobiographical details - about the person into the synthesizer. The synthesizer would then select notes from the pattern of that person. It would be like translating a person into music. On this particular track I programmed details about the life of Meher Baba and that provided the backing for the number."
Just thought all you techno-philes would be interested in that (ahem, sean). This was done in 1971, so that's pretty ahead of it's time. The Who rock my world!!!!!! PS...does anyone know who Meher Baba is????
:: Scott [+] ::
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okay, my blogging has been sparse at best lately, but sorry. the last two times i've gotten on, something's been wrong with blogger. apparantly it's okay for now, though. I'm heading to the norman/okc area this weekend, with denise coming up from ft. worth, sean preaching at a church in moore, and ryan and i going to the citizen fish show, plus visiting nader and his broken rib. woo wee! anywho. so i won't be blogging this weekend either, deal with it! I am going to a job fair tomorrow at the reynolds center at TU, so that should be at least interesting, plus, the companies usually have some cool plastic trinkets with their logos on them. yay for me!
:: Scott [+] ::
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