:: Archipelapogo ::

:: 31.5.02 ::

Tweeeeeeeeeeeet! The World Cup has kicked off. I actually got up at 6:15 this morning to watch the first game, see the first goal scored, etc. I won't spoil anyone's day by revealing the score or result, but yeah. That's the only game I'm going to get up early for, except maybe the final, depending on when it is. I sure may stay up to watch some of the 1:30 AM matches though. I'm a happy little bugger!
:: Scott [+] ::
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Don't forget the World Cup starts on Friday. Get or Stay up til 5:30 AM CST to watch the opening ceremonies, and the first game between France and Senegal (although Zidane's not playing.)

In more World Cup news, it looks as if Brad Friedle will be starting for the US since Casey Keller has sustained a mystery injury to his elbow that is so bad he can't put it on a table for an MRI (story here). If Freidle get hurt too, then we'll have the comical Tony Meola in goal! WooWee!




:: Scott [+] ::
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A follow up to my previous post on "Bowling For Columbine". I'm on Mr. Moore's e-mail list and got an e-mail from him yesterday about his success at Cannes. Here's an excerpt:

"By now you may have awakened to the news that last night, in Cannes,
France, my new film, "Bowling for Columbine," was awarded the Special Prize
of the 55th Cannes Film Festival. It had already made history by being the
first documentary chosen to be part of the official festival competition in
almost 50 years. And, last night, it was the only prize awarded that
received a unanimous decision from the festival jury. The film's crew and I
have never experieced anything like this."

The e-mail goes on to say that United Artists has picked up the film for a planned October release, but Mr. Moore urges you not to hold your breath. We'll see.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Hope you had a good Memorial Day weekend. I went to Tulsa kind of spur of the moment. it was fun.

Ryan hooked me up with this great book called "American Hardcore: A Tribal History" by Steven Blush, put out by indie book publisher Feral House. It reads like a 300 page "Behind the Music", with most of the content quote from those famous, infamous, and forgotten throughout the golden age of American HC (80-86). Chapters are devoted to the major scenes, LA, SF, DC, Boston, NYC, and then chapters are taken regionally, Midwest, Texas, Pacific NW, etc. Even the Old N.O.T.A. from Tulsa get a mention and a picture. Seminal bands such as Black Flag, DK, Bad Brains, and Minor Threat also get their own chapters. It's a good history, and really gives you the feeling of being there.

I'm not really shocked, but a lot of the people talked about how violent the scene was back then. Both between people within the scene, and cops, rednecks, frat boys, etc. Talk of people being punched out just for wearing a Dead Kennedy's Shirt, etc. I mean really, really violent stuff. Police riots were common in LA with shows being shut down after a matter of minutes. It took a lot of bull-headedness to keep fighting for the right to play music, and beat the crap out of each other. I'm glad folks did it, though, as it produced some great music, and made it safe for little boys like me to go see bands.

Random people are brought up throughout the book, too. The Beastie Boys get a couple of paragraphs, and Adam Yauch is quoted a couple of times. Also Moby's old Connecticut based HC band, Vatican Commandos, get a mention. Duff McKagan of G'n'R apparently was in a couple of Seatlle HC bands before moving to LA. The oddest is probably Soul Asylum, who released their first album in 1985 with Bob Mould (Husker Du, Sugar) producing. Wow.

The book also contains a great HC discography at the end, with pretty much every album, 7", comp, whatever put out between 80-86. Obviously, this has led me to pull out some stuff I haven't listened to in a while. First was the Circle Jerks' "Group Sex" album, released in 1980 with about 16 songs in a little over 15 minutes. It really is a great album though. Right now it's the Vandal's "Peace Thru Vandalism" and "When in Rome, do as the Vandals" reissue on Time Bomb Recordings. Next will either be Minor Threat's Complete Discography (which has been a mainstay in my player for about 5 years) or Youth Brigade's "Sink with Kalifornija". We'll see.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Denise and I went to the Dallas Museum of Art tonight (it's free on Thursdays, and stays open til 9) and had a pretty enjoyable time, even though we really only got through the bottom floor. They have an exhibition of famed photographer Thomas Struth on display. Huge exhibition, actually. A great, wide variety of pictures spanning continents, time, themes, etc. Black and white and color, city-scapes, people, flowers, the whole gamut. It's nice that some of them are absolutely huge, including the Tiannaman Square one, which makes you feel like your standing in the square looking at the photo of Chairman Mao.

They also had some cool paintings by some masters. Some Monet's, a Van Gogh, Manet, Picasso, Pollock, etc. My two favs that they had were Jackson Pollock's The Catheral and Pablo Picasso piece that I just can not remember the name of. (btw, the movie "pollock" starring Ed Harris is phenomenol if you haven't seen it)

There were also quite a few really cool sculptures, some done by some amazingly talented high school students, and a Huge (and I mean from the floor to the top of a 50 foot ceiling) metal rope that's tied to a stake hitch. (Scroll down a bit, damn site is done in frames) Very cool piece, just for the sheer size of it.

Maybe we'll go back next Thursday to see the rest. Good museum though.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Denise and I went to Borders last night and I started reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. I've read many a great review of this book, but can't afford it right now, so it's going to be my first ever in-store reading book. I've heard several times that employees don't care if you do such things, and I don't know if Borders has a policy towards it (jonmc, any enlightenment?), but sod it, I'm doing it. So I read the intro and about the first chapter and a half. Lots of information in the first two chapters about the history and evolution of the fast-food restaurant. And some interesting anecdotes about US history during that period (Highway Act, evolution of Southern California, where most fast-food companies started, etc.)
The intro had a great bit about GM and their impact in screwing long-functioning public transport in many cities. They purchased all of the trolley companies in lots of various cities (Tulsa included) and then destroyed all of the cars, ripped up the tracks, and destroyed the overhead electric wires. Then, they convinced the city to purchase busses instead for public transport. Buses made by GM. Hmmmm. Interesting business strategy, no? To help offset the costs, they got tire manufacturers, oil companies, etc. to help pay for the purchase of the trolley companies, convincing them that they would profit from no more trolleys, more buses, more cars, all of which is true. I wonder how much they knew back then about the environmental impact autos and the like had on our everyday lives. I also can't help but wonder how cool it would be if Tulsa still had a functioning Trolley system.
There was also an anecdote about a super top-secret air force base that's underneath a mountain near Colorado Springs, CO. (It's existence isn't top secret, it's what goes on inside). Miles and miles of underground tunnels, offices, bunks, hallways, water supply, thick steel doors, etc. It's completely self-sustainable, with it's own cafeteria, swimming pool, workout center, and classrooms. It was built to withstand an earthquake or direct nuclear attack. Would it? Who knows, it's never been tested. But they have their own water supply, pressurized air, and the entire thing is on some kind of spring system to absorb shock. When you drive up to said base, there are signs saying "Warning: Guards have authority to shoot on site" and all kinds of other scary stuff. Yet, who makes a trip there almost every night? The Domino's Pizza guy from Colorado Springs. He "walks up to the door, drops off the pizza, collects his tip, and leaves". Interesting, eh?
Oh, and three other interesting facts that I read.
1) On any given day, one in four adult US'ns will eat at a fast food restaurant.
2) Every week, the average adult in the US eats three hamburgers and four orders of french fries
3) People in the US spend more on fast food than they do on books, magazines, newspapers, movies, concerts, and audio CD's....combined.

Not sure when I'll return to Borders to read more, but when I do, i'll give another mini book report.
:: Scott [+] ::
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I read an article on some site yesterday (and can't find anything about it today) about the first English "hooligan" to be sent home upon arriving in South Korea. His name was on a list of approx. 3000 (i believe) and he was sent back to Europe from the airport. The people in South Korea and Japan are, understandably, very afraid of what may happen during or after some of the games. England and Argentina are huge rivals, and in the same first round robin, in Sapporo, Japan. Japanese men as a whole are quite a bit smaller than your average British Hooligan, so the policemen there have been training for months in various martial arts, and are being equipped with special weapons. A story i heard on NPR several months ago spoke of how the policemen there are being trained in guns that will shoot out webs with weights on the ends to catch up to a small crowd of people. Just like in the cartoons! Sounds kind of humorous, but i don't think anyone caught in the middle of a full-fledged football fight would find much of anything funny.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Like my friend Jeremy in Houston, I received one of those "terrorist warning" letters from the property owners of my apartment. Here are some highlights:

"on May 15, 2002, the FBI's Counter-Terrorism Division issued general threat information to local law enforcement authorities throughout the Unisted States involving apartment communitites. The info, which the FBI has stressed is general and non-specific essentially states 'that there are indications that discussion were held about the possibility of renting apartment units in various areas of the US and rigging them with explosives. The FBI has no information indicating that htis subject advanced beyond the discussion stage.'"

they go on to say observe your surroundings, notify proper authorities of anything suspicious, "better to err on the side of caution and to report all activity and persons you feel are threatening or suspicious to the authorities rather than to simply ignor it or attempt to take matters into your own hands.", blah blah blah.

Should i be scared? Nope. Yeah, i live in a big city now, but my apartment building contains 16 units, and is only two stories. If this kind of thing were to happen, and it may or may not (duh), i would suspect it would take place in high rise apts, not little buildings where casualty counts would be low. I just hope no one around here uses it as an excuse to start spying on their Arab neighbors or anything. This is texas, after all.

Anyone else get one of these? What's your take?
:: Scott [+] ::
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Whoa. Sean linked me up on the MeFi front page. Must produce something good....ah, fiddlestix. Anyways, for all of the influxing (that a word?) MeFi'ers wondering who I am....I'm the Ufez.

Oh, and FWIW, I've read 19 of those 100 listed books. My two favs being Dostoyevsky's Brothers Karamazov, and The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass.
:: Scott [+] ::
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10 days til the World Cup kicks off! I've been asked a lot lately who's going to win/who's favored, etc. Here's the easiest and least committal way of telling people.... the official Vegas Line
France - 4:1
Argentina - 4:1
Italy - 6:1
Brazil - 7:1
Spain - 10:1
England - 12:1
Portugal - 12:1
Germany - 14:1
USA - 125:1

Note, i don't dig gambling. I think it's pretty dumb. I just wanted to inform all of what may or may not happen next month. So pthhhhbbbt!
:: Scott [+] ::
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Hot damn! I (FINALLY!) fixed my permalinks. For some reason, there were a couple of extra words (/dogmo/blog) in the coding for it, so I removed it from the template, and they now fully function. Sorry it took so long.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Follow-up to Sean's post about Don Quixote being voted the best work of fiction of all time by a group of 100 current writers from 54 countries.... Here's the complete list, though no ranking was given other than Don Q being #1. (via rebeccablood)

*sean: I looked all over your archives and used your google search for that post. If you want, e-mail me the link, and I'll put it in here, ok?
:: Scott [+] ::
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Really interesting and informative article from the Guardian UK about Michael Moore's new documentary "Bowling for Columbine" which premeired at the Cannes Film Festival last week. Not sure when the film will debut, or be released, in the States, but I'll be there.
:: Scott [+] ::
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I'm heading down to Waco this weekend for the last of the Jager-boys graduation. And no, he's not a slacker. He's graduating with a master's in Acct. Should be a good time though. Have a good weekend.
:: Scott [+] ::
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I hate doing laundry. Nothing is worse than doing laundry. Except putting your load in a machine, putting soap in, inserting your $0.75, and then the damn machine doesn't work. Bah!
:: Scott [+] ::
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Oh, I can't resist. The "you support terrorism if..." commercial that needed to be made. Enjoy (Flash req'd).
:: Scott [+] ::
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The trip to OK was pretty cool. I left Dallas about 8:45 Saturday morning and did a big loop around the state (dallas --> Norman --> OKC --> Stillwater --> Tulsa --> dallas). Lots of driving, but got to see some folks I hadn't in a while, and Nader graduated so it's all good.

My parents flew back in from Florida on Sunday (they were visiting my sister and her husband). Being Mother's Day, my mom insisted on playing Scrabble. I've totally got the poor woman hooked on the game. We played three games, and she beat me two out of three. Don't laugh, she's gotten better. And, the combined total of her margin of victory was 8, and the game i beat her, i won by about 80, so there. She scored her fist ever "bingo" though (using all seven of her tiles on one play, which gets you a 50 point bonus, for those not 'in the know'). And it was a triple word score. So, for the word "Eurphoric", she got 94 points. She was, needless to say, kind of um, euphoric. I'm glad she had a good mother's day, though, as last year I was so busy with graduation, etc. that I forgot to even get her a card, and whoooooweee, she was not happy. I think i made up for it this year, though. Hopefully.

I went to Stillwater for the first time in about 6 years to see my friend Adam. No offense Cody (or any other poke-types), but i'm so glad i didn't go to OSU. I know, I know, Waco's not exactly Glasgow or anything, but man. I was in Stillwater for about 12 hours (5 of which i slept) and i felt like I had been everywhere and done everything. Four years (or more) seems like a long time to be there.
:: Scott [+] ::
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There's been a lot of discussion lately about Bush's inquiry into single-gender schools. Aparrently, there have numerous studies showing that students of both genders do better when isolated from the opposite gender. Bush has asked for a 60-day thought period, or something like that, and then further steps will be taken as needed, i guess.

Don't panic. It is not anyone's goal to have all segregated public schools throughout the US. To the best of my knowledge, the main goal is to see if it works, and if so, allow for single-gendered public schools in most major cities that students can elect to go to. I don't think anyone will be forced (other than by their parents, i suppose) to attend one of these schools. However, I heard a good discussion on NPR yesterday about it, and here's some thoughts.

Major criticisms of the studies include that in the vast majority of the studies, the students were also placed in very small schools, with very small class sizes, which may be the best overall thing we could do for all students. Some say this causes the results to be skewed, which may very well be the case. Even if this proposal goes through, and the single-gender schools are set up, they will be, in all likelihood, very small, which will just make people point and say "see! see! it works!" when this may not be the reason why. Also, there are people that say that you can have the same results with just seperate classes, not completely seperate schools. There was an elementary school principle from somewhere in Washington State on the program that seperated kids just during class, and it had a tremendous effect on the disciplinary problems they were experiencing in his schools.

Here's my two main concerns:
1) Availability of classes: If a girl elects to go to an all-girl school (or is sent there by her parents) but wants to take a class that very few girls are interested in (i.e. technical drafting, shop, or (at least 7 years ago when i took it) computer programming) will there be a class available for her to take, or will she just have to settle for a creative writing or home ec class instead? Also, with fewer students come fewer options for different AP courses, so how do you deal with that?

2) How far do we take this? I'm sure you could do a study that finds christians do better in schools where everyone is a christian, hispanics with hispanics, kids with asthma with kids with asthma. How far do we go until we lose out on any kind of diversity training/interaction with our kids in those oh-so-formative growing up years? We already know that parents don't do enough for their kids outside of school, so "the parents can take care of it" is not a valid response. When do we stop giving up diversity for the sake of a better education? And i think a better education is a very important thing, but there's a balance somewhere.

What do you think? Would you send your kids to a single-gender school? Why/why not?
:: Scott [+] ::
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Sweet Home Oklahoma!
I'm heading north of the Red River (or Rio Rojo, as it's probably known by most of texas nowadays) for Nader's graduation and mother's day! yippee! So don't look for an entry tomorrow, but probably one on Sunday. I'll be back here by noon-ish Monday.
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Eh, it's been awhile, and they're always good fun, so let's take a look at random google searches that have led people here to the pogo, shall we?

"Steve-O Jackass Nudity" - pretty disturbing. I've never mentioned the show "Jackass" here before, but it's a great word, as it describes so many, many people.

"the Great Gatsby and Eugenics" - most likely a really random thesis paper. I'd like to read the results.

"jay gatsby pics" - okay, um, it was a fictional story. Maybe they just wanted screen shots of Rob Redford as Mr. Gatsby. I dunno. Didn't find them here, i'm sure.

"Taoism and the Big Lebowski" - another possible thesis paper, possibly for the coolest professor ever.

and finally...."chirac parking ticket amnesty" - um, sorry bud, can't help you there.

I also had one google search that was so horribly disgusting I won't list it. Even if you ask, i won't tell you. Just don't. (hint, in involved inssest (misspelling intentional) and i was disappointed to have my site pop up somehow)
:: Scott [+] ::
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Speaking of me and creativity, i added a new coined phrase to my vocabulary not too long ago...."Justicide", the killing of justice. It has a nice ring to it.....just say it a couple of times.... justicide...justicide...i like it. So, I googled it, and it's been used twice before, apparently. Once as the title to an episode of the TV show that I've never seen called "New York Undercover", and some guy in Europe that's a pro wrestler. Talk about pissing on my parade. Oh well, i'm still gonna use it!
:: Scott [+] ::
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Oh, i'm a clever one...
You know those annoying spring break shirts that say "one tequila, two tequila, three tequila....floor"? I hate those things with a passion. Actually, the whole spring break concept is pretty damn dumb. My rebuttal? I want to make a shirt that reads:
"One Tequila...
Two Tequila...
Three Tequila...
Gonorrhea!?!"

Man, I need photoshop.

(*as a side note, i figure i'm probably not the first person to come up with this concept. But it made me laugh, and to me, it's original.)
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Anyone else been keeping a close eye on the Mavs/Kings series? Damn good basketball. I hope whoever wins this series goes the rest of the way. I don't think the rest of the playoffs will be worth watching after this series is over. Even Bill Walton said "This is the best series right now. It shouldn't be best of seven, it should be best of nineteen." (*wierd sidenote...after watching the game last night, I had a dream that Mark Cuban was hitting on my girlfriend. Even stranger, she saw him out at a club one night a few weeks ago.)
:: Scott [+] ::
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Bloody hell. just four hours and maybe 40-ish minutes into my experiment, WinAmp froze up on me. Just as "Taking Retards to the Zoo" by the Dead Milkmen was loading up. Damn. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Experiments in Winamp
or
25 and a half hours of solid .mp3 music

I've taken the time to load every mp3 I've ever downloaded into WinAmp to see what happens. I've got 729 songs, for a total running time of 25:24:13. This should make for some interesting transitions. I put it on random, and will let it play until it's done. There better not be a power outage tonight! For the record, first song was Ani DiFranco's "Napoleon". Now playing - KRS-1 "Sound of Da Police". I'm enjoying this immensely so far. Special thanks to AudioGalaxy, who I use to download in the post-Napster days.
:: Scott [+] ::
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Alright, JSBX show review:
Gypsy Tea Room was a cool place. A bit smaller than Cain's (which should be a good point of reference for most of you). Quite a few people there, but it wasn't packed. I walked in about an hour or so after the doors opened and there was a puppet show on the stage (!?) The opening act was a performance art duo from New Orleans called Quintron and Miss PussyCat. The puppet show was pretty cool. Lots of black light stuff, a story about a cat or something having a guitar contest with a skeleton-man, and then they fall in love. I kind of wish I'd gotten to see the beginning of it. Then the duo came out and played some songs. He was using a mini organ (about the size of a keyboard), plus a high-hat that he used with a pedal, and some contraption that I'm guessing he made that used a light bulb, a coffee can with some holes poked in it, and some electronic gizmos to make noise. Miss PussyCat was wearing a very cartoony blue dress and had maracas that were covered with hand-made hoods that resembled clowns or something. It was kitchy and all-right at first, but after about three songs I was ready for them to leave. I'd best describe them as a cross between Atom and His Package and Mister Roger's land of make-believe (or whatever that was called {and yes, ryan, 'meow meow, pussycat, meow meow}) They were interesting to say the least.

Jon Spencer (blues explosion!) and co. came out and played really well. He looks even more strung out than last year, i mean, the guy can't weigh more than about 120 lbs. But he definitely (talkin 'bout, rock and rollllllllllll) still had all the energy. They played quite a few songs (the blues is number 1!!!!!!!) off the new album, which I don't have, and haven't heard much of, so that was kind of a letdown for me. It's pretty obvious that he, and most of the people in the audience (YEAH!!!!!!!!) still think that "Orange" is his best CD, though, as he played a number of songs off of it, and those were the ones that the audience got the biggest thrill out of. (Oh, baby, you just make me wanna, Ohhhhh, yeah!).

Random thoughts:
Judah Bauer (the other guitarist) looks a lot like that "other" brother from the black crowes, not the leader singer, but the other one.
That was the first concert I've been to in a long time that my ears are ringing the following day. It was quite loud. Last time I saw them it was outside, and it was still quite loud.
I like Jon Spencer an awful lot.
I will say it once, loud and clear....I hope you all hear it..."You don't fucking mosh at a Jon Spencer concert!!! I don't care if you and your dick skinhead buddies drank to much before the show. I paid to get in, as did the 14 girls you knocked to the floor, you prick. What the hell are skinheads doing at this show anyways?"
Ok, feel better.
Good show.

As I was walking out, I went to the other side of the Tea Room (they have a big stage and a little stage) and a local band called "Sons of Sound" was playing. I stayed for about 2.5 songs. They had that whole Weezer meets the Strokes thing going on, and I mean that in the worst way possible. And the vocals were absolutely horrible. One of those bands that is there to remind all of us that just b/c you have two guitars, a bass, and some drums, you don't neccessarily constitute a band. Awful, awful stuff.

That's my piece.
:: Scott [+] ::
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*cue Nelson - Ha hah!
Britney smokes. I really like this line: "Of course, I could be wrong and she may actually have been holding the cig for a pal. But who’s going to believe the shabby excuse teen smokers always tell mum?" I totally remember my sister telling my mom that once. Funny stuff.


:: Scott [+] ::
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Uh, did a post last night, and then blogspot went down, so it went the way of the toilet. Anyways, here's a summary. Going to see Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (Play the blues, punk!) tonight at the Gypsy Tea Room (which I've never been to). Bought tickets at a decent little record shop on the outskirts of downtown called Good Records (it's on the Good-Latimer Expy.). Bonus for shopping there: no service charge! Negative: cash only, forcing me to go to deep ellum at about 10:20 to find a Bank of America ATM, and park illegally for a minute even though there was a cop across the street. Anyways, ticket in hand, show tonight = happy me. I saw Jon Spencer about a year ago in Austin, and was very impressed by the show. Hopefully tonight will be more of the same!
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Don't forget to go get your free scoop of ice cream today, courtesy Baskin Robbins. Find a store near you here. And don't worry, it's not all about greed. "For every scoop given away, Baskin-Robbins will make a donation to First Book to provide new books for children from low-income families. To date, Baskin-Robbins has supported the distribution of more than half a million books to this cause."

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Happy Mayday! I know little about this "holiday", except that it's a festival for the laborers, and the old USSR used to have big parades on this day. Also, a professor I had at Baylor, who used to be a NoZe bro. said that back during the Cold War, the NoZe would put on a mock parade on this day. Sadly enough, I don't think Baylor's political enough to do such things anymore.
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Thirty days has September...
If only April had 31 days instead of 30, then I would not have had my first receding month hit count since December. It was close, and yesterday helped me quite a bit, but we didn't quite make it. Damn. Oh well, life goes on, and my hits don't matter all that much.
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