Austin's VOX

This will most likely be my last post at Vox.  No issues with the service, just decided to try and reign in all the places online that I post stuff.  I've had a blog up at moceph.us for a while now and what little blogging I do will happen over there.  There's also Tumble Dumble where I slap links, pictures, whatever...

When the hell did this crap start showing up on Vox?

Any last minute summer plans for the weekend?

Not this weekend... but next weekend for sure.  Becky and I are heading to Atlanta for An Evening with Crispin Glover.  It is a slideshow, a showing of his latest movie, and then a Q&A session.  All at The Plaza Theatre.  You should google around about him... he's wild... and there is much more to him than being Michael J. Fox's dad in Back to the Future.

Crispin Glover - "What it is and How it is Done."

Show us your latest iPod mix.

This is the current "exercise" mix for the gym.

Mix.

Medeski Martin and Wood are one of those groups that consistently demand heavy rotation from me.  Jazz and funk and hip-hop and about everything else all thrown together.  The first album I ever heard of theirs was Shack-man, and I've devoured pretty much everything they have done before or since.  They are one of the few groups that I buy discs by without listening to.  I just assume it is going to be awesome.

When Combustication hit in 1998 my jaw dropped and still remains my favorite disc of theirs.  I can still remember giving it a first spin when I hit track #6: Whatever Happened To Gus?  Spoken word over an awesome MMW track.

read the rest here...

If you knew me from between the years 1990 to probably 1996 or so you would know that there was no human larger on earth in my eyes than Eric Clapton.  I idolized that man.  Sure, Stevie Ray Vaughan probably was a better gunslinger but he didn't have the history.

I've often thought that Eric Clapton was a bit overlooked.  The Yardbirds, The Bluesbreakers, Cream, Derek & The Dominos, Blind Faith, and then a super long solo career.  He's been around forever and played in two bands with Ginger Baker who must be one of the ugliest humans alive.  Hell he even played lead on While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles people.

You could go on and on about the different albums this guy has put out.  If you had to pick a best it would probably be Layla from the Derek & The Dominos days.  But I have to pick a favorite (sometimes much different than a best) for me it would have to be (no reason to cry).  This record, originally released in 1976, has it all.  Blues, country, rock, songs written by members of The Band, and even a duet with Bob Dylan. 

I should go ahead and mention here that most people hate this record, if they have ever actually listened to it.  Rolling Stone... hated it.  My old high school buddy J.J. (another Clapton nut)... hated it.  But then again J.J. hated The Band (a major sin in my book) and described this album as "What happens to people when they hang out with The Band." 

For me the album just always sounded like something recorded in your kitchen with a bunch of drunk friends.  Look at the album cover.  Old EC is sitting there with a bottle of Jim Bean and a Budweiser can.  I guess in some way I think this is the type of album I would have always wanted to record.  An album fully of drunken fun with my friends.

Well if I'd ever stuck with one instrument for longer than 6 months.  And actually learned how to play an instrument.  And had any talent. 

All the above being said, skip track #2 "Carnival"... it sucks :-)

I'd be crazy to.  Too many skeletons, but that is for another post.  Actually no because they are skeletons.

This past week in local East Tennessee politics sort of has my head squirming around.  I got really sad for a while because Matthew Hill beat Todd Smith out for the 7th District House seat.  Then I got really happy for a while because Phil Roe beat David Davis for the 1st Congressional District seat.

From what I can tell there is no Democrat to oppose Matthew Hill in the general election so... well... he's going back to Nashville where my tax dollars help pay him to Carry My Vision.  Matthew I'm not even 100% sure what my vision is but when I find it I'm not going to let you carry it to Nashville.  I'm going to keep it right here in Johnson City with me.  I probably wouldn't give a hoot about you until I heard you did your radio show from The Creation Museum in Kentucky.  If you are into the creationism stuff, have at it because I love opinions.  If not, then my heathern brothers let that sink in.  My elected official did a radio show from the Creation Museum.  I don't want him anywhere near a legislative branch of any government that collects tax dollars from me.  The Flintstones were a cartoon, but I'm totally going to Kentucky one day and have my picture taken riding old Dino there and mail it to Matthew.  Maybe he'll hang it in his office.  That'd be great.

Now on to Roe vs. Davis.  I don't really have anything against David Davis except that his stupid campaign commercials made me feel guilty for not going to church.  Actually I do have a few things against him, he comes off as this creepy right wing nut bag even though I don't particularly have anything against people on the right (or the left) except when they reach nut bag territory.  Oh and Matthew's brother Timmy Timmy Two Step worked for him, tried his mad haxor skillz on Wikipedia and then got a $8,000 bonus from Davis when he got caught.  So I'm not sad to see David Davis lose. But now I'm wondering what we actually won?  Phil Roe?  What is he really going to do?  His entire campaign was based off the fact that he wasn't David Davis.  I live in Johnson City and got all his silly mailings.  The ones with the cute old lady on them standing in front of gas pumps.  Because we all know that gas is nearly $4 a gallon here in the hills because Davis took money from an oil company.  My guess is that all Roe is going to do is vote the party line which I don't usually agree with... even David Davis can do that.  At least there is a contender against Roe in the general election.  Rob Russell.

Yes the Rob Russell & The Sore Losers Rob Russell.  Does he stand a chance?  Not sure.  But that is going to be a hard road to win a seat as a Democrat that has been in Republican hands for  over 100 years.  Personally I'd love to see Rob Russell win.  I'm not a fan at all of his music, so thats not it.  I'd just like to see someone who doesn't appear to be looking for a career in politics head to D.C.   Why not?  I mean those guys usually just vote along party lines anyway and usually after getting a 5 minute briefing on what they are going to be voting on from some staffer who is probably smarter than the elected official anyway.

What I'd like to see is true representative government.  These days politicians get elected because they have tons of dough, and a lot of connections to people who want people in power to do their bidding and keep them rich and white.  Once the person elected gets in office they just vote however they hell they want to (or how their party tells them to) and really don't give a rats ass about the people back home.  So what if I ran for office, but only as a figurehead.  I'll setup a big fat website where the people I represent can weigh in on the things that are to be voted on.  What they say goes even if it is something I'm totally against.  I actually think something like that could work.

Update: Looks like David Davis is whining about his loss.  Who is to blame?  Not him of course... it was the Democrats!  The Democrats, it turns out, ARE to blame for EVERYTHING!

Big ups to my man Williac for the dino pic.  He was brave enough to go to the Creation Museum once.  

Share a song from your favorite band.

A recent study suggests that radiation from cell phones may cause cancer; what, if any, cell phone usage precautions will you take in light of this information?
Submitted by Tim.

I haven't had a phone call over 3 minutes in years.  Potentially never on a mobile phone.  Its all text messages and quick "hey I'll see you in 5 minutes" type phone calls for me.  Even so, I probably will get some type of hands free.  Probably just a normal wire thing because I don't do the bluetooth cockroaches.  They seem to be for people who think they are more important than they really are.

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