New York Dolls

I saw the New York Dolls last night, and for a band that has inspired so many of my favorite bands, e.g. The Smiths, or bands that inspired other favorites, e.g. The Sex Pistols, I didn’t find myself captivated. Rather, I found myself leaving four songs following their opening. I did see them cover “Take Another Little Piece of my Heart,” but that made their lead singer Johansen look even more like a haggard old chain smoking trailer park matron than it did put me back with feeling.

Of course, the opening act was from Toledo, OH – “We are the Fury,” was their name. Their performance and attire carried with it the glam of earlier New York Dolls; however, their performance and attire hearkened back thirty-to-twenty-five years. I didn’t find any part of their songwriting something to which I would care to return, but they had a nice energy level.

What I found even more interesting was going to a show here in Boise. I say that, as I had not yet been to a Rock show in Boise. Boise is the home of Built to Spill, but aside from BTS, there isn’t a raging DIY indie rock scene here, like there was in Memphis. Of course, as it goes, I came from Chicago, which is one of the bastions of indie music, so I have a pretty subjective perspective relative to comparison.

However, that’s not to say there weren’t freaks and geeks milling about at the show last night. There was ink; there were piercings, and there were kids with lots of glam or faux bouffant stylings. Quite honestly, for me, it was rather grotesque, but then that lead me to think two things: one, I have not been to a show of any sort for a long time; two, not drinking the cocktails any longer, I am more outwardly focused than I was in the past; and three, I am getting old.

I do hit the big “Three-O” this year, and methinks that while the milestone-ish number is more subconscious than anything, there is some truth to my lifestyle having changed along with growing a bit older, so that when I am around those, the likes of which I am not around too often, I am not as desensitized. When one’s life is seven-to-five with nothing but running, skiing, yoga, dining, or libraries, one doesn’t see much of the younger counter-culture aspects to life.

I don’t know part of me also has the pension to dismiss their elements of counter-culture, as for me, being the geezer; it has less creativity or style than it did when folks I knew were pulling it off. Now, it all seems so tired and pastiche.

How’s that for an old man’s rant? Rock.

Ode to the Fox, but then the Deer

I was running down Shaw Mountain Road last night, coming down out of the foothills. As I was nearing Reserve, another street, off to my left down the hill a bit were three good sized whitetail deer. The deer were all doe, and they were eating or rummaging for something.

Whatever the case, while not the most majestic deer I have ever seen, there they were. As I ran towards them, they maintained their position eating. They did so until I came within about ten-to-fifteen feet of them, and they then ran. Their tails were as white as could be, and it was quite joyous to be running in the city itself, seeing such wild and business-as-usual animals doing their thing.

Similarly, up and down the same foothill I run for my weeknight runs, I heard coyotes howling on Saturday morning last week. These are things with which I grew, but to have them back again is so nice. I know I write often about being closer to the outdoors, and I suppose much of that is predicated on that being closer to my life now than it has for a while. I cannot complain, not by a long stretch; however, it is even something of which I am self-conscious. It’s quite odd how vibrant it is, but how delightful and enjoyable.

A Few of My Favorite Adjectives

For those of you that know me, or read what I write; by my verbosity, one thing is certain, I love words. While I love words, of course, there are those I love more than others, particularly those of adjectives. Can anything beat good descriptors?

Here is the quick and dirty on some of my favorite adjectives and their application for me:

“Lovely” – I use this to describe women or women’s clothing, whilst it’s on them
“Darling” – generally referring to a beloved woman’s personality or my opinion of them
“Dear” – ibid
“Beloved” – well, I used it above, second verse same as the first
“Delighted," “Charmed’ and “adore” are to favorite verbs of mine, in the same context

“Ignorant” – what it means, but usually referring to my self, in a concession of not knowing more on something
“Daft” – what it means, but usually referring to something I have done or my skill, or lack thereof, at something
“Repellant”— typically referring to one I find distasteful
“Remiss” – what it means

Yeah – that was what I was thinking for a while, while I ran last night. It’s a lot of excitement whilst living alone.

Long time coming

Alas, I am a horrible blogger Why? Well, aside from the continuous use of lengthy sentences and verbose passages, I don’t come here often enough to post things. A few big activities of late:
Work
Running
Skiing
Volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club of Idaho, Ada County

On the volunteering component, I am having a ball. I have been going a couple of times a week. I was initially so included to go and help kids with their school work; however, thus far, I have done more respective to going there to play games with the kids. By games, largely that means pool, bumper pool, air hockey, or Mancala (sp?).

I suspect I will continue doing this, as I find it quite rewarding; however, not helping out with stuff academic takes away some of the drive to participate. I don’t feel as though I am adding a whole lot of value just going to play. I am sure many can state points contrary to that feeling, but the schedule rearrangement to play billiards with eight-year-olds has the propensity to wear a bit thin.

That’s about it, as of late. Otherwise, it is more of the same: lots of work, running, skiing and volunteering. Right now, I am working to not fall into a rut. Hence, why I’ve not written a whole lot, there isn’t much to report.

Foxes to Quakes

Mark today, Thursday, 21-February, as the first time I have felt an earthquake! Crazy!

Ode to the Parking Lot, Where I Park for Work

There are things,
The likes of which, too often we don’t see,
For me, this morning it was a fox, soft and furry,
Driving into my parking lot,
Backing up to park my car,
Head facing out,
In the raised embankment,
There he was, rummaging for carrion,
As I worked my way out of my car with attaché in hand,
Scurry away he did, with the carcass of something in his mouth,
Not eight feet from the sidewalk to my office’s side entrance, there he was,
Under the cover of pre-dawn skis, having his breakfast,
I thought to myself, “I can’t say I would see this too often, near anywhere else.”
If nothing else, my parking lot fox served as a reminder, as to why here I moved.

The Lowest of the Low

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2008/02/bushs_fifth.cfm

President Bush's approval is at 19%, which is five percentage points lower than Nixon's following Watergate. Why is that? Why are his ratings so low? Rather than rant on and on, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Off the top of my head, I can name an ongoing number of points. Rather than doing that, I will simply speculate, in the future study of Presidential History, Bush will be characterized as a President that could be sold on anything.

Entitlement and Continued Hanging Around

Senator Clinton,

Clearly, you are well behind Senator Obama. Aside from that, can you see all the momentum he has? You are now holding out for Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, all of which are to be your firewall in preventing Senator Obama from obtaining the nomination. Why is it that you continue on in this?
Wait, that’s right; you told us in New Hampshire, expressing the softer side of Hillary. Is it that softer side that says things like, “here comes the fun part,” in reference to getting into dirty negative politicking? Is this the same person that had multiple campaign representatives’ fire off slandering things, for which they apologized along with resigning?
Mrs. Clinton, those actions, those of your subordinates or husband, they don’t pass the giggle test. Those that speak publicly know they are doing so as your representatives, and for me, that just means they were sacrificed as pawns in a greater political setting. Those politics are so Clintonian, and we have been there done that. It hearkens back to “Primary Colors.”
Ultimately, my challenge is that your politics are no better or different than that of Obama, but there is a difference. For one, I cannot listen to you speak, argue or debate. By no means is it your gender, rather it is this veiled dimension of superiority in a self-perceived belief in you “having done so much.” Quite simply, you haven’t done enough to warrant that arrogance.
On another hand, I must admit, I am not fond of the idea of having more “Rush is Right” blather on the airwaves. Let’s face it; you are the kind of person people can get behind disliking. People don’t dislike you because of your politics, so much as they disdain you for the aforementioned reasons I provided.
Hillary, Obama was paying you a courtesy, when he said, “You are likeable enough.” Fact of the matter is, I cannot think of any friends of yours that are not sycophants, whom do not have something tied to your husband’s politics, or don’t have something tied to the belief that you are the favorite cum winner.
Ultimately, if you are the nominee due to Super-Delegates over primary votes, I will not ever again vote Democrat. It’s just that simple. Do us all a favor, and resign this campaign. The idea of you as President is distasteful, almost as distasteful as another Bush term.

Sincerely,
Matt

Alas, Matt is back

For those of you continuing to check to see if there has been an update, first, a big hearty "Thank You!" Apologies for not posting more frequently these past weeks.
I attribute it to my lifestyle here in Idaho, which is the whole reason I moved to Boise. I am a fairly routine individaul. If one were a spy or assasin, my movements would be easy to pin down.
Here are the "quick and dirty" bullets of Matt's week. I'll summarize it by the number of hours I spend working tasks:

-Work ~45hrs
-Sleep ~56hrs
-Run ~8hrs
-Dine (three a day) ~14hrs
-ski ~6-7hrs

With all the skiing I have been doing, I've not had a lot of downtime here in Boise. Therefore, I've not been able to keep this up. Apologies, but hey - when/if Hillary drops out (fingers-crossed), I could see coming back with fury!

First Daughter Chelsea – She’s Ready from Day One

http://slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/archive/2008/02/08/grrrr-time-to-protect-chelsea.aspx

I have not been understanding the whole Chelsea Clinton exposure, but I've got it! For me, it's threefold: One, I’ve not yet heard her speak. Two, Hillary’s campaign is “Pimping her out,” as she is ubiquitous in Hillary campaign stops--boring. Three, I am just missing the point, so many people loathe Hillary—have for years, Chelsea proves she is human.

Here’s the gig – Obama has two kids, both of whom are adorable. Of course, like Obama, they have never lived in the White House before this year. Chelsea can claim it straight away; she is ready to be First Daughter from day one! Obama’s daughters, sure they’re cute, but they don’t have eight years of experience living in the White House, being under Secret Service care!

Chelsea stands strong as a former First Daughter, calling super delegates, speaking on her Mom’s behalf. Of course, the whole super delegate component to Democratic policies will send me right over the edge if the convention and nominations comes down to them.

That’s it! Obama needs to have his two little dolls calling the Super Delegates! Who could say “No”? No one with a heart… Yeah, it will be a challenge for the Obama’s, Chelsea, like Hillary, is ready from Day One! We had better not forget that fact! Gross.

Bill Clinton, I don't know that you can justify words or actions as a spouse

"Everything I have said has been factually accurate, but I think the mistake I made was to think I was a spouse just like any other spouse who could defend his candidate," Bill Clinton told Portland television station WCSH. "I think I can promote Hillary but not defend her because I was president."

Here is my challenge with this, and my challenge with even considering Hillary as a viable candidate. Hillary has Bill Clinton as a spouse. Not only are we all familiar with their issues during his presidency, but that will be something we will incessantly see in a race between Hillary and a Republican. Would the candidate say anything? No – that would be suicide, but the tangential media, e.g. Rush, Coulter, Hannity, et al., would be incessant.

The Clinton’s in the White House again would simply be a regurgitation of the 1990’s, and we can’t deal with that. Not to mention all the personal issues I have with Hillary, but their day in the sun has come and gone. Beyond all of that, Bill Clinton cannot truthfully take his actions, and make excuses for them as a husband, when he was doing what he did in the Oval Office with Monica. Sorry – game over Bill, it doesn’t pass the smell test.

Quagmires – Overcoming the Challenges of Others’ Criticism Concerning Obama’s Approach to Race

Reading this blog post this morning (http://www.theroot.com/id/44630), I was left a bit irritated. Rather than delve into a long rant on the separation of strategy and tactics, I will simply say that Mr. Hill is largely missing the point with Obama’s approach to race in politics. I acknowledge that there are still challenges with race and gender disparity; however, I most definitely think Obama’s election to President would be a move towards greater harmony.

For Mr. Hill to attack Obama, predicated on Obama not miring himself down in racial politics misses the point. Obama physically is a manifestation of progress in our society relative to race. No, Obama’s election to President will not heal all racial wounds or fix inequalities in our society, but it will be a step in that right direction.

Ultimately, it’s a long road, taken one step at a time, and not dealt with tactically by trying to address every little inequality that exists, wherein we would lose sight of the bigger picture. For me, Obama is not mired in the politics of race. Obama is beyond that; he is META-Racial. To wallow in one’s own angst, losing sight of that point, it’s a shame. Keep the end goal in sight, but work towards that goal strategically, not via “Whack a Mole.”

Super Tuesday is over – Just some thoughts from the humdrum

• I am going with bullets – let’s keep this simple – in the spirit of blogging
• http://www.slatev.com/ - watching McCain’s wife taking a nice back massage on an excerpt from Fox News; Hello, Adorable?!
• My favorite face was – ummm… I don’t know Hillary’s chagrin grimace, when Obama said, “the other campaign says a lot about being ready from day one, but based on the vote for the war in Iraq, we need someone that will be right from day one.”

Oh, Hillary, your entitlement isn’t that, at least not for the rest of us. And, as far as being ready:
o What did you do prior to becoming a Senator? Oh yeah, you were first lady…
o Okay, so wait, you and Obama are both Senators… Before that, he worked in State politics as a legislator… What did you do?
o Oh, that’s right, it was a failed effort at healthcare from the White House, which didn’t get anywhere
o Well before that, surely you did lots of work giving you the “experience” you now have… what was it… Oh yeah, a whole bunch of stuff the Right came at you with in the ‘90’s accusing you of illicit or illegal activities… What was that – oh – Whitewater…

• Romney, there is a competition comparing Romney to various Ken dolls, which Ken doll looks the most like Romney?