Vera Plays Doctor

Vera at the Bike Doctor on Saturday, February 20, 2010.

Cindy Marshall plays the guitar, and Jennifer Tachovsky is on drums.

A Missoulian column left the idea this duo plays music as therapy for motherhood. I think they play because they dig the hell out of it. They certainly seemed to be having a good time, and I know the audience was.

Ironically, the trio Good News From France is from Bozeman. They opened the show.

Since flickr is currently limited to my last 200 images, I can't say how long the Bike Dr photos will be up, but right now, there are 18 in a set of Vera, and 11 in a set of Good News From France. 

There were two other bands scheduled to play that night, but this old man had passed his sleep time and had to trudge back over the Scott St Bridge, shivering as the temp dropped. Graveyard Girl Scouts don't play Zootown as often as Birds Mile Home. Both are worth tracking for future engagements. 

Republican Politics Caused the Great Depression

And the mess they are making now will make the great depression look like a Sunday church potluck.

Introducing the new look.

Mirrors are fun, huh? Who can decipher the secret message?

It's still true. For eight years, the most criminally corrupt administration in the history of this nation occupied the White House. Their chosen figurehead was an ignorant, spoiled, rich kid, who spoke English as a second language. The lying little prick never accomplished a thing without the help of his daddy's rich friends. The rich friends of George I included the Bin Laden family, and one of them is supposedly America's greatest enemy. They also included robber barons, who, as soon as they took power, backed their trucks up to the public treasury and proceeded to steal everything they could.

During the reign of George II, these assholes wrecked the world economy. They are still creating damage right and left as they do everything in their power to make themselves richer and more influential, while sacrificing every positive value the United States ever stood for. They've even stacked the supreme court to get rulings, which allow them greater power and riches through their corporate cronies.

It's past time for this shit to end. How do we end it, when our elected officials are just hogs at the trough? Voting and protesting do no good. However, sometimes, I just have to log my opposition by protesting. The new look was part of role-playing Uncle Sam on President's Day.

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Shit, I forgot and exported the protest images with my name on them, although I did not take them. My friend, James, came down for the final half hour of my vigil and took these shots. He was the only company I had, as none of the 8 definitely will attend and 22 maybes on Facebook showed up. I was disappointed, but motivated to look for more effective means to change the paradigm.

The whole thing has put me into intense self-evaluation time. You know the drill: what am I good at? what am I not good at? how do I best use my time? how long do I keep the new look? do I adjust the new look? The most important question is: what do I do next?

Vagina Monologues 2010

Women's Resource Center Presents Vagina Monologues on Valentine's Day.

I remember when Eve Ensler first produced the Vagina Monologues and how I wanted to see it. As small groups produced it around the country my hope grew, but this was the first time I actually saw a production. I learned Eve continues to travel the world collecting more monologues, and the script has grown into many modules, which local players can choose from. A tradition has grown for worldwide performances on Valentine's Day. It is abbreviated V-Day for Victory, Valentine's and Vagina.

 

There is much humor and some witty irony sandwiched with vignettes from around the world of women treated abysmally by men, or by their culture in general. After a funny bit, laughter could turn to tears as a graphic story of rape or genital mutilation unfolded. It is a powerful drama, and was performed with strength and spirit by university students.

I have never understood how some men could treat women the way they do, and I understand why some women would have angry vaginas.

My #1 camera is out of commission, and my back up doesn't give me the resolution I want, but I did my best to capture this event, because I think it very important. There is a set on flickr. If you click on the set for Valentine's Day Vagina Monologues, and then start the slide show, it will actually play in order from opening curtain to finale. 

YAMN @the Hat

Everywhere I Go People Want Their Photo Taken

Friday Night @the Club w/Cash for Junkers

Kitchenpoet was making the rounds, Friday night, when he encountered Shelby at the Union Club.

I've probably mentioned how much I love beautiful women, and there were many at this evening's festivities.

Cash for Junkers seemed to be having a good time on stage. The crowd dancing and laughing certainly were.

More photos from the Union Club on Friday, February 12, 2010 may be found on flickr.

...see me...fe-e-el me...bite me

People assume I like oldies, because I am one, but it ain't so. WHO were those old geezers lost and overwhelmed by Super Bowl spectacle? Halftime has long been an overblown extravaganza, but when has it ever been so much more boring than the game? Those guys made me miss Mick Jagger, who would have at least shown some life on stage.

Oh, yes, toasts to the Saints. It was all too sweet for a city that needed something to cheer.

Oh boy, some happy time in Carlo's with Suzette snapping away. I think this one is my favorite, but...

That's the real me.

I saw this headline: "Senate leaders drastically pare down employment bill." The article mentions a funding cut from $85B to $15B. You see an employment bill would actually help some people, and god knows we can't have that. Let's spend more on killing people and developing better weapons to kill people.

The Food for Thought show is a knockout, if I do say so myself. Get over there. I am proud of this work.

It is great exposure to be in a venue with this kind of traffic. The breakfast rush was huge, and lunch was even bigger. What a great menu written in colored chalk on black boards around the wall.

Monday Musings and Rants

Kitchenpoet and Zola

Presidents' Day Protest

It is time to loudly voice my opposition to war in general, and specifically to this mess the last moron got us into and the new smart guy is willing to continue. I intend to adopt full Uncle Sam mode on Presidents' Day to stand at the Wilma end of Higgins Bridge with an anti-war sign in hand. Everyone is invited to join me there on Monday, February 15, at noon. You can bring a sign protesting the war or any issue you prefer (i.e. the supreme court's sell out to corporations). I will have some sloppy, quick signs I made with magic marker to hand out, and a marker and blank paper for you to get creative. Of course, I guess it's possible I will be only one there.

A recent attempt to switch from coffee to tea failed miserably, and I can only conclude I am addicted to coffee rather than just caffeine. At this point I would just like to say god bless Butterfly Herbs.

Will Rogers would buy a newspaper on the way to the theater, walk on stage and use the material he found for his comedy act live and spontaneous on stage. He's one of my heroes, and I wish I had the wit to emulate him. Witless or not, I must comment on some headlines and stories I've seen online.

"Exxon Mobil Profits fall 23% in 4th Quarter"

Isn't that a sad story? Those poor bastards only made $6 billion during the final three months of last year. I swear that just brings tears to my eyes.

Many people in Haiti have reason for tears. It's a smashing disaster. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost and ruined. In the midst of this tragedy a gang of Christians tried to abduct a bunch of children, hoping to convert the young heathen, while claiming they only did it for their own good. They didn't go through channels, file paper, nothing, and left some parents unable to find their children. Those righteous bastards remind me of the pompous gasbags claiming slavery was a good thing for allowing the descendants of slaves to now enjoy the benefits of living in our beloved country.

Can you tell I'm pissy about the state of the world and looking for some hypocrites to take it out on?

WWOZ in New Orleans is my most common soundtrack here in my workroom. The joy brought to the people of that city by the Saints has me happy for their wins and rooting for them in the Super Bowl. 

People should be reminded of how that wonderful city went beneath the waves and was ignored by the criminal assholes occupying the white house at the time. People died because the rich people in power didn't give a shit about poor people dying and being forced from their homes. It was negligence equivalent to murder. Then they helped their corporate cronies to move in and profit from the situation. Recommended reading: The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein.

Domestic Spending Freeze

That's a load of bullshit in the raygun style. Military spending continues to increase. We don't need to spend more than every body else in the world on our military. We don't need to spend half of every tax dollar on defense. A small portion of the money spent on killing people and preparing to kill more could provide health care to everyone in this country. A tiny portion of the money could rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and schools. 

A toast to the young anarchists in Zootown and their Food not Bombs project. That is a worthy message. You would think Christians might agree, since Jesus seemed to be more concerned with feeding people than killing them. Unfortunately, most who label themselves that way and worship his name are only into the names and not his message of love and openness.

I'll wrap with another headline and comment.

"Can talking to the Taliban stop the war?"  

I hope so, because trying to kill all of them isn't working worth a shit.