Returning Shortly...

Hey KIDZ!!!

I will be returning to blogging again shortly. My hard drive crashed, I haven't fixed my computer yet and I have been quite busy.

Peace

American Socialism For the Rich - #1 PILOT Part 1

American Socialism For The Rich - #1 PILOT Part 1 (ASFR)
This is a show taped in Vermont weekly so, feel free to call in Sundays from 7PM to 8PM EST. The phone number is (802)651-0589.




Filmed on July 20th of 2008, hosts Marek Hirsch and Matt Cropp discuss monetary policy, fiat currencies, and the role of government in stimulating the economy. You can see the other parts here at my youtube page.

The show is on Tuesdays @ 4:30pm, Wednesdays @ 7am, Saturdays @ 5:30pm and Sundays @ 7pm (LIVE) on Channel 15 (VCAM) on Burlington Telecom and Comcast (Burlington, South Burlington, Essex Junction, Essex Center, Williston, Winooski, St. George, parts of Colchester, Shelburne, Charlotte, Hinesburg, Ferrisburg & Vergennes). Feel free to call in, and please post a comment.

The show was produced with help from VCAM studios in Burlington, VT.

http://www.vermontcam.org/

Driver hits pedestrian, bar in Burlington

A 77-year old man backed his small Kia sedan into two vehicles, hit a pedestrian standing on a Main Street sidewalk and crashed through the wall of a Burlington bar Tuesday afternoon, police said. The pedestrian, Kevin Neary, 42, of South Burlington, was taken to Fletcher Allen Health Care for "serious but apparently non life threatening injuries" after being hit by vehicle, police said. The 4:02 p.m. collision damaged the front wall of Esox bar on Main Street and left the back window of the Kia smashed. The car was driven by Donald Wilder of Zellwood, Fla. People passing by the accident scene were puzzled about how the accident occurred. "How did this happen?" and "How did he do that?" were some of the comments from people who watched police clear the scene. Police said the driver "had trouble with the vehicle controls and held down the accelerator."

SOURCE

Reid Genauer & Jamie Maisfield Playin' 9 Pound Hammer @ Higher Ground

Reid Genauer and Jamie Masefield performing live at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT on April 24 2008.

Members of Phish Seen Playin' Get Back On The Train, Farmhouse, Sample In A Jar, Alaska & Meat @ Rothbury Music Festival - July 6th, 2008

My Cousin from Connecticut Eric Hodska Won The 8th Annual Lake Waramaug Sprint Triathlon

	"Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life!"
	— Commander Collins, (1978)

I haven't seen my cousin Eric since a wedding back in the 90's when I was like 13. From what I see on the web, he apparently is quite the athlete. He competes every year in the Iron Man race in Hawaii. Also, he has his own website and executes training camps for people that attempt triathlons. Pretty awesome since there are not many Hodskas. Here is a quote from a Milford Spectrum news article.

"Eric Hodska of Monroe (CT) captured first place over a course starting and finishing high in the hills overlooking the lake. The 42-year-old veteran clocked 1:05:09 to edge former champion John Hirsch of Block Island, R.I. by 32 seconds."

Source

And yes, he took www.hodska.com before i could, but that is fine with me because he's got a business to promote.

Reid Genauer Singing The National Anthem @ Shea Staduim

I am not in the mood to be very patriotic about the current state of our country's political affairs, but to be festive, I thought this was appropriate. Here is Reid Genauer of that band I like, Assembly of Dust. Enjoy!

And if we get to play Russia in an Olympic hockey game soon. Go America!!! But ya, boo America too! Boooooo!

Phans Hosed By New Oldies Radio Station In Burlington

Were you listening to WUSX 93.7 FM @ noon today? Did you know that there were rumors a new channel in Burlington dedicated to Phish?

Although a nice thought, it never came to be phriends. I was listening and I gotta say I am very disappointed. I really expected something fresh, new and targeted to young people. Burlington needs an eclectic jam band channel to rival The Point's boring and "radio friendly," progressive rock channel that plays the same songs on repeat. However, to the chagrins of many listening phans, instead of something new and fun, Burlington just got another oldies station.

Tuesday at noon the repeating Phish studio songs changed to oldies, and the first song they played was 409 by The Beach Boys, which left me feeling pissed off and unamused. It was pretty obvious that there was not gonna be an exciting addition of music to the greater Burlington area. After the realization had permeated my brain, I also heard Simon and Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence and then Guess Who's American Woman. Meh...I'd rather hear Phish's Rift and then Spine of a Dog by moe., or at least Bob Marley's Exodus and then Up On Cripple Creek by The Band. There are enough channels around here devoted to being predictable and ordinary. In my opinion, they missed out on an opportunity to add that missing piece of the music on the radio that Burlington has been dreaming about for a long time.

Regardless of the big letdown, you have to say that it was a good advertising move on the part of WUSX to use the music of Phish as they did. One may ask, will the Phish listening demographic attention that they grabbed help them with their ratings as they go forward? I would say that I doubt that was even their motive. Rather, I think they wanted to use the buzz of Phish for five days to promote a format change, not gain a fan base, which could have happened if the new format wasn't so freakin' lame. And just to let ya know, for those that want to hear Phish on the radio, there is Gone Phishin' on Jam On, which is weekdays @ 9pm on Channel 17 of Sirius Satelite Radio.

Chris Murphy's Blackwater Bill Passed House

Freshman Rep. Chris Murphy finally managed to turn his "Blackwater Bill" into a law that will require companies and non-profits that get most of their revenues from the government to disclose their senior officers and how much those people get paid.

"My bill seeks one simple thing – transparency. If there are people out there making millions off of government contracts, profiting off of this war, we should know about it," said Murphy.

After trying various methods of pushing his bill through Congress, Murphy managed to link it to the Iraq and Afghanistan war funding that President Bush signed today. This is Murphy's first law that stems from a bill he authored and introduced. The idea of the law is to shed light on the compensation of people running companies reliant on government contracts, and it stems from congressional frustration over an episode in which the chief of the Blackwater security firm wouldn't disclose salary information, even though his company relies on U.S. government work. Because it and similar companies become quasi-governmental organizations, Murphy argued, people should know how much profit they are bringing in for their executives. The law effects organizations making more than $25 million a year and at least 80 percent of it from government sources. The salary information for each organization's top five officials will be posted online at www.usaspending.gov.

Story

Stop the Bag Monster

Here is a picture of me in Brattleboro with the BAG MONSTER. It was outside of the co-op downtown. It is a 12-foot tall creation made out of hundreds of plastic bags. I thought it was so funny that I had to get a picture of it.


It says, "Stop the Bag Monster from Destroying the Earth." Makes me wonder what George would have to say about our brothers and sisters in Brattleboro?

Very creative at least...

"WUSX Addison, Something Phishy Is Coming To 93.7 Tuesday At Noon"

Get ready phans. You know how there's too many country channels on the radio in Burlington, and you never even hear Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson on them? Well, one of the channels appears to be changing. Not to Johnny Cash, but at least to something practical.


For the past 3 days, WUSX, US93.7 FM, a radio station in Addison, has been playing studio recorded Phish and not country. It appears that Burlington is about to get the addition of a Phish radio channel. Just turn to 93.7 FM in the surrounding areas of Burlington. If you are not in and around Bulrington, just go to their website which can be found here. Right now they are just playing five songs over and over again. So, It appears that until Tuesday at noon, the station will continue to play five "radio friendly" Phish songs. Heavy Things, Free, Chalkdust Torture, Bouncin' Around The Room & The Connection are on repeat.

Also, intermittently, a girl's voice comes on and whispers, "WUSX Addison, something phishy is coming to 93.7 Tuesday at noon." Kinda creepy, but it works. And thankfully, no commercials...yet.

So, Tuesday at noon it sounds like the channel will go through a permanent format change. I know my friend Slayer will be psyched. It's her birthday today.

dubya is funny

This may be the funniest collection of our dubya's greatest goofs, blunders and stupidisms.

George Carlin - Jammin' in New York (1992)

This 1-hour HBO special was the first one i saw. I saw it in 1992 when I was 11. I remember clearly turning the tv on to it back then by myself and enjoying every minute of it. I think it is one of his best pieces of work, if not the finest.

Watch it all here...

Did Republican Presidental nominee John McCain really just say that?

MSNBC Keith Olbermann June 25th, 2008

Will John McCain play the terror card? Is he planning on using it, or does he need an October surprise? These are questions Congressman Wexler(D) from Florida is asking because these are also the things that McCain has been talking to people about. Probably not the brightest idea, but I'm guessing this will be a mute point by the time of the debates. Obama will not attack him there. I mean, Obama defends George Bush in this video. In addition, I don't think Obama does as well as Hillary at answering really challenging questions. He is an impressive orator though.

Also in this video, Wexler is asking for the impeachment of the Bush administration. Just like our friends in Brattleboro. Joe bless 'em.

In my lifetime, I have had me a bunch of different dogs

As many of you know I love my dawgie Mali. Well, George Carlin loved dogs too. Here's an excerpt from George Carlin on man's best friend:

"I love every dog I ever had. ... In my lifetime, I have had me a bunch of different dogs. Because you do keep getting a new dog don't you? ... That's the whole secret of life. Life...is a series of dogs. It's true! You just keep getting a new dog, don't you? That's what's good about them. They don't live too long... Sometimes, you can get a dog that looks exactly like the dog you used to have. Right? You shop around a little bit, and you find a dog identical to your former dog. And that's real handy cause you don't have to change the pictures on your mirror or anything. Right? You just bring the dead one into the pet shop. Throw him up on the counter and say, "Give me another one of them. That was real good."

Thank Joe for dogs and for George. He was one of a kind! I got to see him twice in my lifetime, both Flynn Theatre. And if you did not get a good education in our faaaaaabulous public school system on history, politics, sociology, or philosophy, or you don't know about euphemisms, entropy or bullshit, go to the video store and rent 2 or 3 of his DVDs. You will not regret it.

Have a great day everyone! And pet a dawgie today.

UNBORN IN THE U.S.A.: Inside the War on Abortion

Does this guy look scary to you? Could you imagine him going wacko and tagging abortionists outside Planned Parenthood? Well, he's actually an American that is pro-choice. Are you asking yourself what could get this guy so upset? I just watched a documentary that will show what would. This documentary shows that pro-lifers have upped the anti in the war on abortion and tries to persuade you to believe that the law will be overturned rather soon. Talk about scary...

I watched it last night and it was very interesting. It brought me up to speed with the subject of abortion from the pro-life point of view. It was called Unborn in the USA: Inside the War on Abortion, and I would recommend that everyone see it regardless of how you feel on the issue. I am pro-choice, and this documentary made me question how I feel some, but overall, I can not be influenced to change how I feel about abortion. Even though the pro-lifers estimated that 50 million fetuses have been aborted over the past 30 years.

To protect all women's right to privacy, I see that power to kill a fetus as something that has to live with the mother due to the dangers outlined the book The Handmaid's Tale. For you non-readers, there is also a movie. The truth of matter is that we cannot allow the laws of the land to transform women into mere law-bound procreators. We have come too far in our history to put that kind of handcuff on every female American.

But anyway, this documentary is worth the watch. Great representation of the polarization of the nation.

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 79%

IMDb rating: 5.8/10

Slant review: 2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

You can watch the 1st five minutes here.

George Carlin on Keith Olbermann - OCTOBER 23, 2007

Here is George, warning us of the state of our nation.




And here is a great video compilation with George teaching us about the wealthiest owners of the infrastructure of our country.



Joe Bless George Carlin!

R.I.P. "The Dean" George Carlin 1937-2008

George Carlin passed away yesterday @ St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA after complaining of chest pain. He was 71. All I can say is that I am not sorry, but a little disappointed that I will never get to see Geroge Carlin perform again. Luckily, I did go see him in Burlington this past spring @ the Flynn Theater in Burlington.

Here is some of his greatest stuff:

BASEBALL AND FOOTBALL

we like war

saving the planet

RELIGION IS BULLSHIT

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

"THE AMERICAN DREAM"

So it goes...

Read the chron.com article here
...and the yahoo article here

Mali 's 1st Swim

On June 8th Mali got her first chance to learn to swim in West Dummerston, Vermont on the West River. It was near the longest covered bridge in Vermont. Mali, Amber and me went swimming for about 2 hours and here is Mali looking so cute in the water. What we learned is trim your doggie's claws before you teach her to swim. We both got clawed by her in the water. It was worth it though. It was great teaching Mali that she can swim.


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The 9th Annual Summer Lecture Series

Wednesdays at 7:00 PM @ the Yestermorrow campus, Route 100, Warren VT.

6/25 - Design for Climate Change and Peak Oil - Ben Falk

7/2 - Towards Zero Energy and Beyond - Steven Strong

7/9 - Building Parks/Building Communities - Kyle Bergman & Dave Sellers

7/16 - The NEXUS Story: Creating a Resource for Green Building - Andrea Atkinson

7/23 - Reusing and Remaking Communities - Brad Guy

7/30 - Inside Out/Outside In - Sylvia Smith

8/6 - Jersey Devil Design/Build - Steve Badanes

8/13 - Biophilic Design - Stephen Kellert

8/20 - Four Models of Natural Building - Tim Rieth

8/27 - Living with your Living Machine - Jessica Gracie

9/3 - Metal through the Ages - John Marius

Free and Open to the Public

Yestermorrow is a Design and Building School in Warren, Vermont. I have not been to visit the school yet, but I have heard from more than one person that it is a good experience. I am looking forward to attending some of these lectures.

SOURCE