In my recent techno-obsession, I’ve forgotten all about Phish. Today, I’m listening to a bunch of their albums, and the first one I picked up is still my favorite. Billy Breathes is an amazing album. In the album’s 45 minutes, Phish manages to use all of their talent to create an album that sounds better than anything else they’ve done. It has all the punch, joy and great riffs of their other stuff without any of the self-indulgence. This is a great album if you want to try Phish on for size before plowing into their weirder stuff (or live albums).
Author: Kevin Lawver
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Hey, It’s Today!
I resolved not to watch anything on TV with “9/11” in the title. That left me with very few options, which was fine with me. I played with Max, cleaned up, waited for Jen to get home, and played some Jak and Daxter (beat the big robot at the end… now I have to go get 100 stupid power cells). I feel hungover almost, kind of like September 12th of last year. I’m sure that eventually, whatever it is I felt yesterday, and what I’m recovering from today, will fade away like Pearl Harbor did for my grandparents.
I don’t have anything funny or important to say right now, just that it’s the day after the year after, and we’re all still here. One year down, who knows how many to go. We made it, and life goes on, and that’s enough for this morning.
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Thank God for the First Amendment
For everyone who bought one of those durable vinyl car flags, there were those who thought we deserved it. And, as strong as my reaction is to both of those extremes, I know I’ve spent at least a second at each one of them, and at many places in between. That said, there’s some stuff in Salon’s Forbidden thoughts about 9/11 that turns my stomach. Throughout, I kept thinking how we would never be allowed to read this kind of thing, the purely uncensored thoughts of our countrymen, in some other countries. I may hate them for saying it. I may hate them for even thinking some of those things, but they have every right to think whatever they want, and pretty much say what they want in whatever forum they can gain access to. Long live free speech, and my right to be offended and challenged by the free speech of my countrymen whether I like it or not.
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The Anniversary
This is a difficult topic for me, and one that I hope I won’t talk about again for a very long time. As the anniversary approaches, I’ve been thinking more and more about how to commemorate it. I’ve decided a few things:
- I won’t be watching the “specials” on the news or any other channel.
- I won’t be going to any candlelight vigils, prayer services or sing-alongs.
- I won’t be going to the Pentagon.
It’s easy to say what I won’t be doing on Wednesday. It’s not so easy to say why, or what I will do. I think I was more affected by last year than I noticed before. We were at my parents’ house for dinner last Thursday, and we ended up talking about that day, what happened when, and where we were. I started talking about watching Aaron Brown on CNN standing on the roof of the CNN building as the towers fell behind him. I couldn’t even start talking about it. I got choked up. I’m tearing up now just writing about it. I can remember every detail of that day, down to what was on the floor of the sunroom when I came home, how empty the house seemed because Jen and Max weren’t home, and how thin our walls felt. I was scared. I live and work (the path is wide, and I live very close to work) under the approach path to Dulles Airport. Every day I see planes fly over my house and work less than 500 feet above my head. Every day since the planes started flying again, I cringe a little when a plane flies low overhead.
Memorials are built long after events are over. It doesn’t feel like a year has gone by. It feels like only a couple months, and apparently, the scab I’d grown over my feelings isn’t as thick as I thought it was. In the year since, too many things have happened connected to that day that make me ill. It started with the first commercials on TV for commemorative pins, and durable vinyl car flags (easy to install and long-lasting). It kept going with my growing distrust in our administration, and the effectiveness of our government in general. It’s gotten to the point that it’s hard to keep the events separated. It’s hard to separate the enormity of the attacks from the completely different enormity of the mess-ups, the lies and shameless profiteering.
How do I memorialize something that I haven’t been able to forget? How do I memorialize something still burned so sharply into the back of my head that I remember every little detail of that day? How can I do watch anything about that day on television without being sick with wondering who’s making money off of it?
I’ve decided that since I can’t answer those questions, and I haven’t come to terms with my own feelings on it, that I’m not going to say anything on this site on Wednesday. I haven’t decided if I’m going to take the site down, or just not post, but there won’t be any new content here. At least for this year, I’m going to spend September 11th celebrating a holiday of a religion that’s not my own. Rosh HaShana is the Jewish New Year, a time of self-examination and repentance. I don’t know what I’ll find, or what I’ll repent of. I won’t tell you that you should do what I’m doing, or think what I’m thinking. You deal with it your way; you say what you want to say. For me, I’m not going to say anything more until Max is old enough to understand, and then I’ll hopefully have something to tell him.
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Mr. Dick’s Warning
Dick Cheney’s warning the nation of a possible marriage between Al-Qaeda and Iraq. Where does a couple like that register? I wouldn’t think Target would have what they’re interested in. What did the choose as their china pattern? What’s their song? Who’s the bride? Was there a dowery? Who gave the bride away? How do we know there was a marriage? Did we get the guestlist, an invitation, photos? The article raises so many more questions than it answers.
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Freeeeeee?! Did you say freeeeeeee??!!
Oh yes, and they’re lovely. I remember visiting this site many moons ago, and harvesting loads of fonts. Since then, they’ve expanded: Free dincFONTS. Some beautiful typefaces for your designery.
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Please Join Me In Welcoming to the Stage…
I’ve linked to my friend Mike’s climbing stories before. Mike has deigned to grace us with his presence in the wonderful world of blogging. Mike’s a great guy (my former boss) and an excellent writer. Be on the look out for great things (no pressure, Mike, no pressure at all).
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Completely Fabricated Harry Potter Rumor
After my last post about the wondrous vibrating broom, I’ve decided that it’s a marketing ploy to introduce a major plot point in the next book. Since the kids are getting older, and obviously curious about the ways of the world, there will be a new sex education teacher named Ms. Trembly-Wombly. They’ve already cast Dr. Ruth for the movie.
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Zoom… brrrrrrrrrr…. aaaaaaahh – Nimbus
See, I told you Amazon has the best reviews: “The vibrations, along with the swooshing sounds make for a very magical journey!”
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Blah Blah
For a day with no meetings, today has been insane. I’ve rewritten a document that took me two weeks the first time in less than three hours. I’ve fixed a dozen problems with a dozen different products. I’ve tried to find an answer to an “urgent” question that apparently has no answer (because the people who can answer it are on vacation, and this stupid thing has no documentation).
During my writing marathon, I discovered something important: Never write an important technical document while listening to Radiohead. It makes the document extremely dour and depressing. I don’t think I wrote one positive thing. Oh well, tomorrow’s all about rewrites.
Pretty much everyone I work with went home early. I’m all alone here stressing over this document, but trying to get out of here at a reasonable hour so I can see Jen and Max and go have dinner at my folks’.
Ok, this is pointless, but I’m going to post it anyway.