Feed the Rich!

So we all knew the Wall Street fat cats were going to take advantage of Americas generosity when Bush and his cronies handed over $700 billion to the banks; but who knew the Republican party would so blatantly reveal where their allegiance lies?

Last week it was revealed that after running the economy straight into the ground Wall Street firms gave themselves bonuses to the tune of $18.6 billion. Job well done!

But what did we hear Republicans harping about over and over again this past week? Not the greed of those we who would take from a nation in need. Not the shortsighted Republican majority and inept President who passed the Wall Street bailout. No the real offense to Republicans is the "pork" in President Obamas stimulus package.

"Over at the other microphones, the Republicans howled that some of the spending provisions were wasteful, under cover of the short-term stimulus vs. long-term reinvestment debate.

Among the offending items deemed too long-term were US$14 billion for education programs, US$4.1 billion for more energy-efficient federal buildings and US$1.5 billion for broadband Internet service to rural areas." source

Hmm .. lets see. $18.6 billion for Wall Street millionaires is ok while $19.6 billion for something of real benefit is offensive. Well I can see who these Republicans are working for.

Everyone loves George

In case you were wondering what inspired that look upon Obama's face in that iconic image...

apparently it was George Clooney. Ok ok he was listening to Sen. Brownback speak but I'm pretty sure he was daydreaming about trading places with Clooney the lifelong bachelor.

Big Ups Mannie Garcia!

Same Old Song or a New Tune?

Yes I'm sure you noticed it too, but I must state the obvious. If you watched the inaugural address you noticed two things: A) The lack of soaring rhetoric and B) The inaugural address delivered by President Obama was more or less JFK's 1961 inaugural address meets 1933 FDR. (on a side note I really can't grasp the use of BHO for our current president, it just reminds me of bad 70's rock)

The first point, the lack of soaring rhetoric and flowery speech, could be partially explained by the second. Just as FDR spoke plainly to the people of this country about the challenges ahead so did President Obama. But unlike FDR, President Obama is known for his oratory skills so the lack of any Baptist minister moments was all the more glaring.

Secondly the speech was an ingenious combination of two previous inaugural addresses. We all knew there was going to be a form of "ask not what you can do for your country" with some "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" sprinkled in. We all hoped Obama would touch upon Kennedys "human rights to which this Nation has always been committed" line and he did when he spoke of how "America’s ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake." But I loved the fact that President Obama picked up on both former presidents ability to lay a preemptive smack down on would be rivals. Example:

JFK- "We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom—and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside"

FDR- "Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored conditions. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish."

Obama- “Now there are some who question the scale of our ambitions—who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.”

You gotta love a man who can see a punch before it's even thrown and all three of these guys were great at trying to shame the guy out of so much as balling up a fist. Of course America went to war under Kennedy and Roosevelt so perhaps we don't want to draw too many similarities here. Either way it was a great day for our nation and I'm grateful to all of those people who contributed their time and energy to getting this good man elected.

Argh!!

Last weekend was a great couple of days for punk in Nor Cal. Friday night punk rock trailblazers the Angry Samoans played in Sacramento at Old Ironsides... and I missed it!! Sorry Kev but I didn't get your message till the next day. SUCKS!!

And I love seminal surf/skate punks Agent Orange but I've seen em before and there was no way I was schlepping out to Redding on Saturday. So instead I headed out to see the Swingin Utters play at The Distillery. While the opening acts left much to be desired the Utters were near perfection. They played a great high energy set which sent the listless crowd smashing into one another within a tune or two.


Angry Samoans


Swingin Utters

Merry New Years!

So it’s that time of year.. time for lame top ten lists, year in review specials, NPR fund drives and a shiny new war in Isreal. Well one highlight is that there will be some kick ass parties going on around town.



Finally Punk, a pretty cool little band from TX, will be playing with San Mateo's The Nodzzz on the 31st at 290 Napoleon St in SF

Butthole Surfers will be playing the Fillmore in SF.

Retarded Muppet Farm will be playing a house show in Oakland.

Sac is going to have the West Coasts first ever NYE ball drop.

And 916 local favorites Bucho! and PETS will be playing The Crest along with 12 other bands. In between sets they'll have short films. Oh and it's FREE!

Well best wishes in the coming year to all of you and I hope 2009 brings y’all whatever the hell it is you’re looking for.

Misc. news and notes:

Unfortunately it looks like force may be needed to stop the dying in Zimbabwe. But there's hope Mugabe may fall on his own.

Why are we not providing more services to our returning troops?

We'll see if I get those two days off a month.

Unemployed in Cali? Look for those green jobs.

Damn it! My Saturday morning just got a lot harder... they're discontinuing my hangover helper!

And I have a present for you on the day after Christmas. If you love Kafka and Orson Wells as much as I do then check out The Trial. It's playing this Friday at Shiny Objects.

And don't ask me why.. but I'm diggin on this little ditty.

So what do you do?

I’ll be going to a Democratic event tonight and even the most liberal of women will inevitably ask the same tired question. It’s the question that I absolutely hate … not because I don’t have a good answer.. I have twenty.. but because it assumes the measure of a man can be summed up by his occupation, by the little printed numbers on that piece of paper he receives every two weeks, by the way your mother will react when you tell her he’s a garbage man, by the way your friends will refer to him by his first name and occupation. “Oh Jeff the Banker? Bob the Plumber?” Is the measure of a man how he spends the worst 8 hours of his day, or better yet what is the nature of the question, “So what do you do?”

WHAT DO YOU DO

What do you say when they say “What do you do?” I say I play the blues on my red kazoo. That I teach yoga to yahoos. That I have a ranch in Australia where I breed blue suede kangaroos. I steal women’s shoes and sell them to perverts over an 800 line. I do gardening with lasers. I clean houses with plastic explosives. I’m on welfare. I’m on heroin. I’m on parole. I teach the art of Ninja to ninnies. I’m a professional identity designer. Nothing, I’m rich. Nothing, I’m emotionally crippled. I’m a media mogul who moonlights as a Chippendale dancer. I manufacture ladies lingerie for Frederick’s of Krakow. I play golf with beatniks. I design then live in the cities of the future... which sometimes takes all afternoon. I sell gizmos to gooks. I wholesale freeze-dried mail order brides. I design Boy Kaddafi’s stage outfits and sometimes read him his fan mail. What do I do? Well, I’m waiting for this think tank thing to come through so I can get tanked and think of new ways to screw citizens out of the dollar or two they’d like to use to buy brew but instead goes to you know who. I loot shopping malls in radiation zones. I cruise the art zoos looking for what’s new in mutations. I sell crack at the United Nations. I don’t have just one occupation. I’m an amalgamation, a confederation, a conspiracy and a conglomerate. I do what I have to do because I’m a man... that’s spelled M – A – N. I don’t do anything, I’m just a writer.

Jim Gustafson

from MANIAC MEMORIES, soon to appear from Trembling Pillow Press, 2009

I asked for a size 11!!

Ok so by now I'm sure you've heard of the shoe "attack" on George W.. but I don't think it was an attack at all. Perhaps ....

He wanted to shower his liberator with flowers but all he had were, well, shoes.

Trying to land a role in the next 007 film as the Middle Easts answer to Odd Job.

Merely trying to showcase Georges cat like reflexes.

Just proving that the Secret Service can tell the difference between shoe bombs and plain old shoes. (you go Secret service!)

Hispanic step-mom taught him the value of a chankla upside the head.

He threw his American made shoes at W and yelled, "With shoddy workmanship like this it's no wonder you can't sell any cars."

Just providing a prop for George to do his famous Khrushchev routine.

Proved that even those paid well to protect George W won't take a bullet for him, or even a shoe.