Usual Rubbish

Under the gun.

Good god, is that the time? Must have fallen asleep. Hey… I didn’t have this Jacobean beard when I fell asleep! Mitch! What the hell….!

Yeah, I’m losing track of day, time, even planet, solar system. I may even be working in base-12. (That would not be a good development, particularly with my bank balance.) Big Green and friends have been a little busy just lately – too busy, frankly, for the niceties of neighborly chats, friendly asides, opening mail, cooking dinner, and writing blog posts.

Cop out? Yeah, you COULD call it that. But what the hell, we’re recording new songs, we’re writing new material, we’re taking pictures of our breakfast cereals… we’ve got recordings to finish, planets to tame, and zucchini to take to market. Well, Marvin (my personal robot assistant) has zucchini to take to market – yet another one of his hare-brained business ventures. I haven’t seen the man-sized tuber in a couple of days, come to think of it – perhaps he was mistaken for a great bull zucchini. (Marvin is a little unsubtle. A zucchini would have to tell him it wasn’t a zucchini if it wanted to avoid the market stall.)

I’m almost certain my new yokel beard was pasted on while I was dozing here in the Cheney Hammer Mill. My prime suspect would be anti-Lincoln. He really loves jokes like that, being as he is from the 19th Century (when jokes like that were considered high entertainment). I suppose next he’ll stitch a top hat to my forehead and consider that high performance art. You never know around this place. Oh, the humanity! (I almost said, “Oh, the Hannity”, but I hate giving free plugs.)

Well, back to slumber land. Wonder what I’ll wake up with NEXT time. (First guess: lumberjack getup. What do you think, man?)

Political Rants

Cave, baby, cave.

This will be a brief one, again. Hands full, head empty. Kind of sleepy, actually, so watch the prose – it may falter badly. No guarantees.

Obama’s plan to open up off-shore drilling along much of our national coastline resembles some of the graphics I’ve been seeing in BP commercials lately. I guess all it takes is a little public diplomacy by the enormous oil and gas industry groups, and this administration will bend back at the knees. No, it’s not the worst possible plan for extraction of fossil fuels, but it is a major wedge in the door towards the same “drill, baby, drill” Obama’s presidential campaign opponent advocated. Can’t believe they won’t pry that door even further open in the near future.

Where are people at on this issue? As mentioned above, they have been bombarded with television ads like no other time I can recall. America’s Oil and Gas Industry, Chevron, BP, and others, all trying to outdo one another with how dedicated they are to creating jobs, saving the environment, finding “solutions”, raising families, promoting public investment …. everything except generating massive profits, which is what they are ACTUALLY doing. I can’t imagine that, with all this promotional bullshit running on every channel, people aren’t getting more cozy with the idea of “drill, baby, drill”.  (Sure, they always mention a full menu of energy options, including renewables, conservation, and others. But you and I both know they’re talking oil and gas.)

The energy sector is putting its unprecedented amounts of cash to good use, I can see. So are many other corporate players – many I’ve never seen do advertising before. The banks, of course, are saving the world, according to their ads. Then you’ve got the defense contractors, like Boeing, waxing poetic on the air. And, strangely, companies like Siemen’s, Cisco, etc., vying for position in the new “clean” energy bonanza, the new network technology frontier. So why is Obama unilaterally disarming on fossil fuels? He doesn’t think he is, that’s why. But in effect, that’s what’s happening.

I don’t know – it’s a zig-zag path between moderate and conservative, as far as I can see, just like Clinton. Just wish the zigs went a little farther. (Wishing won’t do, of course.)

luv u,

jp

Usual Rubbish

The bag, boss.


Hmmm. What’s the capital of Missouri again? Was it Kansas City? Can’t remember. I’ll just enter “undecided,” that will suffice. Okay, next question… how much does the moon weigh? Full moon or half?

Oh, yes… the blog. As you can see, I’m at loose ends here. Just killing a little time between sessions. Matt put down a vocal the other day. (I wish he’d stop putting me down, man. I’m trying my BEST!) Next it’s my turn, but first Marvin (my personal robot assistant) needs to go in there and clean up the tracks a bit, do a little of his magic. (What kind of magic? Can’t say. It’s magic, damnit!) So while I’m just sitting here, I’m filling out crosswords, completing puzzlers, and… well… opening our overinflated mailbag. Some of these things have been sitting in there for six months or better. (I think I spy a christmas present…. from 1970…)

 Here’s one from Osmond of Reno, NV:

Dear Big Green:

I understand one of you lived out here at one time. Why did you do that? Are you trying to ruin our lives? Stop oppressing us!!

– Osmond

Hey, Osmond – I’m awful sorry about that, but it was a long time ago and sometimes it’s just best to forget these things. Let’s mark it down to youthful inexperience, okay? And if I ever come back, I promise not to wash dishes at the Country Kitchen buffet.

Here’s another one, from Madagascar:

Hey Big Green…

Who is this “George” and why does he want to bring Pangea back? We like being a large island nation off the eastern seaboard of Africa, and we wouldn’t mind having a word with this “George”

cheers,

Lord ‘Elpus

Okay, m’Lord, you see… “George” is a fictional character – a mad scientist, like Mitch Macaphee (who is, sadly, real). Not everyone in our songs is for real, okay? Sometimes we make up unlikely personages, like “Jane” or “Abraham Lincoln”, and sometimes we borrow them from other authors, like “Tarzan” and “Edward Teller”.  And regarding the reclamation of Pangea, no worries… that will take some time, he-he-he…. sometime indeed…

Time for one more; this from D.C.:

Dear Big Green,

Hell no, you can’t!

John Boehner
House Minority Leader

Thanks, John. I was wondering about that. Great hearing from you, as always. Well, time to get back into the studio. Sounds like Marvin’s finished erasing everything we’ve done so far. Nice work, boy!

Weird ass music since 1986