Sunday was a fun day

After a church service at All Soul's Universalist Unitarian in DC,
where we met our good friend Abigail, we continued on to Eastern
Market, and then ate lunch at The Ugly Mug on 8th Street SE in the
Capitol Hill area. Here the kids took to the air via a Butterfly Chair
outside a boutique shop.

Quote Meme

I was tagged by Kellygo for this meme: share a favorite quote and dedicate it to three other bloggers.

"It is impossible to achieve the aim without suffering".

It's from philosopher J.G. Bennett, who was a student of G.I. Gurdjieff . I came by Bennett, and thus the quote, via Robert Fripp, who was a student of Bennett. Fripp frequently used recorded snippets of Bennett's speeches on his late 70's albums, the quote here being from the song "Exposure" on the album of the same name.

I like the fundamental truth underlying the quote. It has connections with Buddhist thought among other things.

I'm tagging Aaronish, Heather and Daniel. Hope this one hasn't got to you already. I'd hate to be a double tagger.

Easter Sunday

I haven't stepped inside a church for an actual service since i was a teenager. But we thought we'd check out one since Thea has been picking up some talk of God and Jesus from daycare, both from other kids as well as from the teachers. Kel thought (rightly) that the kids will be hearing things about religion as they become more and more social, so she suggested that we may want to have a little more than a passive role in their spiritual education. To that end we planned to attend the Easter Service at All Souls Church. Thea was excited when we told her that we were doing this. And although Liam is too young to be very enthused about it, he was on board.

All Souls is a very cool Unitarian Universalist church in Northwest DC. It actually is across 16th Street from where we used to live in Adams Morgan "back in the day". I found the whole experience to be refreshingly inspiring. I heard mention of the application of a "reasoning approach" to religious faith within the first few minutes of the service. And All Souls is known for being a liberal institution with a focus on social justice. The congregation is made up of people from a wide variety of different faiths, including even agnostics and atheists.

We may attend once a month or so, possibly more, toward the goal of giving the kids a childhood experience of religion that is also appealing to us as parents; one that has a foundation of values that we can solidly get behind.

Oh yeah, and they also have a killer church organ

People are Weird

Why did they name this kids playground structure Tot-tanic, after a ship that sank leaving around 1,500 people dead? And besides, this looks more like a pirate ship than an ocean liner. I especially like the nice Christian Cross where the kids can practice crucifying each other. A tool that will no doubt come in handy in High School. What? Oh that's a mast, huh? Aye Aye Cap'n!

Review of the self-titled debut album by Skafish

I was listening to my vinyl copy of Urgh! A Music War today. It features live versions of songs by The Police, XTC, Gary Numan, Devo, X, and many more punk/new wave bands circa 1980. The last track on the double record set is Sign of the Cross, an irreverent, hilarious bit of religious satire, passionately performed by Jim Skafish and his band. Easily the most compelling song on the record, it seems to have been saved for last for good reason.


Although Skafish never attained any more commercial success in his career after releasing two albums, he was still a multi-talented trailblazer of rock music. A child prodigy, he was far ahead of his time, to be sure, incorporating every musical style imaginable, costumes and choreographed skits in to his performances. And his physical appearance was deliberate and shocking.

"Skafish’s decision to initially present a non-flattering look—sometimes male or toddler boyish, sometimes female or old ladyish, sometimes androgynous—is revolutionary in its deliberate self-debasement, contrary to the glamorous image of many entertainers. But perhaps the most shocking aspect to Skafish is what is God-given: His 6 foot, 3 inches tall towering beefy presence, enormous hook nose, and pale white skin, all which seem to underscore the appearance of breasts." (from the Skafish website http://www.skafish.com/index.htm)

It seems that his controversiality was what kept him from a mainstream audience. He was doomed by his vision to be a fringe artist. The punk world initially supported him, but his music was actually beyond punk too. Although most of his songs had punk energy, some pieces were arranged and played with the preciseness and professionality of progressive rock. In many ways, he out-punked punk.

The lyrics and themes on his self-titled first album are sarcastic, searing, and at times hateful. On the opening track, Joan Fan Club, Skafish rages through like the sickest bully, with often frighteningly violent threats, and all the while accurately immature the way you remember bullies being. You know from this first track that he sings from what he knows. Reading the biography on his website, you'll not be surprised to learn of the many horrible experiences of his own childhood. Musically the song is like the punk rock equivalent of the infantile chant Nyah Nyah-Nyah-Nyah Nyah! with a 50's rock and roll structure complete with rolling piano trills (think Jerry Lee Lewis). It ends with a wind-up featuring Skafish calling Joan on the telephone and goading her. No wonder punk rockers liked him so much. Anarchy in the UK seems tame by comparison.

The next track, Maybe One Time, by contrast sounds like a Roxy Music pastiche. String Synth parts soar over modern rock chord changes and melodies, with Skafish sincerely singing about his longing to find that special someone with whom he can fall in love. Its sensitivity and confessional qualities could not be more polarized from the vitriol of the first track.

Obsessions of You is the first of the progressive-like arrangements i alluded to before. That aside, it's a catchy song with a killer refrain Obssessions, Obsessions they are of you. Possession possession i want your heart. Returning slightly to scarier themes, this one plays out in the pseudo-stalking scenario of someone who feels unworthy to love. It's erie how Skafish can musically mask these disturbing themes in very listenable, hooky music.

We'll See A Psychiatrist is punk/new wave with bizarre harmonized vocals, lots of solos (synths, guitar, piano), and again a tragic lyrical look back to Skafish's childhood past. Side one then ends with Romantic Lessons, a doo-wop song without the harmony vocals, at least until the final seconds. Like the second track, this one is a sincere longing-for-love song lyrically summed up by the last few lines. Everyday I watch one kiss, so wonderful to see, but not for me, it's out of reach, romantic lessons everyday.

Side two opens with Work Song, which begins with the question What's the average guy going to do? and then proceeds to answer it with the mind-numbing details of the life of a blue collar laborer. Musically it's a relentless and driving rock song with some interesting vocal counterpoint on the bridge sections. After being pummelled by this song, Guardian Angel mellows out, sounding stylistically not unlike the less frenetic material from Talking Heads '77. The chorus is sing-songy and the lyrics are the most straightforward of all the songs on the album.

Disgracing The Family Name is like a demented Bruce Springsteen song complete with ballpark organ and Max Middleton style drumming. But Bruce could never cull up this much sarcasm and dark humor. It also reminds me, oddly enough, of The Roches. This song is followed by No Liberation Here, which continues the theme of self-debasement. It's a bit of Heavy Metal pastiche as Skafish works through his sexually repressive issues, likening his situation to being incarcerated. Here prison does not need bars, Blood shed today, And we know it will not change, We live in shame, We don't have a right, No liberation here.

Take It Out On You is the perfect endpiece to Skafish's album-as-therapy. A biting, hateful, endicting lyric letter to his nemesis, most likely one of the bullies of his youth as evidenced in this section of lyric: You can slice a stray dog, You can beat a retarded kid, But you kicked me in the teeth, Gonna take it out on you. The song seems like a catharsis for him, dispelling his past abusers by answering their immature threats of violence with, instead, intelligent threats of violence. But you can see how he is working through the issues by writing the songs, because they are tempered by a self-awareness that his violent tendencies are bad. Understandable, but still bad. Thus the guilt and self-debasement. The last lines of the song sum it all up: I will live a short life, I won't resolve a thing, I will die suspended, but before i do, I jump on to your heart, Trampoline on you, All you guts will fly out, I cease the life inside of you, Jump on your heart, And just remember, All of this is because of you.

Skafish was, and is, a brilliant musician/songwriter who unfortunately didn't keep his record- making career going. He continued regionally around his East Chicago (Indiana) home in to the 80's and 90's but never had any serious commercial releases after his second LP for IRS Records. Check out his website at http://www.skafish.com/index.htm for more current information about his life and music, including a recent self-released CD which can be purchased from CDBaby.

Intelligent Life...or lack thereof Feb. 15, 2007

This is the last of my catch-up posts for Freedom to Marry Week. These last 5 are from my soon-to-be-non-existent MySpace blog called Pabloteletubby.

So here is my re-written Day 5 Post:
There are Real Christians and there are Phony Christians. The real ones aren't judgemental, self-absorbed, status-seeking hypocrites with agendas.

My theory is that some phony Christians are actually aliens from another planet. When they arrived (perhaps crash landed), they created the Born-Again movement after seeing the wealth and power behind the Christian Empire (The Vatican, Mormonism) and the sheer numbers of people who they might be able to come to have an influence over. Their master plan, after all, was nothing short of the domination of Earth. I mean, come on, they're aliens from another planet.

So they set about gaining power by preying on people's weaknesses (12 Step Programs), and slowly over many years they webbed their way in to the power structure of many different Christian faiths. They could be anywhere, not just in the Born-Again movement.

Once they have all their key players in place in government (George Bush), and have instituted their policies through legislation (Anti-Gay-Marriage-Rights being one of them), they will take over. And when they do, some of the phony Christians will have been just as duped as the rest of the world. Is this paranoia? I mean, how better do you explain the phenomena of Billy Graham, Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robertson, Rush Limbaugh, and other scary right-wingers.

Anyway that's what we're dealing with here with this Freedom to Marry issue. Wacko aliens using wacko humans to push their Take Over agenda. I'm on to them.....

Life and Love Feb. 14, 2007

It's the Hallmark Holiday known to us Americans as Valentine's Day. It's a day that focuses on Love. The Beatles said it's "All You Need..." in some song they wrote. Diana Lynn said, "Love is a very astigmatic condition" in the 1942 film "The Major and the Minor". Of course, in it Ginger Rogers plays a woman posing as a pre-teen to get child's fare on a train and then Ray Milland falls in love with her, so i'm not sure that makes the right point. But i digress.

Love can happen between any two people. As much as homophobic wankers want to believe that it is reserved only for them and their kin-folk, it is not true. Some say Love is what makes the world go round. Some say it's what connects us with the eternal. Some say you have to take it when you can get it. Some say it and Hate are very closely related, and that's why it can be so difficult to keep a relationship going. Some say it's truer than the Red White and Blue. Some say "God is Love". Ah but i must digress a second time.

Don't let the Christians legislate their unenlightened, hateful, and selfish version of Marriage. All who can Love should be able to Marry.

Freedom is not Weird, but Religion is Feb. 13, 2007

Marriage started as a religious thing, but then became a legal thing. And that makes a lot of sense. In governing people well, government bodies have to arbit problems that arise. So they make laws by which to govern. That way, everyone knows what's the what. As regards relationships, there can arise many varied problems that need arbitration. Some relationships end, and all the couple-owned stuff has to be divided up. And, of course, children in the picture make it even more necessary to have a third, impartial party to sort out what's fair for all.

The detractors of Gay Marriage act all "holier-than-thou" (big surprise) about the Sanctity of Marriage, like they own the rights to it. They obviously care about the religious aspects of Marriage more than the legal aspects. Now, Religion is not for everyone, but the Law is. And the Law needs to be updated once in a while to reflect enlightened attitudes. Otherwise certain people would still be burning witches and owning slaves. (hmmm who would that be?)

Now no one can expect an Institutionalized Religion to change it's attitudes and policies regarding Marriage because People are free to worship however, and believe whatever, they want as long as they don't "break the Law". But we can, and should, expect the Law to give Marriage Rights (and responsibilities) to any two consenting adults who want to get married, regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual-orientation, age (as long as they meet the minimum requirement), political and even religious affiliation.

Now is the time, and it's much past due. Let's get Humanity caught up with Human Rights "for God's sake" (heeheehee).

Equality for All Feb. 12, 2007

This is Day Two of Freedom to Marry Week. My wife had a great idea to celebrate and cerebrate online with a blog posting on the subject each of the seven days. Yesterday was my opening rant concerning what i see as the main philosophical/political tenet behind the issue.
Today i'd like to rant some more, but first i'll point attention to the organization behind "Freedom to Marry Week". Oddly enough it's called Freedom to Marry and can be found at http://www.freedomtomarry.org/. Check it out and let's support freedom in America (and indeed in the rest of the World, too).

The right wing wackos and greedheads who call themselves Christian (but aren't) want to legislate their own twisted version of Morality, on a variety of issues of which this is one, to keep themselves in power. That's been their M.O. since before History started being written. It's just more White Patriarchal Kaka coming down through the ages.

As usual, the Right is Wrong!

Freedom to Marry Week Feb. 11, 2007

The "Right" just needs to get their noses, and the rest of themselves, out of other peoples' business. Equity issues trump religious morality issues as far as i can tell. The fact is everyone needs to be treated fairly and equally under the law in this country and it shouldn't (can't) matter if you are muslim or catholic, straight or gay, person of color or not.

Equal rights is not an agenda. It's what this country boasts is the right way to live. And it is. The anti-gay-marriage people are just more a-holes with agendas. If they love living in a country with freedoms, then that freedom has to apply to everyone, otherwise they should just go find (or found) a nice totalitarian state where all are white, self-righteous, homophobic snobs like themselves.