Get OFF!

Do you have anxiety problems?
Do you suffer from panic attacks?
Do you find yourself increasingly frustrated with consumerism?
Do you agree that most people would prefer to live their lives than have bombs dropped on them?

You do?
So does Keith Morris!!

We got to see OFF! in Chapel Hill a few weeks ago and it was just what the doctor ordered. Aggressive (in a good way), political (in a good way), and pissed off (in the BEST way). Plus, they totally fucking rocked. If you get the chance, I highly recommend seeing them live and buying their album.

Apparently now they're in trouble for stealing some restaurant oil to power their bio-diesel tour van. Someone get Ron Kuby on the horn!!

If I'm Sitting, I'm Knitting

Greetings from Rock & Roll Martian Land! We have been busy settling into our new home world and it's going well. Well, OK, I've been pretty damn stressed out but it's all good. The new space is wonderful and we're getting rid of those neutral-paint-helps-sell-a-home walls with some COLOR. So far, so good!

These days, my relaxation comes in the form of sock knitting. I've been working on a pair for Vee and have a few gifts planned for Mother's Day and my dad's 60th birthday in May. With a crazy April ahead of me, I don't think I can finish 2 pairs of socks in the next 5-6 weeks but I'll give it the old college try. Luckily for me, punctual gift-giving has never been a Thomas family strength so expectations are low!

After checking this book out from the library, I picked up my own copy last week:

Knit Socks!
Betsy Lee McCarthy

There are definitely enough good designs in here to justify owning a copy. The "Classy Slip-Ups" I'm making for Vee are coming along well. They're so stretchy and cozy -- I want my own pair! I'm planning to make the same pattern for my dad (in camo colors, of course) and a lacy chevron-style striped pair for my mom. I FRIGGIN' LOVE KNITTING SOCKS!

Alive With Litter!

Vee and I, along with friends, have been collecting pictures of tobacco-related litter this year for our Tumblr site: ALIVE WITH LITTER.

The AWL Leaderboard shows NEWPORT and MARLBORO are well ahead of the pack, so to speak. There have been 20 Newport sitings and 12 for Marlboro. No other brands come close so far.

What's the litterbug's choice in your town? Take a picture of any randomly discarded tobacco packaging and send it to me! Would love to see the trends.

In Other News

Buying a house.
Moving.
Knitting socks.
Working off the holiday gut.
Using paperbackswap.com a LOT (thanks, Alysha!).
Re-watching Battlestar Galactica.
Making cheese.
Taking pictures of tobacco-related litter.
Reading Harper's.
Going out to see bands.
Having minor eye surgery.
Cleaning up cat barf.
Feeling really happy.

On The Cusp

The world is changing. This country is changing. I'm not a Middle-East scholar or a labor union scholar, but I can feel a change in the air. I'm sure most people can (if they are able to pry themselves away from the Charlie Sheen coverage). I don't know what it means. I don't have the answers. I don't even have any unique personal insights. I think it is fascinating and wonderful that oppressed people are finding courage to stand up to their oppressors. Democracy won't come easily and won't come without significant bloodshed in places like Libya.

I don't know what our role is, as a country. For so many years we have let the dictators of the Middle East do as they please - keeping women illiterate, watching their countrymen live in poverty while they live in palaces - all so we can have access to their oil. It goes without saying that our dependency on this oil won't end overnight. Oil company executives are probably not too keen on earning less profits, no matter who is killed or oppressed along the way. Corporate interests have our own government in a choke-hold. I don't have faith that any major policy changes will take place as long as corporations have the upper hand.

Where will the change come from in the United States? Do the people have any power? Just yesterday, the Wisconsin State Senate, on a procedural technicality, passed the budget bill that strips unions of collective bargaining rights. As we all know, this tactic seems to be part of a longer-term right-wing plan to strip unions of their members, and thus of money, to lessen their political impact. Both political parties claim to look out for the "people." For "the working family." There seems to be no indication that the right actually believes this, and many on the left are cowards. The people are left to fend for themselves.

I believe in public education. I believe in the right of people to organize. I believe in the right of workers to be free from danger in the workplace. I believe in the right of women to make choices about their bodies. I believe that consenting adults should be free to love each other and make a life together. I believe in better roads, better bridges, better libraries, better health care. I believe it is possible to make these things happen in America without "bankrupting our future." I believe it is time to stop fighting unnecessary wars overseas and start doing nation-building in our own country.

None of this is groundbreaking. None of this is even worth reading. I've just been thinking about it a lot and can't decide if I'm extremely optimistic or hopeless. I don't doubt that things will get worse before they get better, but I also don't doubt that we're on the cusp of something extraordinary. We live in an amazing country. Let's challenge ourselves to live up to it.

Fully Aware of My Own Shortcomings

Nice to hear a moderate voice like David Brooks say this:

So this is where civility comes from — from a sense of personal modesty and from the ensuing gratitude for the political process. Civility is the natural state for people who know how limited their own individual powers are and know, too, that they need the conversation. They are useless without the conversation.

The problem is that over the past 40 years or so we have gone from a culture that reminds people of their own limitations to a culture that encourages people to think highly of themselves. The nation’s founders had a modest but realistic opinion of themselves and of the voters. They erected all sorts of institutional and social restraints to protect Americans from themselves. They admired George Washington because of the way he kept himself in check.

But over the past few decades, people have lost a sense of their own sinfulness. Children are raised amid a chorus of applause. Politics has become less about institutional restraint and more about giving voters whatever they want at that second. Joe DiMaggio didn’t ostentatiously admire his own home runs, but now athletes routinely celebrate themselves as part of the self-branding process.

So, of course, you get narcissists who believe they or members of their party possess direct access to the truth. Of course you get people who prefer monologue to dialogue. Of course you get people who detest politics because it frustrates their ability to get 100 percent of what they want. Of course you get people who gravitate toward the like-minded and loathe their political opponents. They feel no need for balance and correction.

Beneath all the other things that have contributed to polarization and the loss of civility, the most important is this: The roots of modesty have been carved away.

In a famous passage, Reinhold Niebuhr put it best: “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. ... Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.”

I don't possess the self-promotion gene. I don't need people to acknowledge me, agree with me, or build me up. I recognize the difference (I hope) between being humble and being confident. This is probably why I feel so out of place in the ME ME ME!! generation.

Says the chick with the blog.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Rock & Roll Martian!

Any resolutions out there in Martian-land? Personally, I'm hoping to spend more time this year re-focusing on a few old crafts and starting some new ones. There might could be a new Tumblr site on the horizon as I take my new camera to the streets (thanks, Vee!).

2010 was a bit of a doozy and I'm hoping for a comparatively toned-down 2011. But... I think I say that every year. Here's hoping that all my friends and loved ones have a happy, healthy year and continue to stay in touch! Odds are good I'll be gracing your mailbox at some point. Your ACTUAL mailbox - that thing out in front of your house. You are worth $0.44. Since I didn't see the Year of the Rabbit stamps up yet, this will have to suffice:



Side note: Did you know that from now on, all regular first-class stamps that are issued will be "Forever" stamps?

Side note to USPS.COM: Take that goddamn scary-ass clown off your homepage! JESUS!

Gullibility

Can anyone recommend any books on Gullibility? I am intrigued by this characteristic lately. What makes certain people gullible, while others are almost preternaturally suspicious? Why do some people believe anything they are told - from small little pranks to gigantic lies - while other people search for verification? I think that would be an interesting read.

The Insider

Just the other night, we watched The Insider, the story of Jeffrey Wigand, a former tobacco scientists turned whistleblower. I had seen it years before and it always stuck with me. Since my recent viewing, I have been reading background information on Dr. Wigand and what he endured to share his testimony in court depositions and on 60 Minutes. The movie itself was based on the Vanity Fair article, "The Man Who Knew Too Much."

I lost my grandfather to lung cancer in 1996, so smoking has always been a sore spot with me. According to the American Lung Association, over 392,000 Americans die from tobacco-caused diseases every year. Another 50,000 die from exposure to secondhand smoke. Due to the carcinogenic properties of secondhand smoke, I support smoking bans in public places. Of course, adults are free to inhale toxic chemicals if they so choose, but as a matter of public health they should not be able to exhale them wherever they choose. Again, according to the ALA's data, there are over 600 ingredients in a cigarette. When burned, that cigarette emits 4,000 chemicals.

It's certainly not news that tobacco companies routinely target their products at kids. And why wouldn't they! If they're losing around a quarter of a million customers every year because, you know, their products have been KILLING THEM OFF, they better do some recruiting. After all, tobacco company executives have families to feed, mansions to maintain, and politicians to pay. Corporate influence over our political system disgusts me more than just about anything, but I don't feel like getting into that today. Instead, I just want to read the dictionary.

I looked up the definition of "Terrorism" on Dictionary.com. Here's what it says:

1. The use of violence and threats to intimidate and coerce, esp. for political purposes.
2. The systematic use of violence and intimidation to achieve some goal.
3. The unlawful use or threat of violence esp. against the state or the public as a politically motivated means of attack or coercion.
4. Violent and intimidating gang activity.
5. A terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

We are all free to draw our own conclusions about who fits that description, but I'm just going to say that I don't think it applies solely to radical Islamic fundamentalists.

Long story short, you should totally check out The Insider if you've never seen it before. I think it is a tense, well-paced, and compelling story.

Soul On Fire

A tidbit of one of my favorite Danzig/Janzig songs. We'll be playing again on December 3rd at the Berkeley in Raleigh! Be there!

More Lips Of Faith!

For all you Kriek lovers (and, boy, am I one!):

Lips of Faith
Transatlantique Kriek

Seriously delicious.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey reader!
Hope all is well wherever you are. Been busy here in Rock & Roll Martian land. Knitting up a storm (pics coming soon) and hiding from work-related and extra curricular-related stresses. We shall be taking it easy this Thanksgiving; I see a feast for two, a movie marathon, and NO TRAVELING in our near future. Any movie recommendations to go along with the obligatory viewing of Planes, Trains & Automobiles?

Behold!
A Del Griffith Tattoo!

They're Coming

I am VERY fired up about Distracted Driving this week. In fact, I stared a Facebook group called "If You Can Read This, You Aren't Texting," AND I am going to get bumper stickers printed with the same message.

I will give these bumper stickers away FOR FREE to anyone who wants one. This is important! We need to change attitudes about cell phone use in cars. Each of us has a part to play!

IT CAN WAIT

U.S. Secretary of Transportation (and my personal hero) Ray LaHood was on Talk of the Nation yesterday urging people to put their goddamn phones away while they are driving. In his words:

Last year 5,500 people were killed as a result of distracted driving and half a million were injured. A lot of lives and a lot of injuries can be saved if people take personal responsibility... and put their cell phone or Blackberry in the glove compartment.

Honestly friends, this is a topic about which I cannot soapbox enough. IT CAN WAIT. No text message is worth someone's life. Put your phone OUT OF REACH when you are driving. Driving is an inherently dangerous activity, and fiddling with gadgets only decreases your reaction time and increases (exponentially) your chances of getting seriously injured or injuring someone else.

To the caller yesterday who seemed to think that people who are "feeding French fries to their kid in the back seat" are more dangerous than people on cell phones, all I ask is this: How many times do we see people feeding French fries to their kids while driving? Probably almost never. How many times do you see someone either talking or texting on a cell phone while driving? LITERALLY EVERY DAY.

We need to break bad habits and put our phones away. We need to speak up when we're in a car and the driver is texting/talking. Take responsibility for yourself and help instill good habits in your friends/loved ones. Do not talk to them when they are "driving and bored." Would you get in a car with a drunk? HELL NO. Studies have shown that texting/talking while driving impairs you MORE than being drunk! It is NOT OK!

Yes, I am preachy but this is important. I love my friends and want them to be alive. BE SAFE and encourage others to do likewise.

Fun with Subtitles

When I'm ellipticizing at the gym (and watching Ellen), I often catch some hilariously botched closed captioning. A recent favorite was "Mary-Kate and Arby Olson," but that can't hold a candle to yesterday's jaw-droppingness.

Ellen usually has horrible musical guests and yesterday was no exception: a Justin-Beiber-in-training singing about happiness, finding the good in life, and following your dreams to the end of the... wait for it... RAPE BOW.

Meet me at the end of the Rape Bow. Honestly.

Putting the "X" Back in Xmas

Guess who has really kick-ass seats to see "A John Waters Christmas?" Damn right! ME! In their infinite wisdom, the Carolina Theatre sent me a postcard announcing the show with a password for the ticket pre-sale. Vee and I will be just a few rows away from the stage for his sure-to-be-tasteless, sure-to-be-amazing one-man show.

In preparation for the event, I will be rewatching some of my favorite John Waters movies and reading his recent memoir Role Models. I just picked it up from the library yesterday! He has such a lovely and familiar writing style. I want to give him a big hug on behalf of weirdos everywhere! See you in December, John!!

The Hunger Games

Based on the recommendation from my favorite Nine-Toed Woman, I read Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy.


You haven't read it? WHAT? Stop reading this ridiculous blog and get on it! I bought the first book as a birthday gift for a friend on the condition that I got to read it when she was done. She did me one better and promptly bought the other two books and loaned them all to me. Now, I have passed along the first book to my (super-rad) boyfriend and then to a co-worker, who burned through it over the weekend and is clamoring for Book #2 (Vee, get readin'!).

While the trilogy is technically Young Adult fiction, the story is about as far removed from a passing-notes-in-the-hall teen soap as you can get. Without giving too much away, the trilogy is a literal and figurative metaphor for war and the effects of war on people. It challenges your perceptions of right vs. wrong, justifiable vs. unjustifiable action, and perception vs. truth. Collins' writing is superbly balanced between light and dark, hope and despair. It's truly a compelling story and TRUST ME - you won't regret reading it.

Thanks for the tip, Alysha!!

My Next Endeavor

Last weekend, a musician friend of mine told me about RTOOT. Little does RTOOT know, it has a date with destiny in the form of ME.

RTOOT stands for the "Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle." Let's say, hypothetically, that once upon a time you totally kicked ass at the French Horn. You played for years and loved it but certainly never harbored any illusions of a symphonic career (and needless to say never harbored any illusions that the French Horn was cool). You didn't think about the French Horn for years because you were busy playing in rock bands... until the day you saw a dented-up POS horn on Craigslist for $50. You bought it, and you know what? You could still play a scale. Then you put it BACK in the attic for a few more years until you heard about RTOOT.

Seriously, RTOOT, buckle up. I am going to rock your terrible world!!

Autumn Updates

Well... that whole Twins-dominating-the-playoffs thing didn't really turn out the way I hoped. Seriously, fuck the Yankees. At least they didn't make it to the World Series. Go Rangers, I guess?

The fall has been rolling right along. Been busy knitting (but haven't taken any pictures... d'oh!), crafting (i.e. Janzig stage props), music-ing, and Girls Rock-ing. Admittedly, I'm a bit over-scheduled but most everything I'm working on is super-fun.

I just spent an incredible weekend helping to facilitate the Women's Rock Retreat at the Celebrity Inn Bed & Breakfast in Siler City, NC. Along with a few other GRNC cohorts, we formed bands with 8 ladies who had virtually no musical experience. Over the course of the weekend, each band wrote two (TWO!) songs and performed at The Cave. I can't tell you how inspiring it was (is) to see women work together, have fun, and rock out!! Lucky lady that I am, my band wrote a spooky Halloween song which we dedicated to Vincent Price. A-MAZING.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!

It is my tremendous pleasure to congratulate

YOUR 2010 A.L. CENTRAL CHAMPION
MINNESOTA TWINS!!!!!!!!

Don't stop now, guys! HOME FIELD! HOME FIELD!!!

Who Loves the Number 8?

ME.

Not only was that Gary Gaetti's number, but that is also the number of games the Twins are currently ahead in the AL Central. ChiSox? More like ChokeSox, amiright??!


Just one game separates the 87-58 Twins from the 88-57 Rays & Yankees (bleccch) for the best record in all of Major League Baseball. I would *really* love to have home field advantage through the playoffs. Just sayin'.

XOXOXOX

With each passing day, JANZIG becomes more and more prepared to rock your evil world. We solidified our set list last night and it will rip your face off! Hope to see your lovely devilocks this Halloween!

More to Smile About

9) The "Freddie For A Day" benefit is coming up, with several local friends/musicians all taking a stab at various Queen songs. Yours truly will be doing "Killer Queen," which is a bit of beast. I spent some good time with it over the weekend and feel much more confident. Freddie rocks and their songs rock! Can't wait to see the costumes and mustaches. Guaranteed to blow your mind!

10) The Twins are 5 - count 'em, 5! - games ahead in the AL Central!! Keep on truckin', boys!!

11) Janzig practiced yesterday, yet again confirming it's just about the most funnest band in history. Top contenders for our Misfits covers are Attitude, Some Kinda Love, Hybrid Moments and Bullet. BULLET! Psyched about that!!

12) OMG - I got the shooting star on Katamari "Make a Star 10!" A STUNNING FEAT!!!!

More Happiness

6) My dear friend Matt has come to visit! I haven't seen ol' "Marmot" in about 2 years. Seeing friends makes me happy! We've been having a great time. In fact...

7) We went to see "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and it was really great! Both of us were prepared to hate everything about it as it hits us directly in the Nerd muscle (comic books, video games, AND music). Thanks to Edgar Wright's capable hands, though, we had nothing to fear. Definitely recommend! Fun movies make me happy, especially when you are pleasantly surprised by them.

8) We're getting together with other friend(s) tonight and making pizza. Making pizza = happy. It's all preparation for the day we finally open Pizza Terrace, our much-dreamed-about pizza place. Pizza Terrace will have only pizza-related songs on the juke. Accepting recommendations! Never fear, Abber, "Pizza Rocket" is *definitely* going to be on there.

#5

The Twins have a 3 game lead in the AL Central. THAT MAKES ME HAPPY!