So mad that this wasn't my idea

So, I'm talking to my mom about her job at American Express and a company that would like AmEx to help them track the carbon emissions related to their business travel. At this point it hits me - why not have a credit card that, instead of air miles, cancels the carbon footprint of your spending??? It's a genius idea that will make somebody a LOT of money and do great things for the environment.

Of course, just like my weatherproof bike stereo, most great ideas are already in the works by someone just a little bit quicker than yourself. Indeed, that very day a press article came out about Bright Plant. This card, the brain child of two recent college grads, will take 1% of your purchases and use it to fund carbon offsets. Initially, they are going to fund new wind power projects. The card comes out in May and will, for now on, handle the bulk of my spending. If only I'd thought of this two years ago! For more information, visit http://brightpla.net/.

Calling all poets

So, I’ve been writing a lot of music for the new band. We have four or five songs done and a few more in the works. The problem is that we don’t have lyrics for any of these tracks. Back in the Lavajet days I did a lot of lyric writing. Now, it seems, I am having a bout of writer’s block. I almost feel like I have lot my ability to write poetry. I used to write all the time in high school and college. Sure, it wasn’t great stuff, but it doesn’t need to be. 99% of poetry is crap, but that’s okay. It was MY crap – my random thoughts or abstract concepts laid out in a hopefully interesting way. Now I can’t even write bad poetry! Is it the endless meetings I attend? The tracking of statements of work and task numbers? Does owning a home and thinking about “settling down” rob us of that part of our creative self? God, I hope not. I will keep hacking away and hopefully get past this rough patch of non-inspiration.

In the meantime, if you’ve got any of your own words/poetry/lyrics you’d be willing to share with me, that would help give me something to write to.

Throw the book at her!

So, I just read a story about two 19 year old, seemingly affluent white girls who robbed a bank and were then captured after a brief car chase. The mother of Ashley Miller (one of the alleged robbers) went on Good Morning America to tell America that her daughter was not a bandit, but simply a "little girl that made a bad choice." Funny, just last week four black kids (ranging from ages 14 to 17) were arrested in DC for a stabbing. Why did I not see one of THEIR parents on Good Morning America? Were they just little boys who fell in with the wrong crowd?

By even having this woman on their show, Good Morning American was supporting this double standard we have in society that when white kids (especially females) commit crimes they have been somehow corrupted and are not at fault. Meanwhile, when black kids (especially male) commit crimes they are dangerous criminals who must be removed from society so all those white girls can walk the streets safely once more. I think it's disgusting that a 14 year old black boy will probably go to prison because his friends stabbed someone while these two LEGALLY ADULT young women will likely be treated like mischievous little rascals and be given a slap on the hand so they can get on with their lives at some nice, mostly white, university.

We can't have it both ways. We can't expect minorities to embrace mainstream American mores if we are going to apply different standards of behavior to them. We can't claim to support women's lib and then treat young women with kid gloves when it comes to the legal system. I will wait to hear about the outcome of both of these cases. I sincerely hope that I am wrong and that justice will be done - justice that punishes the crimes fairly and protects the rights of the accused. I hope this is done using the same standards in both cases. I am hopeful, but not optimistic.

Chihuly

Kate and I were in Miami for the Presidents Day Weekend, visiting my dad and step-mom. It was dad's birthday on Sunday so it was great that I could be down there with him. It was unusually cool for Miami with temperatures in the mid-50's. It was so funny watching the local weather with images of frozen temperature guages and talk about when will this frigid weather be over. Meanwhile, I had to dig my car out of solid ice to get to the airport in DC. While we were there we visited Fairchild Gardens (http://www.fairchildgarden.org/), a beautiful botanical garden where there is an extensive exhibit of Chihuly glass art. It was really speactacular. Dad and I shot over a hundred pictures each. Here are just a few:










Beyond that, the band auditioned a singer last night. He was good. He can sing and has no problem with lyrics. My problem is that he's a pretty serious guy. I am not sure I want serious lyrics. If we keep it fun and light and stupid, it just feels like having fun. If we start playing songs about regret and fallen angels then I just feel like we're another marginal rock band that doesn't realize that nobody cares. I dunno, you can't have it all. I could sing the silly lyrics, but then we're stuck with my voice and that's really not something you want to pay to hear. We'll keep looking though, who knows.

A nice Valentines day

So, I have been working pretty hard to prepare Kate's Valentines Day gift and last night I gave it to her. It was a cd with a recording of a song I wrote for her. It's my first real foray into recording an entire song myself. I used Garage Band on my Mac. Luckily, I have everything I need. For the guitar part, I played my acoustic using the pickup that Kate got me for Christmas. I obviously played Pai's electronic kit for the drum parts. The vocals were easy - I used one of the mic purchased during the Lavajet days. Finally, Tom keeps his spare bass at my place for practices, so I played that - though he is appalled at how "rubbery" it sounds on the recording. Anyway, Kate loved it. She brought me a wonderful card and a picture frame with one of her favorite quotes in it. Very cool. Tomorrow, we leave for Miami to celebrate my dad's birthday. I can't wait to be where it's warm!

CattleAxe

So, it's quite scary that I'm not sure who I believe right now - my own government or Iran's wacked-out ass. Pretty sad situation when I'm not sure who to trust between those two. Thanks, George Bush, for depleting every shred of faith I have in the honesty of my own government. F&ck.

In lighter news, the singer search continues. We had a nice lass come sing for us this past weekend. She was really nice and enthusiastic, but a bit on the odd side. She came with some lyrics......about suicide. Nice. Her ditty was entitled "Welcome To My Mistake." A bit grimm for a bunch of guys who would normally write songs about robots or The Facts of Life. We've got another dude coming in tomorrow - a hard-core Nu-metal guy with tattoos and strange facial hair. Sounds like a winner to me. We're also still adrift on the whole name issue. We've tossed around a bunch of names including Laser Hammer, Heads With No Bodies, Tattoos On Your Face, and some other gems. Any favorites there? Any unique suggestions? I suggested CattleAxe, but that was quickly vetoed. Too cerebral.

Lookin for a singer

So, the new band is coming along well. I'm getting more comfortable playing the guitar and I'm really having a blast with it. Our current working title is Laser Hammer. If you're laughing right now, you get it. Also, you WISH you were in a band cool enough to call itself Laser Hammer. So we have come to the conclusion that we need someone who can actually sing. Cause, come on, no one wants to hear me croonin except maybe Kate and even then just for a laugh. My friend Angela might sing for us but I'm not sure if she's really into our kind of music. Anyway, if you know any balls-to-the-wall singers (male or female) in DC, let me know.

As a side note, check this out - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/energy_california_lightbulbs_dc. If we're outlawing things like smoking and transfats, why not do away with those old incandescent dinosaurs?