Thought Quotient

Alathea - that’s a Greek word meaning ‘truth’…but I think it also means good music. I can’t find the definition right now, you’ll have to listen to the CD to understand.

Here’s a quick test to see if you might be an Alathea fan without even realizing it:

You’ll like their music if you like real people playing real instruments creatively and skillfully.

You probably won’t like their music if you like drum loops.

You’ll like their music if you like pop music with acoustic instruments.

You probably won’t like their music if you like drum loops.

You’ll like their music if when you think of accordian, you think of some older acoustic REM or Counting Crows songs - instead of some public access TV polka program.

You probably won’t like their music if you like public access TV polka programs and have never heard of REM or Counting Crows.

You’ll like their music if you like vocal harmonies.

You probably won’t like their music if you like Ashlee Simpson Janet Jackson Britney Spears lip-synced, choreographed dance routines.

Hopefully this post was informative - if you’re interested, read more about Alathea at their Rocketown Records website.

-and another thing* - I was at an Avalon show recently and they called themselves and/or their fans ‘Avalonians.’ Does that mean Alathea and their fans are ‘Alatheans?’ Hmmmm.

*(my apologies to Dennis Miller)

G4 - going, going, going, gone.

Thanks G4. You have now officially let me reclaim 5 hours of my life per week.

Kevin Rose is reporting that some awfully bad gamer guy and some Chi-Lan Lieu are the new hosts of The Screen Savers.

I used to watch the Screen Savers. Key word: used to. I even got a pic with Sarah Lane and Kevin Rose on the Digital Digs Road show. Keep cranking out tech content, Kevin. Looks like no one else will. And for ‘the gamers’, good luck reporting on those new Doom 3 mods and the new Halo 2 joysticks. I’m off to listen to an ALATHEA cd.

Tripe Rating: 4 / 5

After posting my response to Real Live Preacher and his comments on homosexuality, I had the opportunity to continue the discussion with RLP via e-mail. I indicated I would post his e-mail with my response on our website. That discussion is posted below. His comments are indented with blue type and my responses are in black. His unedited e-mail (actually in two parts) follows the discussion.

(more…)

BOOMWHACKER
- percussion instrument

BOOMWHACKER picture at explorerdrums.com

It’s really about race
Controversy surrounding Owens’ MNF promo touches deep social issues

Before I say anything… for the sake of some of those who have commented. Gluttony is a sin… it’s hard to pin down a lot of direct references, but I believe it falls under selfishness. Not that this has anything to do with the article below… but I wouldn’t want to be accused of only dealing with sexual immorality. Even though it seems to saturate our culture.

Moving on…

What is it about football and sex this year? I don’t even like football and I can’t seem to avoid it this year!

Personally, the skit didn’t bother me one bit. What the segment did do, however, was make me wonder if America was ready to see a naked, blonde, white woman with her arms wrapped around an outspoken, controversial, highly paid black man.

Isn’t that what this is really all about? Once we get past all the people complaining about how inappropriate the skit was for the Monday Night Football audience and how so many children will be scarred after being exposed to such a tawdry scene before their bedtime and all the decision-makers in the NFL who have raced away from this topic as if it were a time bomb, this is an issue that comes down to race.

You know… why was it so important to have a naked blond woman embracing anyone on tv during prime time television!? It was obviously an attempt to garner “sensation” and “shock value”. Regardless of the feelings of individuals about race, it doesn’t change the fact that such explicit material shouldn’t have been aired during prime time (at all, in my opinion) ! Stop trying to sidetrack the discussion. Racial feelings aside… it was still morally wrong!

“I guarantee you that if Peyton Manning had been the man Sheridan jumped on, there wouldn’t be half the controversy. If it had been Eva Longoria, the Latina co-star of Desperate Housewives, there also wouldn’t be as much of an outcry. Two minorities locked in a sexual embrace isn’t as shocking a thought in some of those red states. “

I suppose it bears repeating. Racial issues aside… it’s still morally wrong.

“Everything I’m talking about here points to one central issue — how comfortable America is with black men as sexual objects. “

Why can’t/doesn’t the issue revolve around why people have to be portrayed as sexual objects at all?

As an aside, I just noticed that the primary advertising space on the Sports Illustrated Scorecard page is currently Viagra… “get back to mischief.” I don’t think there can be any argument that their opinion is a little biased. And just in case you still disagree with me… let’s consider the reason for the existence of the SI Swimsuit Illustrated…

Library offenders could go to jail

“Frustrated librarians want the worst offenders to face criminal charges and up to 90 days behind bars.”

What’s this - vigilante librarians? I can see it now, masked librarians stalking the streets with bar-code scanners and black tights. Book thieves beware!

“Patrons keep an average of $25,000 in overdue materials out of the library system each year, officials said.”

I have a solution… Take away their library cards!!!

Oh sorry, that’s probably unconstitutional…