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A great actor and a great man . Reuters Story

I don't listen to the Mule as much as I used to but I saved this article months ago and finally read it. Traveling musicians have a rough row to hoe and god forbide they get sick. You can talk about and to any number of old blues, jazz and country guys about this. The jamband world is filled with bands who create a work environment that is beneficial to the band, fans and world. The Dead did it, Dave Matthews does it, Phish did it, the Allmans have gotten better at it, etc. It is appropriately attached to one of my fav songs, Thorazine Shuffle, or back in the old days it was called 5557.

A little self congratulatory post...actually, that's not true. The following is an email my boss got from her boss (the details have been changed or omitted). Hi Jai's boss, I just want you to know that Jai handled this situation with grace and conviction. Mr. patron was quite upset about the red tape, etc. and requested that we have everything worked out by the morning for his kids. I was able to just hand the information to Jai, who immediately knew who I was talking about and had been in contact for months with the proper department. Then, I asked Jai to contact Mr. patron, which he did. Jai is a true role model for public service staff! Signed Senior Administrator. I was quite shocked when I saw the email (my boss forwarded it to me). I didn't think I had done anything more than what she asked. The guy was pissed and he had been given the run-around, mostly because we had questions about how to handle his situation and no one would get back with us with an ans...

Tara is pregnant! The baby (unknown gender) is due 12/13/08! Go here for more.

Whenever big political things happen I always find myself reconsidering where I stand. Not so much where I stand but how I define myself. Listening to Barack Obama last night I found myself all over the map related to his points and I decided to label my political self. I am a liberal / conservative libertarian - socialist - democrat with anarchistic leanings. Now let me explain. My bottom line, philosophically & politically, is that we should treat each person with compassion and honesty. I think we, not only as humans but especially as Americans, should all have access to the same opportunities. I believe the government should be there to make sure everybody has that access and to fill in the gaps where individual communities can't or won't, as well as take care of large scale issues - large project infrastructure, national disasters, global relationships and if  necessary, military protection. I do believe that government should be representative...the...

Alejandro performed at the DNC. It looks like lots a fun... Here's a link . Way to go Al

Quote of the day:   "As staunch conservatives we don't believe that libraries should be in the hands of the government."    Can someone explain this to me? I don't understand what that means.   If it is a public institution who should run it? If its a private institution how will you guarantee access?

This time last year we got a dog . I've posted pictures and told little strories and have even mentioned how much we love the dog park . This is the greatest dog "toy" known to man. What I don't talk about is the people. Our dog park has the nicest coolest folks. East Nashville is know for its artsy people but what you don't hear about is its sense of community and camaraderie. While at the dog park you hang out with bartenders and attorneys and retirees and you talk a lot about dogs. You talk mostly about dogs, "Does your dog do ________?", "Have you ever tried peanut butter in a Kong (the 2nd best dog toy)?", and so on.You can spend hours comparing and laughing and learning about dogs. After months of talking about dogs you begin to learn about the people. You learn about housing problems, work problems, hobbies and other stuff. You gravitate to people like yourself b/c more than likely your dog has gravitated to their dog. The most fas...

To set the scene, I live perpenticular to Gallatin Rd , a major roadway in Nashville. I am last than .2/mile from the road. There are houses on three sides of me and an apartment complex behind me with about a 1/2 acre maybe 3/4 acre of wooded area. When I was a child, this wasn't less wooded and a horse was kept in this area but the horse was gone by the time I was 6 or 7. Before Johnders I saw snakes and rabbits nested in my backyard. Now there are no rabbits. When this morning I was pulling out of the driveway and I look on the fence of my neighbor's front yard and I think, "I didn't know he had a bird decoy on his fence." As I pull away I notice that its not a decoy its a hawk (I am guessing its the sharp-shinned hawk b/c they seem to be common at Shelby Bottoms which is close to me))! It was about 8" tall perched on his fence. I fumbled for my camera and by the time I had it he had flown away. Damnit! I saw a hawk this morning. That has to be a go...

Why do I insist on letting toxic people intrude on me? I have an acquaintance who is about as toxic as they come. They are lonely and insecure, they were put under lots of pressure to be perfect when they were kids and now they not only put that pressure on themselves but they put it on those around them. Every conversation I have with this person is a repeat of the last conversation. There are non- sequiters , there are blurbs, there are pronouncements, there are silences but most of the conversation is "Why do people do this (what ever this is) to me?" This person actually told me this weekend that they could not, I repeat, could NOT, accept the fact that everybody has different skills! How ridiculous and narcissistic is that? Jesus, if someone gets to their station in life b/c they know how to talk to people instead of graduating " Magna Cum Laude " big deal, right?! I get really frustrated. The thing I can't get past is in my eyes our upbringing is extreme...

My awesome coworkers!

Matt Santos (D-Rep, Texas ) vs Arnold Vinick (R-Sen, California ) Barack Obama (D-Sen, Illinois ) vs John McCain (R-Sen, Arizona ) Do you see the similarities?

Bo Diddley was one of the first blues guys I connected with. I can't tell you what it is about his music that always got to me. It always brings a smile to my face. I saw him live a couple of times and loved him. The last time he was a cantankerous old man but he was still Bo Diddley, Elias McDaniel from McComb, Mississippi . When I moved to Baton Rouge back in 91 I got sooo excited when driving down I55 , tired after a long day of driving I saw the highway sign for McComb. I felt like I had reached something. I never did stop in McComb but I always felt a connection, a jolt of something when I drove past. Going back even further, I had a dorm mate who used to make me play "Roadrunner" at obscene volumes at obscene hours. It didn't matter whether we were studtying at 3am or coming in drunk Roadrunner would be blaring down the hall of Lower Gailor . Another college memory of mine was my one and only radio alter-ego was Diddley Bo. He showed up, played two or three ...

...why don't more people do it? Why don't I want to do it? My wife exercises all the time. I have a membership to the YMCA . My doctor says I should exercise . My dog needs exercise and now I read this article that implies if I exercise I will become a CEO. Most CEOs exercise regularly, so you could say that regular exercise is important to getting that top job. Now, I don't have designs on being a CEO but I know I need to move. My current job has strapped me to a desk. I walk to and from the busstop and that's about it. That's about 1/2 mile total walking. I need to do something. I hate going to the gym and I make excuses about why I don't ride my bike. What can I do?

I don't have a lot to add here but read what Marjorie has to say and boycott Nestlé , Pepsico and all those companies! Now I know, not all companies are purely evil but some took a sharper right turn towards it than others. I also understand that the corporate decisions are not made by the workers and I don't really want them to suffer b/c of any action I take but Marjorie talks about personal responsibility and we all have to find our "line in the sand" and our comfort zone. As far as the mega-corporations...there is not one service or product produced by these companies offer that you can't find at a smaller, more local, probably higher quality place. Yes, they are possibly more expensive but where are your priorities? Tara and I make a conscious decision on most everything we spend money on...how local is it, how fresh is, how ecologically sound is, how humane was the process? If it is then something that fits our budget we buy. So draw your line in the sand,...

You know rockers and hip-hop folk can beat up hippies but you really don't have to choose. Sat isn't Earthday but it is the day Nashville has its big Centennial Park event. Its gonna be a wonderful weekend b/c there are so many things to do in addition to Earth Day stuff. The pedistrian bridge will link East Nashville & Donelson...you can walk across the Cumberland in grand style. You can get you movie groove on at the Nashville Film Fest and you can hang out at your fav record store for Record Store Day , a year ago I would've said my fav was Grimey's but now East Side is represented by a fine addition to the record store tradition, The Groove .

Google Desktop just allowed me to 1. help my boss find a phone number 2. impress my boss This is why I love google!

Got the following from my friendly neighborhood record store. Yes, I did say neighborhood. East Nashville has a real record store! On April 19th, National Record Store Day will be taking place across the nation with hundreds of other stores, and The Groove is jumping in on the activities! We are planning an event for this day including bands and a sale, so keep checking back for more details! This is going to be a big thing so make sure to come out and support your local record store. Check out The Groove

I can't go into details but don't you love it when know you made the right decision? I just had a scenario, an angry email - angry might be too strong of a word but it as good as any - and I was about to respond via email. I was in the middle of revising the email to make sure my response didn't have the same negative tone and I decided to call instead. Not only did the person apologize for the tone of their email AND send me email of genuine thanks but I said what I needed to say in about 1/4 of the words I had written in the email. I'm proud of myself for making the right decision. I still hate the phone!