Thankful for family time

Yesterday after Noble went to sleep, Kristi, Kayci and I sat down and watched Elf (one of our favorite Christmas movies) and had soup and cornbread. After we ate, we all snuggled up on the couch and watch the movie and laughed. I love having a Noble, but it was really great to get to spend some time like we used to ... just the three of us together. I really loved that dynamic.

This morning, Mr. Noble decided at 5:55 that it was time to wake up, but Kristi and I had other plans. We put on a movie - National Treasure - and lay in bed watching it. Kayci joined us about 20 minutes later. And we all lay there and watched a movie. It was AWESOME, and it's times like these that I'm really, really thankful for the great family that I have. We knew we really needed to be getting up to get ready for church, but somehow this seemed much, much more important.

I believe that the best way you can serve God is to be the best father and the best family you can. How better to serve God than to teach your children to love and that they are loved unconditionally - not just when there's time.

I hope my Christmas decorations don't melt.

The Pharaon family went to Bellville as part of our annual Christmas tradition to "cut down" a Christmas tree. We go to an actual Christmas tree farm there, but have again this year bought a fir tree that was brought in from North Carolina instead of one of the Scotch pines that grow there.

There's something not quite right about picking out a Christmas tree when it's 80 degrees outside. I know, I know... this is Texas, but still...

Luckily there's a little cool front blowing in that will bring the high tomorrow down to the upper 60s. Maybe that will help make it seem a little less like May.

True. True.

Quote of the Day, on Obama's victory:

It's kind of like being diagnosed with testicular cancer. You hope to live through the treatment, but you don't look forward to what you're about to lose.

(thanks to Matt for sending it to me)

The disturbing imagery of Barack Obama

With just hours left until the election, there's something that has really been bothering me, and that is how Barack Obama has gotten this far in this race. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's definitely something that doesn't feel right about him. I don't know whether it's because he's a Socialist running as a Democrat or because we actually know so very little about him or because he seems to embrace imagery and symbolism that has run contrary to American ideals.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not a big McCain supporter either. In fact, I can't stand the guy, but I'm voting for him because at least with him we know what we'll be getting. And please save the "more Bush doctrine" crap. You know it's not true just as much as I do. McCain isn't a Bush guy - they've been bitter rivals since the 2000 primaries. "But he'll just tow the Republican line," you say? McCain is barely a Republican and certainly isn't a conservative. He's made a career of bucking his own party. Besides, the Republican party is in such an impotent state these days that there's not much of line to tow, anyway. The majority of Republican representatives and senators have compromised their principles at the alter of "bipartisanship" and have even outright betrayed their conservative principles, especially in the past few months. The lone exception is a representative - who happens to be my representative in Congress - named Michael McCaul.

But back to Obama. For months now I've been searching for words - trying to put my finger on exactly what it is that is so distressing to me about this guy. Being an artist - a visual guy, I was having a tough time. His marketing and delivery is slick, polished and more subtle than any I've ever seen before. People, the media especially, are treating him like a celebrity - like a rock star - like a god - and like a savior.


There are so many aspects to the marketing of this guy. The "heartland O" logo. The owning of the words "hope" and "change." The constant inspirational photography that pops up on the internet and in newspapers with the sun shining behind him or that shows him towering over the crowd while giving a speech. And the posters that carry his image. It's these posters that predate the logo and all the other imagery. And that's because I believe they were specifically designed to bring to mind, very subtly, other revolutionary images. It's the very core of his campaign, and it finally occurred to me why I'm so disturbed. his entire message, his entire philosophy is telegraphed in his imagery.



The images of him are reminiscent of Communist posters featuring radicals such as Stalin and Che Guevera. It's this kind of symbolism that I think is very telling, and very dangerous. Why am I so disturbed by simple imagery? Because i know that imagery can be very powerful, very evocative, very sly and very persuasive. I've also seen these posters hanging as banners and over-sized prints on the sides of buildings (in Austin) as far back as March. You haven't seen these things until you've seen them looming over you three stories tall like some kind of giant overseer - like Big Brother.

Even the day before the election, there's so much we don't know about Barack Obama. There's so much that feels like it's been off limits for whatever reason. As someone with a degree in journalism, it's unthinkable to me that reporters haven't asked Obama the really tough questions.

And it scares me.

Your head will explode in 3... 2... 1...

I ran across this last night.  It's from the Kansas City Star. What's sad is that this guy is serious.

Shame on McCain and Palin for using an old code word for black
By Lewis Diuguid, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The "socialist" label that Sen. John McCain and his GOP presidential running mate Sarah Palin are trying to attach to Sen. Barack Obama actually has long and very ugly historical roots.

J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI from 1924 to 1972, used the term liberally to describe African Americans who spent their lives fighting for equality.

Those freedom fighters included the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who led the Civil Rights Movement; W.E.B. Du Bois, who in 1909 helped found the NAACP which is still the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization; Paul Robeson, a famous singer, actor and political activist who in the 1930s became involved in national and international movements for better labor relations, peace and racial justice; and A. Philip Randolph, who founded and was the longtime head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and a leading advocate for civil rights for African Americans.

McCain and Palin have simply reached back in history to use an old code word for black. It set whites apart from those deemed unAmerican and those who could not be trusted during the communism scare.

Shame on McCain and Palin.

The original can be found at here. Be sure to read the comments.

The Clearing

I just finished a painting that I'd like to share. It's for a marriage retreat lodge that will soon be built near Brenham called "The Clearing."

I was contacted by my friend Lori a few weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in doing an illustration for one of their clients. I did a brochure for her employer, Texas Log Homes, last fall and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to do some more work for them. That, and I'd like to transition into illustrating children's so I was really interested in a paying gig that would allow me to practice.

The drawback was that there was nothing in existence for me to work from except an architect's elevation drawing. Oh, and they wanted it with just a little more than three weeks turnaround.

So I got to work drawing. Trying to draw a building that doesn't exist from a straight-on drawing and trying to show depth and size is actually pretty tough. After several starts, I finally got a sketch that I likes and that I thought was decent enough to proceed. So I scanned it and began working with it in Photoshop.

Then I got some voicemails and an e-mail on Friday from the owners of The Clearing. They wanted the art early for a brochure. I wasn't ready to give it to them, but I promised that I would have it by the end of the weekend.

After several hours of work, I took a look at it and realized that my perspective was all off. It didn't become clear until it was painted how bad it was. It was like MC Escher got together with Salvador Dali and decided to build a log cabin. This is the first version:

So on Sunday morning, I started over. Sitting in the living room drinking my coffee with Kristi, I began sketching. What miraculously appeared was what I originally envisioned, but somehow abandoned. So I scanned it and began working feverishly. Having just done all this the day before, it went pretty quickly.

I fixed a few things that I didn't like from the first draft and experimented with some different ways of doing some things. I worked most of the day, with a 2-hour break to go to the Scarecrow Festival in Chappell Hill with the family. Finally, at about 7pm, I finished. Here's the final result:

I think you'll agree that it's much better.

Choke!

Good football is emotional, and watching the Texans play the Colts today brought up all kinds of emotions. First, pride in my favorite team as they systematically took apart the Colts and made Peyton Manning look silly.

Then disbelief that beginning the fourth quarter they were up 27-10 and it looked like nothing could go wrong.

Then horror as I watched Sage Rosenfels make more mistakes than a high school quarterback in his first game. Diving over a defender, Sage? Really?!?

Then finally relief when the game was over and I knew that the Texans were the same team they've always been. The same old reliable team that always comes through in a pinch. The team that never lets me down. The team that always comes through at the last minute and manages to throw the entire game.

The Colt won 31-27.

Watching the last four minutes of the game felt exactly like watching the Houston Oilers choke and blow a tremendous lead to the Buffalo Bills back in 1993. I remember being at work at Foot Locker watching the game on TV and just feeling like I was drowning in slow motion, helpless to do anything.

Fast forward 15 years.  So now we have a new team. A better team. A new coach. A better coach. Better players. A new stadium. A fresh start, right? Allegedly...

So why does it just keep happening? Why does it all feel the same, over and over and over? It's like watching the Bad News Bears play every week. Is it the water in Houston? Is it the fans? Is it the weather? What is it that makes our teams constantly choke and just generally suck? I have a theory, but I'll save it for another time.

But a HUGE silver lining to the game... This was the first game that Noble and I got to watch together. Well, I watched it. He snuggled in and fell asleep. And he slept on my arm the whole time. And it was magic.  And there was the best emotion of this game.

Hmmm. Sounds legit enough...

MY DEAR AMERICAN FRIEND:

I AM NEEDING TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.

I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED NEED FOR LARGE TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF 700 BILLION OF YOUR DOLLARS (US). IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME IN THIS TRANSFER IT WOULD BE MOST PROFITABLE TO YOU.

I AM WORKING WITH HIGHLY REPUTABLE MR. PHIL GRAM, LOBBYIST FOR UBS, WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY IF MY POLITICAL PARTY WINS UPCOMING ELECTION, WHICH WE CERTAINLY WILL BECAUSE WE ARE IN CONTROLING OF THE HIGHEST SUPREME COURT. YOU MAY REMEMBER HIM AS A SENATOR AS LEADER OF THE AMERICAN BANKING DEREGULATION MOVEMENT IN THE 1990S.

I AM ALSO WORKING WITH HIGHLY REPUTABLE MR. BARNEY FRANK, MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF MASSACHUSETTS, WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY IF OTHER POLITICAL PARTY, LED BY MR. BARACK OBAMA, WIN UPCOMING ELECTION, WHICH HE CERTAINLY WILL BECAUSE HE IS IN CONTROLLING OF VOTING IN ILLINOIS, OHIO, FLORIDA, AND MANY OTHER STATES. MR. BARNEY FRANK IS VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS OF ALL KINDS, FROM WHOREHOUSE ADMINISTRATION TO HOME LOAN BUSINESS, AND FAITHFULLY TEACHES PRECEPTS OF MR. BARACK OBAMA ("FROM TINY A.C.O.R.N. GROWS GIANT FORECLOSURE OAK!").

THIS TRANSACTIN IS 100% SAFE. YOU MUST TRUST ME COMPLETELY AND NOT ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TRANSACTION. YOU HAVE MY WORD NO ONE WILL DO ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE MONEY. THIS IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. WE NEED YOUR BLANK CHECK. WE NEED THE FUNDS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WE CANNOT DIRECTLY TRANSFER THESE FUNDS IN THE NAMES OF OUR CLOSE FRIENDS BECAUSE WE ARE CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE. MY FAMILY LAWYER ADVISED ME THAT I SHOULD LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTH PERSONAGE WHO WILL ACT AS A NEXT OF KIN SO THE FUNDS CAN BE TRANSFERRED.

YOU ARE THAT PERSONAGE.

PLEASE REPLY WITH ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IRA AND COLLEGE FUND ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN AND THOSE YET UNBORN TO WALLSTREETBAILOUT@ TREASURY. GOV SO THAT WE MAY TRANSFER YOUR COMMISSION FOR THIS TRANSACTION.

AFTER I RECEIVE THIS INFORMATION I WILL RESPOND WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDS WE PROMISE WILL BE USED TO PROTECT THE FUNDS AND PRODUCE A LONG-TERM RETURN ON INVESTMENT FOR YOU AND THOSE YOU LOVE.

YOURS FAITHFULLY

MINISTER OF TREASURY H. PAULSON

P.S.: YOU CAN REALLY TRUST ME. LOOK AT DOLLAR BILL. MY SIGNATURE IS ON THE MONEY.

Welcome to Destructoville.

Welcome to my own personal place to break things and run rampant as much as I want. Please pardon the mess, step over the broken glass and watch those rusty pipes over there. I put them there on purpose. It's exactly the way I want it.

So, anyway, watch this space for more of the stupid things that make me ... me.

What? Why Destructoville? That's easy. When I was a kid I had this nasty (and viciously untrue) reputation for breaking things. So much so, in fact, that my delusional family had a nickname for me - Destructo. I wear it like a badge of honor, and I love it. So here we are in Destructoville. Welcome.

Now get off the lawn!

What's in a blog?

After my last rant on this site, I got an e-mail message from Kristi: "quit posting that crap on our family blog." That led invariably to discussions about what exactly this blog is for. I was under the impression that it was about who we are - personality, opinions and just goofy things that interest us. But Kristi reminded me that it was originally intended just to be a way for our family and friends, who are scattered literally across the world, to keep up with us, to see what's going on in our lives and to help keep in touch. She asked me to please start my own blog if I wanted to post geeky advertising stuff and opinion.

I thought about it quite a bit. At first I was dead set against it. This is partially my blog, after all. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Kristi was right. This should be an innocent place about family. It should be G-rated, and it should be about family. The beauty of the internet is that I can have my own little space where I can rant about everything - and nothing - until my heart is content. In my own little world I can post to geeky things like typography and new logos. And people can read it if they want - or not.

So, today I'm announcing the creation of my own little blog, Destructoville, at www.destructoville.jamespharaon.com. You won't get the posts in e-mail like you do with the Pharaon Family blog, but I will post a link here when I've posted something that might be interesting. And this space will be reserved solely for family matters.

That being said, I think I should take the time here to clear up what exactly the Pharaon Family blog isn't. It isn't meant to be a day-by-day recounting of our lives. In no way can we possibly post every picture we take on the blog or relay every story. There just isn't time. We'll continue to post the highlights as we have time. There are a lot of things that, while they are notable and cute, just don't make it to the blog, and we're sorry for that. Kristi has her hands absolutely full with a baby who thinks that sleep is for the weak (and trying to get any actual work done for her job, to say nothing of running the house.) I've got a day job that keeps me busy and I try to find time to be a good Dad in the evenings. And then there's the mountain of freelance work I try to get done late at night and in the morning.

Not whining here, just trying to illustrate that we've got actual lives going on. The blog is our way of letting the world into our lives when we can slow down long enough to share. There's so much that we could put on the blog if that's all we did.  I've got a great post in draft - for someday - about the Pharaon Boarding House.  And Soccer practice.  And  backyard camping.  And so on...

All that being said, we've discovered that we really like this whole blogging thing.  And we especially like the feedback we get from family and friends.  So keep it coming, and we will, too.

Morons, Idiots and Horrible Parents

For those of you who may not be aware, the Houston/Galveston area over the weekend suffered a direct hit from a strong category 3 hurricane - Ike. Beginning on Wednesday, people on Galveston Island were given MANDATORY evacuation orders, along with people from areas near the coast, including the Bolivar peninsula. They were told that this storm had a larger than normal storm surge and that if they stayed that they were on their own. Early reports were that 90% of the island had evacuated, but on Friday that was amended to 60%. A full 40% of the island decided to stay.

Morons.

Then came the pleading from the government. The residents that decided to stay in the MANDATORY evacuation area were told that they faced "certain death" if they stayed and that they would be on their own. And they stayed anyway. The news was full on Friday of people walking around on the seawall in Galveston taking pictures and watching the giant waves slam against the seawall.

Then, Friday afternoon the storm surge began and the wind started to pick up. The water went OVER the seawall, even before the hurricane had gotten there. And they stayed, even as police went door to door BEGGING people to evacuate.

There were reports that the reason some didn't evacuate was because they couldn't afford the gas or because they didn't have anyplace to go. So they rounded up a bunch of buses for people to board which would take them to a shelter. Some went, but most stayed.

Then the winds began to howl at hurricane force and the rains began. And the calls began. Morons called 911 begging and pleading to come be rescued from their homes because the water was rising or because their roof had already been blown off. And the police and the Coast Guard put themselves in danger to save as many of the booger-eating morons as they could before it was simply too dangerous. God bless them for trying, but I don't think they should have. Those who stayed were given LOTS of opportunities to go. They can't say they weren't warned, and they thumbed their noses at the same people who ended up saving their sorry butts. It may sound callous, but at some point there needs to be some accountability. And yes, even with loss of life.

How many resources were wasted because of such stupidity? Thank God there were no reports of the first responders suffering any casualties.

Why did they treat Ike like it was a joke? So they could have a hurricane party? Really? What part of MANDATORY was unclear, exactly?

Because "I survived Carla and Alicia and Rita and I'll be fine this time." First, Carla was in 1961, and you were a lot younger. Second, Carla hit further down the coast, sparing Galveston a direct hit. Alicia (1983) hit square on, so kudos to you for surviving it, but yet being too stupid to remember all the death and destruction that it caused. Rita (2005) hit the Sabine pass. Galveston was again spared and was on the good side of the storm.

So now we're treated to their sob stories and "heroic" tales all over the TV and newspapers, as if we're supposed to be proud of them and their remarkable feat of staying alive. And as the photos of the survivors start to trickle in, what amazes me and yet incenses me at the same time is how many parents decided to to keep their families either on Galveston or on Bolivar. I saw one guy on the news talking about how he stayed, but had to leave his home during the storm and hopped in his speed boat with his family, including young kids (wearing life jackets, luckily - thanks for that, father-of-the-year) and somehow managed to navigate to the Galvez hotel, where the emergency response teams were holed up.

And then I saw the following photos, which were taken from the Houston Chronicle's web site, showing "parents" with children as young as four months (!!!) who stayed and had be rescued and taken care of after the storm. Be stupid with your own life if you want to, but PLEASE don't force your kids to stay in harm's way because you think playing chicken with a hurricane is a game.

Just look at the kids. They're obviously exhausted and, I'm sure, traumatized. I'm not a big fan of CPS, but I think someone should seriously question the judgement of these "parents."

The caption on the Chronicle's slide show page said that this baby is only four months old. As a father of a six-month old, I find this kind of irresponsibility unconscionable.

Morons on parade. Actually, waiting to be spoon-fed.

The caption on this one read that this lady is assessing the damage to her fiance's car. So, let me get this straight... you had transportation, obviously fairly new and most probably in good working order, and yet still decided to stay? And now there will be an insurance claim that will contribute to yet higher insurance premiums. Thanks, moron.

Old enough to know better.

Again, old enough to know better. Wipe that smirk off your face, lady. Those guys who are helping you have families that you're keeping them from.

I'll end this little rant by saying that I hope that every last one of these morons gets a bill from the local authorities, itemized with such things as "officer's hazard pay, helicopter fuel, bottled water, etc." I also think that the next time they call a MANDATORY evacuation, they should wait until the traffic out of town dies out and then go around arresting all the fools who think they know better than anyone else. Charge them with a felony for disobeying a direct order from the governor, mayor and local officials. At least in custody, they won't need to be plucked from some rooftop somewhere.

My eyes! My eyes!!!!!

I have new thing to add to my list of top ten things I never wanted to see.... Bill Gates shaking his rump.

In case you haven't heard, Microsoft's new pitchman is Jerry Seinfeld. I'll wait a minute while the irony of that sinks in... done yet? no? ... okay. good.

Ad agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky out of Miami was hired to create a $300 million ad campaign to try to rejuvenate Microsoft's image and to complete with Apple's "Get a Mac" campaign. Their first task was to find a spokeman who just reeks of "fresh" and "hip" and cutting edge." Naturally, they picked Jerry Seinfeld (for kids in the audience, Jerry Seinfeld is a standup comedian who had a hit TV show that ended in 1998.) And the collective advertising and internet community said, "huh?" while Apple fanboys everywhere wet themselves with laughter since Seinfeld's apartment frequently had Macintosh computers laying around.

So a few weeks pass and we finally get to see the train wreck we were all waiting for:

I think parts of this ad are really, really funny. Jerry Seinfeld cruising around the mall eating a churro, for instance. The irony of Bill Gates shopping at a bargain basement shoe store wasn't lost on me - I just didn't think it was funny. But the best part of the whole spot was Bill Gates' lack of acting ability. And the fact that he's still using his 1977 mop-haired jail mugshot photo on his ID. That is what makes this spot funny.

Too bad Bill just retired and isn't the "face" of Microsoft anymore.

Where was this spot ten years ago? It would have been timely when Seinfeld's show had just gone off the air, while he was still on the top of everyone's collective mind. Bill Gates was still the face of Microsoft back then, which was in dire need of some good PR while it was knee-deep in its Internet Explorer anti-trust case.

There's no doubt that Microsoft needs a shot of positive PR. Following the Vista debacle, it's seen as a bloated, unwieldy giant that is out of touch with the mainstream. Choosing two aging icons of the '90s was a mistake. Someone like Jon Stewart would have been better. That would have also served as a subtle link - a little jab at Apple - because John Hodgman (PC) is a correspondent for the Jon Stewart show. Using PC's boss to pitch Microsoft would have been classic. That, and Stewart is still relevant and funny. Seinfeld ... not so much.

BTW- it should be noted that Bill Gates KNOWS that he's this wooden, dorky figure. He plays it well, and he's done a good job making fun of it in the past. Just check out his hilarious retirement video. He's definitely a better choice than Microsoft's current CEO, the always scary and never loveable Steve Ballmer. But Seinfeld? Seriously?

Microsoft continues to make a joke of their brand. Even though I'm an Apple guy, I still find it sad.

In a world ... without Don LaFontaine

Don LaFontaine, the man behind the most ubiquitous voice ever, died over the weekend at age 68. While this isn't exactly HUGE news, it is interesting to me because I used to work for a guy named Bill Moffett who had a lot of the same mannerisms and a voice very similar to LaFontaine's. Sometimes, while sitting around with the staff in his office or while cutting a radio spot he would launch into a spontaneous parody of LaFontaine that was always very funny. There's just something funny about hearing one voicever guy mimicking another voiceover guy perfectly.

Also, I got to thinking in the past couple of days... LaFontaine's voice was almost literally EVERYWHERE. Movie trailers, TV show promos, radio ads and on and on will never sound the same again. Let's hope they don't get some imitator that sounds kinda like him to pick up where he left off. Now that their go-to guy is gone, this could be a real chance for the industry to break some new ground. I hope they do.

In the presence of a Legend

There are very few bands or performers around today who I would classify as "legendary." I define "legendary" as one of the best of all time. U2, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, George Strait ... and Tom Petty.

I've had a general liking of Tom Petty's music, although I didn't really know it was him, since grade school. I heard some of his stuff on the radio and thought it was okay. I liked the Traveling Wilburys songs that I heard. I thought his "Don't Come Around Here No More" video was really entertaining. But I wasn't a real fan. My first real "wow" moment regarding his music, when his name really was planted into my consciousness, was when I saw Silence of the Lambs. "American Girl" was featured for a breif moment in the film, and I really liked it. Then the "Into the Great Wide Open" CD cmae out. It was one of the first five CDs that I ever owned, and I like it as much today as I did back in high school when I used to play it over and over as I sat at my drawing table working on art projects late into the night. It's fair to say that "Into the Great Wide Open" and Rush's "Roll the Bones" became the soundtrack for my Junior year in high school.

I bought my first Tom Petty album in college. It was his Greatest Hits album. At the time, being a college student with little money, my policy for awhile was to ONLY buy Greatest Hits albums. And I played the heck out of it. There wasn't a song on it that I didn't like and only a couple that I didn't really, REALLY like. In 1994 I bought the Wildflowers album - breaking my non-greatest hits policy - and really liked it, too. And then a few years later in 1997 I saw a thing on VH1 about him (I think this was pre-Behind the Music). I determined that if I ever got the chance I would like to see him in concert, but still didn't really consider myself a fan. After all, what would Rush and U2 think?

Fast forward eleven years. Even though we now own several more Petty albums and his work on some soundtracks (Elizabethtown being our favorite), if you had asked me in April I still would have said that I liked his stuff, but that I wasn't really a fan. Then, driving back to Brenham from Houston late one night when Kristi's grandmother had been rushed to the hospital (it was about 3am and Kristi, Kayci and Noble were all sleeping), I was flipping through the radio stations trying to stay awake as I drove between Brenham and Bellville. I happened to land on some kind of news/entertainment show that was talking about new CDs that were coming out soon. They began talking about a CD coming out from a band called Mudcrutch and how good it was. "Cool name for a band," I thought.

Then they told the story about how Tom Petty's band before The Heartbreakers was called Mudcrutch and how on a whim he had decided to get the band back together after thirty years or so to play around (it wasn't hard to get them back together because most of the members of Mudcrutch ended up becoming Heartbreakers). They ended up cutting an album in his home studio and it was due to come out in the next few days. I was curious, but let it go at that.

A few days later I was at work listening to iTunes when a Petty song came on and it made me remember the radio show I had heard. So I did a search in the iTunes store for Mudcrutch and found it. I listened to all of the previews and really liked what I heard. It had a really cool sound, but it was a little more country and bluesy than his usual stuff. So I downloaded it and burned it to CD to listen to in the truck. I found Mudcrutch infectious. Every now and then a CD comes out that defines a certain season or period in my life. Mudcrutch defined spring 2008. I just couldn't stop listening to it. I highly recommend it.

I get iTunes new music updates every Tuesday in my e-mail. One day in July in my weekly e-mail there was a sidebar with artists who were on tour. Tom Petty was one of those, so I looked into it. He was playing at the Woodlands on August 29. I asked Kristi if she was interested and she said "no, check with Johnny." Johnny, my college roommate and best friend said he would love to go, so we got tickets. Then, the week of the show I mentioned to another friend, Misty, that I would be near her house on Friday for the show. She and her husband, Jason, went to the show as well and we all met up at on the lawn.

Johnny and I got to the Woodlands pavilion just as Steve Winwood was finishing up as the opening act. Neither Johnny nor wanted to give up out Man Card for seeing a Winwood show, so we went and had barbecue instead. Tom Petty came on shortly after and I must say it was one of the quickest concerts I've ever seen. By that, I mean that even though he played for a full two hours, it seemed like only thirty minutes. And he played all of his biggest hits. But he also played a couple of his lesser-known songs and some older stuff. And at one point he and the Heartbreakers launched into a ten-minute jam. I was a little disappointed that the newest song he played was "Honey Bee" from Wildflowers. He's released some really good stuff since then, including "Saving Grace" and "Jack" from his Highway Companion album in 2006. And he didn't do ANY Mudcrutch, which I was really hoping for. Instead of "Gloria," I wish he had done "Crystal River," which would make a really nice free-form jam. And "Scare Easy" is easily as powerful as "Won't Back Down."

I've seen Willie Nelson play live three times - twice from less than 30 feet away. As I was standing there watching the show it occurred to me that this show had a very similar feeling. There's something really COOL about being in the same space as a true legend. Even though I was about a hundred yards away from the stage, it still felt great to be there in the presence of greatness. Like his music or not, you have to admit that the man has produced a body of work that is as engrained in our culture and that he's a master at what he does. And that says nothing about the Heartbreakers. Now THAT is an under-appreciated band. Watching Mike Campbell play the guitar was just incredible. I was standing there watching a legend of rock do what he does best. Part of me wishes I had ponied up for the $150 tickets. But that's the part of me that also made me buy purple pants in Jr. High. I've found it's best not to listen to that part very often.

So that's what I did with my Friday night. I rolled back into Brenham about 12:30 and plopped into bed, dead tired but thoroughly satisfied that I had finally gotten to see a performer of whom I will finally admit to being a fan.

Gas prices!

[Note: sorry for some of the strong language in the e-mail version. I always write the first draft the way I intend it to come out and edit it later. I accidentally published the post before I redacted the curse words. Won't happen again.
-James]

Buckle up, because I'm fired up. This is going to be a bumpy post.

Did anyone else notice that gas jumped almost 20 cents over night?

Sure, there's TROPICAL STORM Gustav out in the gulf. Actually, strike that. It's not even IN the gulf yet. It's still over freaking Jamaica as I write this. They're not even projecting it to ENTER the gulf until Sunday afternoon which - let me do the math....um... carry the 2... - yeah, isn't even for TWO MORE DAYS! And then the National Hurricane Center isn't even expecting it to make landfall until Wednesday!

Why is it that we're told that drilling offshore in the gulf or in Alaska would be pointless because it would be ten years before we would see any of that oil and that it wouldn't affect prices now at all. Yet a storm that's not even in the gulf yet causes the price of gas to rise 20 cents over night? What kind of crap is that? Because it MIGHT disrupt offshore operation on some rigs, so the price goes up? How long does to take for oil drilled in the gulf to get to the refinery, be refined, then make its way to the gas station? I figure a couple of weeks, conservatively. I KNOW I'm over simplifying this. It's not like the oil they pump this week is the gas I'm using in two weeks. I realize they have HUGE storage facilities. I know that the process is much more complicated than I'm painting it here. I realize that any time there's a storm it shuts down all the tankers. My point is that shouldn't something actually HAPPEN before prices jump? This speculation business is out of control.

And then, once the storm passes, why then does it take MONTHS for the price to go back down, not the weeks that a logical supply chain should require? Prices should go back down to pre-hurricane levels (assuming, of course, that none of the pumping rigs were damaged, thereby reducing supply) once the rigs were staffed and pumping again.
[EDIT: Thanks for the education, Layne, on what they have to go through after they shut down a refinery. Interesting stuff. My larger point is that we should have more refining capacity so that a couple of refineries isn't so big a hit to the overall production.]

I was commuting between Brenham and Houston every day during the summer when Katrina and Rita hit the gulf coast. I watched gas prices rise from $2.00 a gallon to $2.80-ish (and over $3.00 in some places) when Katrina hit. Prices subsided to the $2.60 range before Rita hit and they went back up to Katrina levels. And they stayed there. Because they could. People continued to pay the high prices. Because prices have always gone down in the past, right? Why should we alter our driving habits for a short-term spike, right? Three years later, they're a dollar higher, and that's after an almost 50 cent slip since the height of the summer.

So I paid $2.55 this morning to fill up my truck. It cost $70. When I bought it three years ago it cost $40 to fill it. Earlier this summer it cost almost $90 when prices were hovering around $4.00 (for no good reason.) Anyone else notice that in the last month or so as gas prices slipped back a little that the economy started picking up? There's a link. We're finally at that tipping point where gas prices are affecting everyone's bottom lines. Frankly, I'm surprised that it took this long. And also, frankly, I'm embarrased that when prices dip down to freaking $3.45 a gallon that everyone rushes out and fills up because we've been conditioned to think that we're getting a good deal. Why is the American public acting like such a bunch of mind-numbed lemmings? We're told that there are more pressing issues. Crime... Iraq... The upcoming election... What's hot at the box office... What's Britney Spears doing today... So we accept high gas prices as inevitable and continue with our lives unchanged. We put up with - and accept - this stuff.

I don't fault the oil companies for making a profit. That's what they're in business for. And I hope to God that Obama isn't elected because his rhetoric about "windfall profit taxes" scares the heck out of me. Have we come so close to a Communist state that the government can talk about seizing private corporate profits ... and the public ACCEPTS it???? My friends, that's only one step away from the government stepping in and saying that you made too much last year and that your "excess profits" will be confiscated - in the form of taxes - to be redistributed to the less wealthy. That's the point where the government is deciding what its citizens are worth and what they earn. And that sounds a lot like the USSR, pal.

Of course, I come with a solution. It has four parts. First and foremost is for the government to allow more drilling by not tying the hands of the oil companies. Technology has made drilling much cleaner than in the past, which is the primary argument that environmentalists use when arguing against new drilling.

We also need more refining capacity. The US is still refining at the same capacity that it was in 1976, when the last oil refinery was completed. The population has increased 71% since then.

Third, stop the use of ethanol. It's sucking much-needed corn out of circulation in a year when droughts and floods have destroyed crops across the United States. That grain goes to feed livestock and to make things like corn syrup, which is in almost everything these days. The fact that so much corn is suddenly being used for fuel is a huge reason why grocery prices have risen so dramatically over the past year. It's also an inefficient fuel. It takes 26.1 lbs of corn to make a single gallon of ethanol. That's almost exactly the amount of corn a single person eats in a year. And there's still conflicting opinions on whether ethanol is even good for your car at all.

Fourth, continue to develop new and alternative energy sources. Anyone who says that wind power or solar power alone can give us all the power we need is living a pipe dream. From what I've read, nuclear energy is still the cleanest and most efficient fuel there is in any sizeable (read: usable to power large sections of the country) form. Develop new technologies that can be used twenty or thirty years down the road while we wean ourselves off of oil. It's a little scary that I actually agree with Paris Hilton's energy policy. But as I see it, the best approach is a two-pronged approach, not the either-or choices that McCain and Obama seem to hold.

For another great energy plan, read Congressman Michael McCaul's energy plan. I hope he runs for president in a few years.

So, now you know. That's what a 20 cent rise in gas prices does to me. I know, it's not pretty, but I'm tired of paying it and being quiet about it. I hope other people are as fed up with this continuous ridiculous madness as I am, especially when things can be done about it.