I remember our first meeting. It was Feb. 14th, Valentines Day, 1999. Jenn wanted to get a dog and the time seemed right. We had just gotten our first apartment after college were settling in to our new lives. We had ridden by the animal shelter in Gwinnett County many times. Today we stopped in to see what dogs they might have. There were so many sweet faces we saw that day. A little poodle were liked, we took him for a walk and got to know a little. He was a good natured little guy and we thought he might be a good fit for us, but when we asked the attendant he point to a tag on the corner of the kennel that said "Hold". Someone had already come by and was coming back to pick this guy up. We browsed and saw many other great dogs for us, but there were a lot of "holds" on. We were about to leave when we passed a kennel close to the office. The dark figure in the Kennel fell against the chicken wire wall and peered up at us as we walked past. His looked seemed to say, "Hey people, look over here at me!". "What about this one?" Jenn asked the kennel attendant. There was no card on the kennel wall like all of the other stalls. "I don't know", she replied. "Let me check in the office to see if we have some info. on this one". We all went into the office as she looked through the files. After several minutes she replied that they couldn't find any information on the dog, but that we could feel free to take him if we wanted. He looked like a bird dog or setter with long hair mixed with a lab, solid black with long hair. He had tons of energy and his tail was constantly wagging. The attendant said she wasn't sure how old he was, but guessing from his teeth he must be a few years old. Jenn was in love. After filling out a few forms, we all got in the in the car and headed off to the dog groomer to get the first bath. On the way over we decided on the name "Buddy". Although it wasn't high on the originality scale it seemed to fit best with his personality the best and he was our new buddy. At the dog groomer's, which was kind of a "do it yourself" doggy bath, buddy was really hyper. He went from one side of the room to the next sniffing in every nook and cranny. He even took a moment to unceremoniously pee in the middle of the floor. None of us were to sure about each other. Here Buddy had just gone off with two strange humans and we had this hyper dog that we knew nothing about. After Buddy's first bath. We headed over to our apartment, to show Buddy his new home.

Our first few nights together were equally unsure. Buddy paced in the bedroom, breathing heavily, not sure what to make of this new place. I am not sure if he had been mistreated before arriving at the animal shelter, but we could sense that he wasn't too sure if he should trust us either. I eventually went and got the plastic kennel that we had from the pound. I had read that they might like to continue sleeping in the kennel until they are acclimated to their new surroundings. The next night as Jenn and I were reading and getting ready for bed, Buddy peered up over the edge as if to say, "what's going on up there?". I patted on the bed to invite him up, but I could see that he wasn't too sure. I patted again and he hopped up and curled up tightly in a half moon at our feet facing us, with an expression that seemed to say "I'll give this a try, but I'm keeping my eye on you two." Once we turned off the light, Buddy hopped off the bed and went back to his kennel for the night. The next night a similar situation occurred, but when we turned out the light Buddy didn't jump off. I said to Jenn, if he's comfortable let's just see how long he stays. I guess he slept about half the night at our feet before returning to his kennel. The next night he hopped onto the bed and started at our feet again, but this time he slept there through the night and when we woke up he wasn't in his tight half moon position, but had stretched out long way with his head out our knees. "I guess he's getting a little more comfortable with us", I said to Jenn. The next day Buddy followed us around the apartment and slept at our feet as we practiced and got ready for the day.

After we arrived home that night we went through a similar routine and Buddy hopped up to the end of the bed and curled up. I woke up about halfway through the night and saw that Buddy had uncurled and stretched out like the night before and was sleeping with his head at about our knee height between me and Jenn. I smiled as I turned over thinking that it was nice that he was starting to feel at home. As I was waking up the next morning I felt a body snuggled close to me. I leaned over for a good morning kiss, thinking that it was Jenn. As I opened my eyes I was shocked to see Buddy's face directly in front of mine!! He had moved up during the night and was sleeping with his head on the pillow between Jenn and I with his body stretched out between us! I lifted my head shocked and he opened his eyes and cocked his head up too. Then he open his his mouth and dangled his tongue out and pelted me with doggy breath. As he looked at me he seemed to be smiling as if to say, "Hellooo there mister, we're faaaaamily now!!!"

Buddy became part of our family and gave us so much love and joy for the next 10 years that it is impossible to put into words. I have a thousand stories about him that bring a smile to my face. His personality was one of a kind. He was always curious and playful and seemed to know just what we were thinking. He taught us so much about love and patience and made our house feel like a home.

Buddy left us suddenly last weekend, he had stayed over at my Mom's as we were finishing a mixing project and weren't at home for a few days. He had shown little signs of slowing down, but over all seemed to his chipper, happy self. Not knowing his exact age, we thought we might have a few more years together. On Friday night he passed away in the night, likely in his sleep and we buried him on Saturday afternoon. I am thankful that his passing was peaceful, but there is hole left in our family that won't be filled any time soon and we miss him desperately. We will always remember the joy that he brought us and lessons of unconditional love that Buddy taught us during our time together.

Goodbye Buddy, we love you....

-Jon and Jenn

We had a fantastic time in Russia. Here are some pictures from the trip, including Red Square, Moscow and St. Petersburg. We'll share some video's and more in the next post.



PS> you can also view the pictures on flickr.com here

The end of summer always seems to be a a bit of a slow period for us. Time to rest, relax, regroup. September follows with lots o' mayhem that usually sneaks up on us. This year we are especially glad to get back into the swing of things. Jenn's unexpected surgery in July reminded us both what a blessing it is to have the ability to work and pursue our goals. It is easy to get caught up in the stresses, without realizing what a pleasure it is just to be in the race!

We have been working hard for the last month on the video footage that we shot in August at the Barnes amphitheatre. Last week I had a track from the performance mixed with John Keane in Athens. We'll be posting a video of this song and track soon. We weren't sure if we would release the video or not, but it has turned out so well that we'll be releasing it as a DVD as soon as it is finished. Hopefully sometime in November.

We have also been working on a series of performances that we will be doing in Russia next week. The final details have just come together and we will be performing in Moscow and St Petersburg. The performances will be in conjunction with Skoda Automobiles (division of Volkswagen) and the release of the "Superb". It's a sedan that converts from business sedan during the week to "pleasure vehicle" during the weekend. The promoters thought our music we go with this presentation as a fusion of classic and modern styles. We are super excited (and a little nervous) about this opportunity! We'll post pictures here from the trip.

Pics from Montana, Yellowstone and some of Mt Rainier and the skies as we flew in and out of Seattle. July 2008.

Wednesday night things were going as usual. We were packing and getting ready to fly to California the next day for a series of performances at the Mozaic Festival in San Luis Obispo. We had been looking forward to this for months. We were in Montana having played for a private gathering a few days earlier at Ruth and Clay Hall's place near Bozeman and decided to take a few days off for rest and practice before heading to California. We had met Ruth a year earlier after a concert at Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia and were delighted to perform at their event and enjoy Montana for a few days. Wednesday after packing and doing some laundry at our friends Jeni and Jake's place, Jenn started complaining that she didn't feel right in her stomach area and had some sharp pains as well. We decided to go to the grocery store and get some vegetable juice and pasta or something light that might soothe her stomach. Neither of us thought it was too serious at that point as it's easy to have some discomfort on the road, especially when you get out of your normal routine or eat something new that might give you a little indigestion. It has happened to both of us before. That night Jenn went to bed earlier as I finished packing my instruments and getting things ready for our flight the next morning. About an hour later I went to bed. Just a few minutes after climbing into bed Jenn went to the bathroom and a few minutes later I thought I heard her crying so I went in to see what was the matter. Jenn said she felt like there were toxins in her body and was sweating and clammy. As she stood up she fainted on me and I grabbed her to hold her up. She was limp. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. After regaining composure, we grabbed her clothes and Jake guided us to the Hospital Emergency room.

A night full of tests ensued. By this time Jenn could hardly sit up and was experiencing severe sharp pains in the right side and a sense of fullness in her whole stomach area. The Doctor started with the standard poking and prodding and took a sample of blood to check the white cell count. The cell count showed that there might be infection present. The Doctor mentioned a couple of possibilities: Appendecitis, Twisted Ovaries or a pancreatic problem. The next step was to do a CAT scan to narrow it down. In order to do a CAT scan the patient first has to drink what amounts to a 'big gulp' sized drink of particulate solution. The solution filters through the blood stream and allow for your organs to show up on the scan. Jenn started drinking at 2:30am and was instructed to drink the entire cup by 3:30am. By this time Jenn was laying on her side in the bed and not able to move to another position because of excruciating pain that started in her side and went up through the right shoulder. Getting up to even use the bathroom was not an option. Once the particulate drink was finished at 3:30am the Doc said that we'd have to wait another hour for the solution to circulate through her bloodstream. The Dr. had also ordered an Ultrsound and the Dr. on call to do that had just shown up. We were transferred down the hall to the ultrasound room and the Dr. started to work. By now, Jenn was confined to essentially one position lying on her side and any attempt to move any other way resulted in excruciating pain. The Ultrasound Dr. noticed some unusual formations in Jenn's abdomen. The CAT scan would give us a few more clues. The CAT scan revealed that Jenn had a cyst on her ovary that had ruptured and started bleeding causing a large amount of blood to develop in her abdomen. The emergency room Dr. called in the OBGYN on call (Dr. Fanee Freeman) and she came in to the hospital for the surgery. Jenn went into surgery at 6:30am mountain time. The surgery lasted for about an hour and a half and soon Dr. Freeman came out into the waiting room with a smile on her face. Jenn had come through the surgery fine and they were able to remove the cyst and take care of the internal bleeding without affecting any other organs. We will be spending the next few days in the hospital for Jenn to recoup and get ready to fly again.

The entire staff at Bozeman's Deaconess Hospital could not have been more professional and comforting. In short, they were fantastic. There were many times that Jenn and I remarked that if this had to happen, we are in some small way glad it happened here. The entire staff from the Doctors to the nurses were absolutely great. After several days in the hospital Jenn should be released tomorrow (Sunday) and get a few more days of bed rest in Bozeman before attempting to fly. The Doctors recommended at least a week after surgery before doing a flight.

Thanks to all for for your well wishes and prayers!! We are looking forward to rescheduling the concerts we have had to cancel and look forward to the opportunity to get out and play again.

This morning I woke up to a video email from YouTube. It was from Annyska in Prague (she's the violinist). Check out their interpretation of our song, Gringo Flamenco, with dance troupe!!! Amazing.

Fuel problems solved! PS>> for more information check out the company's website. The company is Genepax.

We had a great time in New Orleans, our first time to the city. It was much different than I expected, it reminded me a lot of Charleston, SC or Savannah, GA only a lot bigger. The people are open and warm. A lot like a small town amidst the metropolitan bustle. We opened for Eric Lindell, on Lafayette square. We also met Ben and Daryl from NAR and had a great lunch together. Ben also took most of the concert pictures here.

Video traveling through the Canyons in Southern Utah

Back from California. We had a great trip, met lot's of interesting people and learned a few new things along the way. One, is that we are not exactly happy with our Pink Floyd arrangement as it is. That's why we have not uploaded it yet. After listening plenty of times in the car we felt we could do better.. and needed to do better before we share it. So, as the old saying goes, we'll head back to the drawing board, to tweak, tune and fix until it feels right.

We also finally got a new camera and I've uploaded a few pics from our trip. The camera is a Kodak easy share and also has a very cool Panoramic function that allows you to take multiple pictures and then stich them together as a panorama. This is especially useful when trying to capture the beauty of some of the western landscapes.


CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR PHOTOSTREAM ON FLICKR

A little AC/DC flashback. I especially like the call and response solos with the bagpipes. Why didn't this catch on? Every band needs bagpipes.



Ridin' down the highway
Goin' to a show
Stop in all the byways
Playin' rock 'n' roll
Gettin' robbed
Gettin' stoned
Gettin' beat up
Broken boned
Gettin' had
Gettin' took
I tell you folks
It's harder than it looks

It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock 'n' roll

A beautiful essay from Sara Miles, regardless of your beliefs. I just heard this on the radio on the way home from the Grocery Store (ironically enough)...

I came to believe that God is revealed not only in bread and wine during church services, but whenever we share food with others — particularly strangers. I came to believe that the fruits of creation are for everyone, without exception — not something to be doled out to insiders or the "deserving."

So, over the objections of some of my fellow parishioners, I started a food pantry right in the church sanctuary, giving away literally tons of oranges and potatoes and Cheerios around the very same altar where I'd eaten the body of Christ. We gave food to anyone who showed up. I met thieves, child abusers, millionaires, day laborers, politicians, schizophrenics, gangsters, bishops — all blown into my life through the restless power of a call to feed people.

Read the whole essay here.

Several months ago we watched this interesting documentary entitled: The End of Suburbia. It basically talked about the rise of industrialism and it's leading to our modern system of suburban life. Also, with the change in oil prices, life in the suburbs, or more likely, our current paradigm of how we organize our communities will change.



Here's an interesting article from Business Week today from James Kunstler.

Why has suburban life flourished?
The suburbs were largely products of industrialism. We had a huge supply of oil and cheap undeveloped land, and we decided to become a happy, motoring utopia. It had many practical benefits. The trouble is after a while it became a cartoon of country living.

Why is suburbia now threatened?
Cheap oil is what made suburbia possible. But we'll run into problems with spot shortages. As we get into trouble with these supplies, our economy will suffer. Major instabilities in the system will present themselves much sooner than we are led to believe. And by that I mean the way we produce food, the way we conduct commerce, and the way we move around.

Click here to read more.

After about ten hours you start feel like your in your own world. A world that moves a little faster than everything else. The towns sitting still as we zip by. Binghampton, Scranton, Harrisburg... On Sunday, we drove the fifteen hours from Syracuse to South Carolina. The bulk of the road on Interstate 81, Syracuse to Roanoke, running along the Appalachian mountains from North to South. Auto Fatigue usually creeps in between eight and ten hours. It usually starts with the feeling that you've hit the wall. You can't go any more. This is usually, but not always, followed by a period of renewed vigor, which of course is just the beginning of a period of temporary insanity. A euphoric insanity nonetheless, punctuated by giggling spurts. I knew we were in trouble when, just after dark, Jenn look out the window and said "Is that a water tower or a UFO?" When it took me a few seconds to decide, I knew it was time to stop for a break. Dunkin Donuts shone ahead, like a welcomed beacon in the night. A sure cure, at least temporarily from the ravages of Auto Fatigue. I don't usually drink coffee, but now it seemed essential. Two donuts, and a cup of joe would certainly keep us going. Only a few hours now. Ironically, after drinking most of the DD's coffee we both felt strangely relaxed. "Are you feeling sleepy?", Jenn asked. "No, but I don't think that coffee did much for me", I replied. "Maybe they switched the pots." "Maybe we got the decaf by mistake." We decided to pull over again, and refuel; the car and ourselves. By now we were crossing into Virginia. Of course, under the extreme effects of Auto Fatigue, I quipped "Hey Jenn, look we're heading into the great state of Vaginia." I proudly looked over at Jenn with a grin, awaiting a response to my comedic genius. Jenn looked over without missing a beat and said "Yeah, and to think we were just in Penisylvania a few hours ago!" Ah yes, potty humor is the ruler of the day! After refueling with Mountain Dew and roasted almonds we hit the road again, for the final stretch. In just a few more miles we'd be headed due south on 77 through Mt. Airy and down towards Charlotte. By the time we hit 85 in Charlotte, we had gotten our second wind. Just a few more hours now.

We played this morning in Camden, NJ as part of our outreach with Appel Farms. Camden is just on the east side of Philadelphia and is part of the inner city neighborhoods in the area. There are sections of the neighborhood that look like CNN footage from some war torn region on the evening news. To say that it is economically depressed is an understatement. We played for students from the Washington School and enjoyed chatting with Principal Malcolm Adler after the show. Kids are such Tabula Rasa's with unlimited potential. Jenn and I talked about the work that Prinicpal Adler and the rest of the staff are doing for these kids. Their dedication and commitment to these kids and their well being is humbling. It matters. Love in action.

Afterwards, we headed over to 6th street in Philly to eat at Gianna's Grill. Gianna's has a wide selection of Vegan Pizza's and even a Vegan Philly Cheesesteak!! Cupcakes, cakes and more are just the beginning at Gianna's, and they are all vegan. With stuffed bellies we headed back over the bridge and back to Appel Farms for the evening. Here's a pic from my Mac laptop out of the front of the car. The quality sucks. I have got to get a new camera.

Videos and Photos from the Evening Muse in Charlotte a few weeks ago. Thanks to Paul Dillon who shared this with us:)

Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall



Gringo Flamenco

We had fun in Ashland on Friday and played to an enthusiastic crowd. We met some great folks including some from the UK. They turned us on to some gig posiblities over there and heopefully we can get some touring routed in the UK for the future. The discovery of the evening, though, was heil mics. George (the sound man) turned us on to them and Jenn used the Heil Pr40 for her acoustic cello. The mic looks like like a side address condenser mic. However, it is actually an end fire dynamic mic. The cool thing is that it reached fairly loud levels with need any eq. Normally, with a condenser, you need to find problem frequencies that cause feedback and notch them out in order to get a good stage volume. The amazing thing about the Heil is that it required hardly any eq'ing. It sounded excellent too. Definitely in the same ballbark as many condensers. I am looking forward to using it more and getting used to it's tones.

Saturday, we had a great Vietnamese lunch at the Pho Noodle House. Richmond, has some of the best Vietnamese restaurants around. We haven't eaten at three different ones so, far and they have all been great. My favorite is the eggroll noodle bowl. It's basically like angel hair rice noodles, with cut up sections of eggroll on top and lettuce on the bottom. Pour the sweet and sour sauce over it all and stir it around. Mmm, Mmm good!!

Saturday, we played in Bedford. The community style series is hosted at the Library and we always enjoy playing there. The room is small so running sound can be a bit tricky. We had plenty of time and got things tuned in faily well before the show. Afterwards, we stayed at John and Kathy Graham's Bed and Breakfast. Savanah introduced me to "guitar hero" and we stayed up late rocking hard :) Actually, she rocked much harder than me as the medium level difficulty was about all I could handle on the first go round. After a great breakfast we loaded up the gear and headed out. We took the scenic route out of town through the Peaks of Otter. Bedford is an absolutely beautiful place to live. The green valleys stretched out below as we wound in and through the ridges headed towards the interstate that would take us to north to New Jersey. We had a great time with the Graham's and it was a highlight of the weekend.

Last night we drove into Appel Farms in Elmer, NJ from some shows in Virginia (Ashland Listening Room and Bedford). The roads go from the hectic I-95 through Baltimore and D.C. to rural state and county roads. The air becomes fresh and green pastures of alfalfa are all around astonishing quickly! It's amazing to be so close to the city and be in farmland. Elmer is actually really close to Philadelphia and about 30 minutes away.
We'd settled into the end of the drive w/ queitness on the country roads and there was a sudden heavy hit on our windshield. As I heard the sound, I saw a dark large thing hit the top side near me w/ great force and fly off over the side of the van. I was horrified- we'd hit a large flying bird. Probably was a wild turkey but I couldn't tell and all we saw was a mark of blood and feathers on our windshield. Even though we tried to wash it off w/ wiper fluid, it remained there in front of me.
We were both so startled from our silence and how it came out of no where. It was a very disturbing feeling to have hit a living thing and I was very unsettled inside. Guilt flooded me and at the same time I hoped it had miraculously survive- even though, I knew it could not have from the mark on the van.

My mind wandered to how this bird was in the NOW of it's life- flying up into the sky and concentrating on being a bird, when it's life was over. No ideas of anything but living as what it was. Humans are the only living creature that I know of that contemplate actually taking their lives. How screwed up are we, that we would take the gift of life so for granted that we focus on everything but the fact that we are alive now and to enjoy what you've got. It's so difficult to really so called "live in the now" but we better try.

I just got off the phone with Bob Altman and he says that the guitar he's building for me should be done in a few weeks. I can hardly wait!! The guitar will be fitted with RMC pickups, like my other guitars and an internal mic. I did some recording and eq tests last night and worked on getting the best recorded sound possible with just the pickup and mic combo that I use live. Proper EQ seems to be the ticket. the pickup needs a bit of boost around 8k, to add some sparkle with some frequency cut in the 1-2khz range to minimize the harsher tones. I A-B'd the result with a stereo recording I had done with an Earthworks preamp and two Neumann TLM 103's. The results were surprisingly close, but I am going to keep working on it. We're going to start recording some live shows too and and I'll post some of the results here soon. Jenn just got off the phone with Joseph at Basil's in Buckhead and we're going over tonight for dinner. Basil's was the first Mediterranean restaurant in Atlanta, and it's still the best. Looking forward to sinking my teeth into the stuffed grape leaves. mmm.. Ciao - J

..or what not to do, underline all that currently apply:)

1. Constantly compare yourself to other artists.

2. Talk to your Family about what you do and expect them to cheer you on.

3. Base the success of your entire career on one project.

4. Stick with what you know.

5. Undervalue your expertise.

6. Let money dictate what you do.

7. Bow to societal pressures.

8. Only do work that your family would love.

9. Do whatever the client/customer/gallery/patron/ investor asks.

10. Set unachievable/overwhelming goals to be accomplished by tomorrow.

"Vegetarian food leaves a deep impression on our nature. If the whole
world adopts vegetarianism, it can change the destiny of humankind."
-Albert Einstein

"I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we
should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our
bodily wants." -Gandhi

My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconveniency, and I was frequently chided for my singularity, but, with this lighter repast, I made the greater progress, for greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension" "Flesh eating is unprovoked murder." -Benjamin Franklin

"When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble." -Buddha (563? - 483? B.C.)

"If man wants freedom why keep birds and animals in cages? Truly man
is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds them. We live by the
death of others. We are burial places! I have since an early age abjured
the use of meat." -Leonardo-da-Vinci

Genesis 1:29 "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." -God

"To be non-violent to human beings and to be a killer or enemy of poor
animals is Satan's philosophy. In this age there is always enmity
against animals, and therefore the poor creatures are always anxious.
The reaction of the poor animals is being forced on human society, and
therefore there is always the strain of cold or hot war between men,
individually, collectively or nationally...
"The earth affords a lavish supply of riches, of innocent foods, and
offers you banquets that involve no bloodshed or slaughter; only beasts
satisfy their hunger with flesh, and not even all of those, because
horses, cattle, and sheep live on grass. As long as men massacre
animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of
murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."
-Pythagoras

"Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."
-Albert Schweitzer

Stumbled across this today. Enjoy:)
_________________________________________

1. Who Represents is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity. Their Web site is
www.whorepresents.com/

2. Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange Advice and views at
www.expertsexchange.com/

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
www.penisland.net/

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
www.therapistfinder.com/

5. There's the Italian Power Generator company,
www.powergenitalia.com/

6. And don't forget the Mole Station Native Nursery in New South Wales,
www.molestationnursery.com/

7. If you're looking for IP computer software, there?s always
www.ipanywhere.com/

8. The First Cumming Methodist Church Web site is
www.cummingfirst.com/

9. And the designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky Web site,
www.speedofart.com/

Wednesday - recording in Nashville: We had high hopes of getting a lot done during this session. Unfortunately, the workflow did not work for us or the engineer. We did get some good tracks down though and found a good mic combo for the cello. The combo was a ribbon mic on the lower bout of the cello. This one really pickup up the rich low tones of the cello. We combined this one with a large diaphragm condenser a little further away and positioned a few inches higher than the bridge. This one captured more of the high frequencies and added some bite. Overall, it was frustrating not to accomplish what we wanted too and waste the time and money. Major Bummer.

Thursday - The Evening Muse (Charlotte, NC): After a seven hour drive from Nashville, the gig was decent. The caliber of the other performers was very impressive too. Danielle Miraglia and Nicola. They were from Boston and NYC respectively and both had fantastic voices with great tones and immaculate pitch. Nicola had some pretty flashy and original guitar work too. Check them out.

Friday - We had a nice concert in Greenville, SC. The spring rain was falling all day. The background of the gray skies made the newly sprouted, bright green buds that much brighter. The highlight for us was good food and good wine with some great people after the show. It was an unexpected treat, and the good vibes really helped to eliminate the funk we had been feeling this week. Priceless.

Happy Tuesday. Enjoy!



Here's another great one. More on the rock end of things. I love all of the moods in this one. Badass.

I came across this video today for a new car design. I remember as kid I used to dream of cars that might fly or take to the water. My Dad used to have a subscription to Popular Mechanics, which I suppose could have just as easily been called Dreamers Monthly. Each issue filled with the possibilities of tomorrow. Aqua cars, private spacecraft, dome homes and more.



Three hundred miles per gallon! That is almost hard to fathom. It completely shatters the current paradigm. All we hear about now is how things are scarce. "There is not enough oil." "The economy is going down the tubes." All this at the same time oil companies rake in record breaking profits. It seems like an international shell game with pundits telling their flock that big oil and the status quo are doing the best they can and that these are all purely market based phenomena. We hear things like: "Just hold on a little longer. We'll take care of you we just need to restructure the Federal Reserve System. We'll take care of you, we just need to read a few of your emails. We'll take care of you, just let us drill here." Does the status quo have something to gain? Something to gain by a world of limited possibilities? A world of not enough? A world where someone else with more resources will do it?

Will the Aptera, or others like it catch on? Who knows? It represents something more important though. It represents a possibility. One of many. The success of each possibility depending on our belief, courage and willingness to try something new, something different, something better. Is the glass half full or half empty. Is there enough to go around? ...or, just enough for me and mine? The most important currency and resource in existence is Our belief. Every day we choose to believe in something and we create our world by dreaming together.

The are always too many good excuses and blockades, too many reasons why we can't or won't: "It costs too much! It's a good idea, but it won't be accepted. It would be heresy!" The path never seems to be easy, but in the end it is dreamers that change the world. It is the people who challenge the established system, who swim upstream, who dare to question the way things are. People like Martin Luther King, Einstein, Jesus, Ghandi, Nicola Tesla, Benjamin Franklin the Dalai Lama and countless people we may never hear of. The essence of our potential lies in the pursuing the dream and the essence of failure lies in protecting the status quo. Dream and take action, even if your goal seems impossible.

We headed into the misty mountain crossing over from the foothills of Greenville, SC to the mountain region of Asheville. The Town Pump in Black Mountain was a new place for us. After sound check, we were a little worried how it might work out as it seemed more like a biker bar at that point, than a music venue. Despite out nervousness about the event, the concert worked out great and we enjoyed taste testing some local brews after the show.

Friday was the Carolina theater. Our third gig here and easily the best. The crowd here has grown with each gig and Friday we were pleased to play for a full crowd. The theater had invested in a new sound system as well and the combo of good system and the acoustics of the theater made the audio energy great for us. It is really fun to play when the sound is happening.

Four and half hours in the car and we arrived in Chattanooga greeted by a cold an rainy night. After a long wait at the venue for the sound tech, we did a brief sound check before heading out for a quick dinner. We were part of the electro-acoustic cupcake festival. Yep, that's not a typo. Unfortunately, we missed the first two acts. I was really hoping to catch the theremin and lapsteel duo. They are from Atlanta so we'll watch their schedule for gigs. If you haven't experienced an theremin before check out this video. Our set didn't start until 11, so it was a late night. We hit the sack around 3 and woke up early the next day for a four hour drive to Hendersonville, NC. The energy of the crowd kept us going for the matinee show at the Blue Ridge PAC. A great way to end the run of shows and head for home.

Practicing on Tuesday Night I noticed and awful buzz on my steel string guitar. It was worst on the G string. From about the fourth fret to the seventh an awful twang had developed. I had noticed it getting worse, but it had really gotten bad over the last week. Sounded a bit like my guitar was morphing into a strange ethnic instrument with a buzzing drone. I tried a few solutions myself on Tuesday night to no avail, so a called Bob Altman to see about an emergency repair session. Luckily, Bob had time on Wednesday so we stopped by on our way out of town.

Bob noticed right away that the the neck had moved a bit and we tried to locate the source of the buzz. It was hard to pin down sometimes seeming to come from the neck and sometimes under the bridge. After some trial an error and removing some electronics from the guitar it became apparent that it was in fact the neck. Some fret work was in order A full re-fretting and planing of the neck would have been the best, but that would have taken a couple of days. Instead, Bob found the offending section and filed the frets there. After a few shots at it and about three hours later, the problem started to clear up.

Bob has also been building a new guitar for me and I got to see some of the progress. I am really excited about the new one. It will be a parlor size, with a classical width neck, same as the current model. The neck will be slightly thinner and the headstock will be shaped a little different too. The last guitar that he built for my friend, Mason, turned out great. Probably his best yet. Can't wait to hear the mine once it's finished.

Tonight we're playing in Black Mountain, NC near Asheville. After lunch and a warm up we'll hit the road.

A spring dusting blew in yesterday. Nothing stuck to the ground, but it was a sight to see. Plants are flowering and leaves are out on some of the trees. The contrast was stark. Gray snow clouds, with bits of sun, and blue sky poking through. Snow flurries dusting over new buds. A battle between the old and the new. The inevitable victor and loser already written.

Anyway, I spent the rest of the day checking files from our mixes and downloading them to files. I'll burn a CD and send them of to Nashville today. We'll be recording and mixing next week after a few more gigs. I am very excited about recording at Hilltop and trying a new workflow.

We just finished watching the movie "Once", which was recommended by our friend Daniel earlier in the week. It's got a quirky homemade quality, which helps to convey the subtext, which is that the best music is about honesty. A human connection.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day. It said "Don't Delay Joy". I think it's true, but easier said than done. Something to aspire to, today. It's easier to say I'll be happy when I get this, or when I move there etc.. One thing I took from the movie is that even though the characters were ambitious, they were satisified in just knowing each other, and the joy at creating music...and being together. Enjoy today:)

I leave you with a deep thought from Pink Floyd and a clip from the movie:


“Long you live and high you'll fly and smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry and all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be.”

Carnivore? Herbivore? Professor Piggy takes a look.

The buds are starting to pop. Bradford pear tree's are in full bloom. They are the first to go around here and they let out a pungent aroma as the pollen takes flight. Today we headed into ATL and Jenn had her bow rehaired at Stephanie Voss's violin shop. We killed some time at Borders and Whole foods while we waited for the job to be done. Nice to get out of the house first thing for a change.

Now I am waiting for some files to transfer to my Mac tower and then we'll transfer some condensed files for mixing. John Nicholson at Hilltop studios will be mixing these. The process was so much easier on the "lift" album having John do the mix. Also, having another perspective can be helpful. I mixed our first two albums and it was a nice shift working with John on the last one. We'll also be recording tracks for our next album at John's studio. I am looking forward to a change of pace and handing over some of the engineering responsibilities.

We'll make some of these recordings available in our next quarterly download. We also have some downloads available now at our page on ReverbNation. Mailing list subscribers have access to the exclusive tracks.

We've been catching up on our netflix queue in the last week or so and have lucked out with some great movie pics. Here some of our favorites. The titles link to Netflix.

Battlestar Galactica - We don't have cable or watch much TV so we never caught this series on SciFi. A great series. The writing and acting is great. It also has a lot of interesting analogies and abstractions as they relate to our current society. Here's a clip with Dr. Gaius Baltar, as he's being tortured and questioned by the Ceylons (Lucy Lawless). The Ceylons were created by man and the relationship is interesting in that they seek destroy mankind and at the same time seem to have a deep desire to be loved and accepted by man.



The New World - A new interpretation of the story of the first settlers to the New World and the story of John Smith and Pocohontas. The story unfolds slowly, but like Battlestar Galactica makes some thoughtful analogies to our current society and the paradigms that we currently live with.



No Country for Old Men - Another Cohen Brothers classic set in west Texas. Here's a scene from the movie. Interesting that they didn't use any score that I remember. Most of the tension of the scenes are built by using the natural sounds of the scene, in some cases they seem to be amplified (boot steps, wind etc..).

The Music Biz continues to change daily. The latest talk are of Apple offering unlimited free downloads bundled with the purchase price of an ipod. If true, that's a major paradigm shift by the biggest player in the digital music business. Nobody but Apple seems to be pleased with this, so far. Will music eventually be free? How will this affect the recording industry? How will it affect the concert business?

Read the latest at : Hypebot

Bob Lefsetz offers a possible model here: The Epic Pass

I came across this quote on myspace a little earlier.

"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

Apparently, this one became widely know after Adelai Stevenson, used it in an address in his praise of the work of Eleanor Roosevelt. It also had root from Chinese proverbs. Here are some other Chinese proverbs. Food for thought:

“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.”

“Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still.”

“Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.”

“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever”

“A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion”

“To know the road ahead, ask those coming back”

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it...

Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate....

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only Love can do that.

Dr. Martin Luther King

It's easy to think your right. Until you realize it's all a crap shoot. Hope is such fragile thing, something we all try to constantly renew. Once one path dwindles, we're off looking for the next best thing. I suppose being "burnt out" is when you feel you've traveled all of those paths in pursuit of your goal and begin to lose hope that a new path will take you anywhere different. We all need a little success along the road to renew our hope, to strengthen our faith in what we are doing.

In my late twenties and early thirties I began to question my own values and faith in the world. However, nothing shook my faith more than being "witnessed" to by someone from another religion. I didn't see that one coming. Sure they had some good arguments based on their holy book, but none of it felt like the truth. It never added up. And when posed with questions based on fairly basic logic. The answer always seemed to come back to, "just because...the book says so." Wow, this sounded a lot like what I had heard my whole life regarding my own faith! After this encounter the spotlight was of course turned on my own beliefs, which also crumbled under the same scrutiny. Being raised to believe a certain thing wasn't good enough anymore. Anyway, Truth and the essence of spirit isn't ultimately about religion or dogma, and I think most people feel that on some level or another.

And "What is truth?" Maybe that's a more important question. I laugh as I write that that because I remember the same question being posed to me by a former music agent. Of all people. Everyone likes to think that they are right. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, Progressives, Peace lovers, War Mongers, me, you...you name it. Hell, there are even dogmatic Buddhists!! Anyway, inspite of all the answers offered out there, the world can still be so whacked, this constant struggle for money, greed and power and everyone seems to be locked in the race from the ruling class to the plebes.

The older I get though the more I realize that music...my music anyway...can't be controlled by these values (for better or worse). It's not mine to control. It never has been. For me that's a truth, I have faith in it's power and it offers me a bit of hope somehow. A pure connection to something bigger. It's something I constantly need to seek in my own musical practice and prayer, just to try to feel normal. In many ways, that's also what the beauty of Montana represented for me when I first visited many years ago. The sheer grandeur and beauty transcended anything that could be controlled or manipulated. The land and the place itself was a truth, without need for explanation or defense. I think that this type of truth will always be the essence of inspiration.

I leave you with a quote from one of my favorite musicians:

“You can’t make your music good. You can’t try to be good. You can try to be present and you can try to remain open so what is going to speak to you can speak through you.” - Michael Hedges

We've just posted a download of "Canyon Breeze" on our ReverbNation page. This is an early recording that we made while it was still in the demo stages. I like the feel of this mix though. The full download is only available to list members, so if you are not on our mailing list yet, we hope you'll consider joining. Our next download will be our version of Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd. We'll be recording the new version in Nashville in April. We'll release a new download to list members each quarter.

Canyon Breeze Download

Canyon Breeze is the last one in the playlist.

Saturday took us to the Douglas Theatre in Macon. This was our first time playing in Macon. The Douglas is just a block or two from the Georgia music hall of Fame. Macon is really steeped in a rich music history. Lots of acts had beginnings in and around Macon from the Allman Brothers and Little Richard as well as the early days of Capricorn Records. We opened for Missy Raines and the new hip. Missy is a great bass player and a well established name in bluegrass circles. She has put together a great young band out of Nashville. The crowd was more than receptive to our music and was a great introduction to the area. We're looking forward to playing in Macon again. Glenn, the sound man, did a first class job and it was a great switch from the technical stresses from the night before. Afterwards, we headed over to Joe Cullison's for pizza and beer, which was fun, but we forgot about the time change so we didn't get to bed until really, really late... Here are some pics from the theatre.

You don't normally expect cold weather in South Georgia, but on Friday and Saturday the cold weather really blew in. On Friday, we played for the Savannah Folk Society and stayed on with Hank the promoter at his beautiful home on Tybee Island. The crowd was very receptive and although we had some problems with our sound gear, we were able to get things up and running to start the show on time. It always causes a little extra stress though, when you have to deal with technical issues leading up to a show. The gain on our in ear monitors was overloaded too. Although there is a limiter which keeps the volume to an acceptable level the overload caused a lot of distortion, which I wasn't able to fix immediately with the outboard volume controls. I took out the ear buds and everything sounded clean in the house, but in my in ear monitors it sounded a bit like an avant garde Ozzy Osbourne concert. Savannah was gearing up for the St. Patrick's festivities and the town was buzzing. Here are some pics from Tybee Island and Savannah.

Try your hand at the 'cello challenge game' at the Berlin Philharmonic website. Good Luck!!

CLICK HERE

My sister asked me once " Doesn't your agent help you promote your career?" Well, yes and no. Booking agents primarily book gigs, and that's about it. The manager, which is really the quarterback of the team, helps to create overall demand. In short, they take care of the day in day out tasks, that really facilitate the artists vision and help to bring the music to the people that want to hear it. Jenn and I have worked with some good booking agents, but the day to day managing tasks are things that we have split up between us, to this point. In many ways I think that has been a good thing (to this point), there's no better way to learn the music business. It's non-linear and ever changing and although there are books on the subject, you'd better read fast, because they are likely to be outdated soon.

If you are curious about the music business check out this video of Bruce Allen, he talks about learning the business and his early days with Bachman Turner Overdrive; up to his present day work with Michael Buble, Martina McBride and others. It's interesting to note that in his opinion the main ingredient for a good manager is to be passionate about what they are doing. If your interested in the music biz at all, it's pretty entertaining as well as educational.

Today we looked at some more houses in Athens. Michael Littleton at Athenstown Properties showed us a few more possibilities. We've been thinking about moving back there for some time. We narrowed our choices down to about three. We also saw Michael Stipe downtown. He had a crew of cameras in tow. Maybe filming something for VH1?

Were usually in and out quick. Too fast to get your bearings or soak in much. It was nice to change the pace this week. Three days in Florence, Alabama for a music residency and concert at the end of the week to help raise funds for the school orchestra program. Daniel Jamison, conducts the orchestra and teaches guitar at Florence Middle. He also plays cello AND guitar! I was impressed the passion and commitment he brings to his work and that community is certainly lucky to have such a dedicated teacher.

We also had a good time teaching and performing for the students, but I think what struck me was just being around the students. It's easy to forget what it was like in middle school and high school (and for a lot of us it's probably something we want to forget! :) Something we hear over and over that sounds a bit trite is "Children/ Youth are the future". I thought about that a lot this week and some of the different things that means. What future will they build, based on our ideals. What reality are we creating now? I suppose, that (adults) don't know or really give it that much thought. We mostly accept that "this is the way it is. There is nothing I can do to change the world". In working with the students this week, I realized they haven't reached that place yet, their eyes are filled with hope, innocence, excitement about their future and their place in it. Sometimes it's the things that go unsaid that are the most inspiring.

Here are some pics from the week.

Yesterday the Times Daily paper came to the middle school here in Florence, AL and took some photos of us working with the students and our mini-concert and interviewed us. Here is one of the pics from the mini-concert and a link to the article on the residency and upcoming show. I think it will be a lot of fun to play with the students in this concert on Friday. We'll be playing "The Edge of Night" w/ the High school students.

Times Daily Article Link

-Jenn

We played an interesting show yesterday at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC. It was for all the university students (about 900) at 11am. Hah! The show went great, inspite of the early show time. Many students were bustling to classes after, but a large majority stopped to visit with us on the way out at our cd table and told us how much they liked it/buy cd's. More visited our website/guestbook and myspace, facebook, etc. to become new friends on the web. Interesting difference in an audience of all younger than 21 and compared to a mixed age audience. Usually, we sell a lot more cds at the show and less ITunes/downloads/web stuff later- not this time almost the complete opposite. I wonder if that means CD's are totally on the way out? Well, it certainly gives more support to the idea.
After the show at Presbyterian College, we headed to AL for a music residency.

Today we started the first day of our music residendy in Florence, AL for the city schools. I'm constantly surprised about how early so many people besides me have to have to wake up (and that they can pull it off)...today it was a 7:45am class starting the residency. We went all day long w/ 2 masterclasses and a mini-concert for one of the schools. Jon and I each taught one string and guitar class at the high school and the mini-concert was then for 5th and 6th graders. I felt my energy dwindle at about 5pm today and my stomach growl for dinner. I usually don't eat dinner until much, much later and stay up even later. I think I'll be dozing off after finishing this blog. Ahh... this is when I wish I was super human and could find some secret well of energy.

Tomorrow will be similar but with new students and a little later start of 8:45am.
Friday we play a concert at the HS theater for the public and the ticket proceeds will benefit the music programs in Florence. I'm looking forward to performing at a decent hour....yay!

-Jenn

We had a great time in Hopkinsville, KY over the weekend. We were scheduled to perform with Arvin (percussion), but he unfortunately came down with the flu just before we were to leave, so we ended up doing the show as a duo. Hopkinsville is just above Nashville, so the drive wasn't bad. We had hoped to perform in the Alhambra theatre, but the renovations that they have been working on won't be finished for a while yet. Carol (Arts Director) was kind enough to give us a tour and it will certainly be beautiful when it's complete. The decor is striking, following a moorish theme and echoes of the Alhambra palace. Ronny, one of the arts volunteers, was kind enough to video some of the show for us. This is a clip of Jenn playing the Bach Prelude on her electric cello.



PS>> the video cuts out as Jenn is naming the strings on the electric cello. They are from Low to high: F C G D A E

--Jonathan

We returned home from Athens on Tuesday night, to find our side yard charred and black. At first, we thought that the neighbors had burnt their yard, on purpose and it had just crept down into ours. (Some people do a controlled burn their yards in the spring to kill weeds.) Anyway, we went in to sleep, not being able to tell much about it at night anyway. On Wednesday, we were able to get a better look and after talking with our neighbor we learned that it wasn't a controlled blaze, but an accident. I could see on the neighbors house that their siding had been melted as we'll as few other un-identifiable things in their yard. The flames had missed our house by about a foot and a half!. Don, our neighbor, had said the fire sparked up quick and luckily the fire department had gotten over quickly too!

ideas rule the world - choose well

The road South quickly went bad. We left from Marion and only made it about an hour south before things went from being OK to really bad...really fast. The first exit we were able to stop, we did. All of the hotels were already sold out at 1pm. Luckily we found a room just west, 10 more miles, in Carbondale. We're stuck in Illinois for today, but look forward to getting back home soon!

The snow let up for a few days in Minnesota only to return on our way from Austin to Maquoketa, IA. The Oak Center General store has to be the funkiest venue we've ever played in! The Oak Center is a functioning organic farm. On the bottom floor is an organic grocery store, while upstairs houses a the concert venue. Pretty cool. The food was great!!

The Paramount was a lot of fun. A gorgeous renovated theater and Scott helped us dial in the sound just right. We were able to use the Bose sound system in conjunction with the house sytem. The Bose gave a directional sound from the stage while the house helps to fill in. Here are some pics:

The worst driving of the tour was getting to the Paramount from Lake City. The Road went from passable to white out conditions pretty fast. This fluctuated off on for most of the drive, which was pretty unnerving. We just took it really slow, and arrived in Austin with plenty of time to spare.

We outran the snow on the way to Omaha, but it caught up the next day. The day of our show the road conditions were steadily worse. The area cancelled schools. There were so many wrecks in the city that the police quit issuing accident reports. Note to self: Don't tour the Midwest in the heart of snow season:) Anyway, we played to a handful of brave souls at Mick's and we'll look forward to getting back under better conditions. The real gravity of the situation hit home when we were headed back to our hotel. The comfort inn, where we were staying, sits atop a fairly large ridge and the road up was covered in snow as the road crews had not gotten to most of the city streets. We got about halfway up the hill and completely lost traction! The road had iced over in the last few hours. We backed up and tried again with no luck.. After watching a few others try to conquer the hill with similar results we were resigned to the fact that no one was going up that hill. What to do? Leave the car at the bottom of the hill and walk the half mile up with guitars, cellos etc.. Snow chains? I checked with a gas station close by and learned that snow chains were illegal in the city and I was unlikely to find a store that sold them at this hour anyway. I talked with a local and asked was there an alternate route to the inn. He suggested going back to Maple street (the main road) and crossing the interstate to see if one those roads led back to the inn. All dead ends. It looked like the up the hill was the only way!! We had seen another road past the hotel during the day so we figured there had to be another way. We doubled back a couple of blocks running into a few tough hills there too. Crossing towards the ridge the roads gradually climbed. We were headed up the ridge in the right direction. This was starting to look good! Passing through residential neighborhoods we finally saw the comfort inn sign in the distance! Yes, we made it. Thank God we wouldn't have to hike through the snow with our instruments tonight. After a good laugh, and feeling like mice who'd found our way to the ever elusive cheese, we loaded in and went to sleep.

We headed over to Cedar Rapids on Saturday. After a night of snow the going was a little slow, but the roads were pretty clear for the most part. We stayed with Nancy Dearborn, who is surely a a patron saint for traveling musicians! After a great vegan meal and conversation we hit the hay. Sunday we played at church and then headed down to Washington for an evening concert. We decided to stop in Iowa City for lunch. We only stopped for about thirty minutes, but during that time the snow really kicked it up a notch. By the time we reached 218 headed towards Washington, IA there was a light film over the roads. We proceed slowly. Several folks passed us by going at least 60-70. So we picked it up just a little. When in Rome..right? Well, about that time we were passed by a red Lexus headed up a slight hill. As they got about a hundred yards in front of us they started to fishtail! They maneuvered back an forth across the right for about 5 seconds barely avoided the ditches on either side, although it seemed like 5 minutes to me. I knew not to put on the brakes or we'd be in the same situation. We crept closer and closer as they were fighting to keep it in the road. The Lexus finally straightened out and without missing a beat speed away into the distant fog. We slowed down...waaay down. To hell with the Romans!

We had a blast playing at the Green Room last night. Getting there was a little sketchy though. We started out from that day from Lebanon, IN. Unfortunately there was quite a bit of snow the night before and the roads were pretty bad. We saw at least three or four cars that had spun out into the median. That was before Chicago. After that it was all smooth sailing on up to Sheboygan. This was also the maiden voyage for using our Bose L1 speakers at a gig. Aside from a little feedback trouble with the cello mic, things went off without a hitch. We'll need to tune in a few things though and I look forward to learning more about the system on this tour.

Ryan and Jerry own the Green Room and Run it along with Mom, Clio (sp?). We normally pack up and head out right after a show, but we enjoyed sitting down afterwards and hanging a bit. Clio hooked us up with the Green Room's specialty shot known as the "Horny Buffalo", which is a variation on a tequila shot. Instead of the traditional salt and lime, it was cinnamon sugar followed by the shot and then a a bite of orange! The family are all musicians and are doing great things in Sheboygan for the music scene. Jerry is also in the Buffalo Joe band. I am enjoying the tunes as I write..

Ryan also hooked us up with some of the Green Room's famous sauces. He started the company with his friend Mick. Check'em out here. pepperheadswi.com They also raise money for pancreatic cancer research (Mick's a survivor). The complete website should go up soon.

Well, we missed the season premiere of Lost. I guess well have to wait to see it in a couple of days via itunes. Oh well, no biggie, it's much more fun to watch without the commercials anyway! Found this video from JJ Abrams (creator of the show). Entertaining and insightful. 20mins..

Tomorrow we leave for our our tour. First stop, Sheboygan! Which means today we're running around like mad, getting things ready to go. Batteries tapes, wash clothes etc.. We're always excited to get out on the road and do the part we love, performing. Also tomorrow is the season premiere of Jenn's favorite show, Lost. We'll have to get going early so we can get a lot of road under our belts before Lost airs. Or, maybe we'll get a season pass through itunes like we did last season, so that we can watch anytime...

Last night President Bush delivered the State of the Union address. I deliberately decided not to watch it. Instead, I read it today on the government's website. You can read the whole thing on this link.

Even though the President addressed many basic issues like Social Security, Healthcare, etc. it seemed to have the overwhelming them of continuing the 'fight for freedom'. Of course it makes sense that this theme would be prevalent right now with the war.
However, I found that my gut reaction to it was to feel afraid. Afraid of terrorism, afraid of my government overextending itself into my civil rights, afraid of another catastrophic event like 9/11, but mainly a just a general queaziness over what might happen. I wonder if this general feeling of fear is what was intended by the administration? Perhaps, intended to spur us to sacrifice our comfort with what our government is doing (in our homeland and abroad) in the name of a greater good.

I do not claim to be a political analyst, but I am spurred to share some excerpts:
..................

"We'll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side. I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons. (Applause.)

Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only begun. This campaign may not be finished on our watch -- yet it must be and it will be waged on our watch."
..................
"For too long our culture has said, "If it feels good, do it." Now America is embracing a new ethic and a new creed: "Let's roll." (Applause.) In the sacrifice of soldiers, the fierce brotherhood of firefighters, and the bravery and generosity of ordinary citizens, we have glimpsed what a new culture of responsibility could look like. We want to be a nation that serves goals larger than self. We've been offered a unique opportunity, and we must not let this moment pass. (Applause.)

My call tonight is for every American to commit at least two years -- 4,000 hours over the rest of your lifetime -- to the service of your neighbors and your nation. (Applause.) Many are already serving, and I thank you. If you aren't sure how to help, I've got a good place to start. To sustain and extend the best that has emerged in America, I invite you to join the new USA Freedom Corps. The Freedom Corps will focus on three areas of need: responding in case of crisis at home; rebuilding our communities; and extending American compassion throughout the world.

One purpose of the USA Freedom Corps will be homeland security. America needs retired doctors and nurses who can be mobilized in major emergencies; volunteers to help police and fire departments; transportation and utility workers well-trained in spotting danger."
.............
"This time of adversity offers a unique moment of opportunity -- a moment we must seize to change our culture. Through the gathering momentum of millions of acts of service and decency and kindness, I know we can overcome evil with greater good. (Applause.) And we have a great opportunity during this time of war to lead the world toward the values that will bring lasting peace."
.............
"The last time I spoke here, I expressed the hope that life would return to normal. In some ways, it has. In others, it never will. Those of us who have lived through these challenging times have been changed by them. We've come to know truths that we will never question: evil is real, and it must be opposed. (Applause.) Beyond all differences of race or creed, we are one country, mourning together and facing danger together. Deep in the American character, there is honor, and it is stronger than cynicism. And many have discovered again that even in tragedy -- especially in tragedy -- God is near. (Applause.)"
................
"Steadfast in our purpose, we now press on. We have known freedom's price. We have shown freedom's power. And in this great conflict, my fellow Americans, we will see freedom's victory."
..........

Could these calls to action for the President lead us into a society more like the novel's "1984" and "Brave New World" than you or I would ever want? What exactly will this new USA Freedom Corps be doing when it looks for danger in our homeland? Who decides what the goals are that create the greater good set out by our government or us?
What impending danger is he always refering to? What does he mean by God is near? What will constitute freedom's victory?

My questions do not stem only from this 30 min. speech but instead from the experiences we all have had in the last few years. It stems from traveling in the airports across the country and having random inspections with other people protecting us but at the same time having power over us. From having a voice broadcast over the airways of the airport (even in the bathrooms) always stating the same thing "the Homeland Security Threat is at a code Orange" so be sure to stay aware of all the people around you, don't trust them, don't help them hold luggage, report suspicious behavior of these other people, etc.
From having this vague enemy over looming over you, and it could be anyone that is going to take your freedoms from you.
Is this for real? Or, does it serve the purpose of propelling us into a new world society where the individual is less important than the greater good.

I don't know the answer, and I never will; however, I do know that I believe that the individual's rights are so very, very important to keep and fight for. I think that the virtue of selfishness that the author Ayn Rand promoted in her writings was something she realized through her experiences in the Soviet Union's communist government. The greater good is not always good.
Of course, let's help each other, support each other, be active in our government, not always put your needs over other people's. But, let's also value our individuality and our individual freedoms.