It took the Love of a good woman to understand it, but there is beauty in Ohio. It’s not the whole state, certainly, but Eastern Ohio with its rolling hills and autumn leaves is gorgeous. Perhaps it actually counts as beauty borrowed from Pennsylvania, cast off from West Virginia – but I’m willing to give it the benefit of doubt as I-70 transports us West underneath an unmarred blue sky. The land is gradually flattening, promising boredom ahead, but for the moment we’re flying through wildernesses interrupted by occasional shopping malls which, contrary to the way the rest of the world works, always seem endangered by their wild environs.
Tonight we’re playing in Columbus, OH and vaguely heading towards Columbus, IN – Columbus Day weekend. The Facebook community is all atwitter (I know, I know – hush) with indignation over the upcoming holiday and I’m understanding but not enthusiastic. No serious motion to eliminate the holiday will ever gain much traction111 miles short of Columbus and I’m thinking that all nations and histories have villains and that all heroes have dark sides and failures. Columbus didn’t have much intention beyond commerce and greed and he probably wasn’t the first guy to discover the continent and he was entirely wrong about where he was in any case – hardly heroic beginnings for a tale that could be argued to end in institutionalized exploitation and genocide – but at this point he’s so far removed from his reality, I just don’t know that it matters. It certainly doesn’t seem to matter beyond just getting people riled enough to click “Like” on a couple of Facebook articles….
I worry that America’s political correctness continues to fight the existence of heroism, symbolism, nationalism… It rips apart any sense of national pride in a time when we really, really need SOMETHING to knit us together. I guess, though I understand the point, it just seems a petty fight at the moment – one of those thousands of Facebook causes where people think they’re supporting a cause by “liking” it. There’s simply a lot of more important stuff going on!
I heard the news today, oh boy.
I’m also listening to a barrage of political commercials complaining about Obama bringing on higher energy taxes and how these are hurting the American industrial base and causing the exportation of factory jobs overseas. I’m sorry – I thought it was the fact that Americans are buying Walmart! I wonder if all the money that went into trying to buy votes went into trying to get people to buy American if there would ACTUALLY be an effect on the economy.
I remember years ago thinking that “BUY AMERICAN” campaigns were simple xenophobia. Now I have a slightly better grasp about how much it hurts a nation to eliminate it’s own industrial base in favour of making a fast buck. Global commerce is extremely important, but perhaps not MORE important than not cutting our own throats. Until a couple of other countries are playing fair, we probably should keep some of our currency to ourselves. There’s some people, things, roads and causes that could use it, or so I hear.
More Short North randomness. Elk chandaliers and white peacocks. Watching. This is probably even more effective than a security monkey.
I know, I know. I’m getting all political n shit. Let’s change the station then, shall we?
Listening to Tool makes me crave my distortion pedal. I left it languishing in Maryland because there’s little place for it in our duo sets. But listening to the gritty, growling guitar work, howling and crying, it just makes me wet.
Further thoughts on the radio?
Listening to “The Boxer” by Simon and Garfunkel and visualizing a music video directed perhaps by Michael Bay. You know, that huge DRUM sound in the song? PERFECT for BIG EXPLOSIONS! And one of the most eloquent songwriters in the history of pop-folk being followed by Pink Floyd exclaiming “We don’t NEED no education”, thinking about how a good education is what one needs – but a good education should teach you not WHAT to think, but give you enough of a base to teach you HOW to think… and thinking that a course on media spin and comprehension as well as an in-depth class on economics are sorely missed in our public school system. Comparative religion is all fine and good… let’s learn how to unravel the mysteries of the world more immediately around us too!
