Male = BAD, female = GOOD

OK, the odds are pretty good that I’ll piss somebody off with this diatribe, but here goes anyway. I’ve always been intrigued with issues dealing with gender relations (and race, although not relevant to this missive today), especially on how it relates to societal norms, constructs, business, and relationships. I actively read articles and essays about how differently men and women view such matters. Lately I’ve been reading many articles on the (unintended, hopefully) detrimental effects of the feminist movement against boys and men over the past few decades and what can be done to help remedy the situation. Some unfavorable items listed have been the steep decline in male attendance/graduation in high school and college, high ratio of suicides (86% male), the overwhelming number of boys versus girls diagnosed with ADD and prescribed behavioral drugs such as Ritailin, and the seemingly increasing irrelevance and overt hostility towards men and boys in general, i.e., female = good, male = bad. There are others, but I think you get the gist.

Let me make my position on this crystal clear: I am not bitter. I have no axe to grind. I LOVE women. I am for equal pay for equal work and for equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. I believe that no single gender is innately better than the other at anything, although one would be stupid to ignore thousands of years of historical example. I firmly believe that males and females are biologically DIFFERENT creatures, much to the dismay of a bunch of pointy-headed elites. We process information differently, we communicate differently, we simply perceive almost everything from a different viewpoint. This is a good thing, although it comes with many challenges.

That said, I want to elaborate on something I have been observing as of late. In many of the articles I have read discussing the state of males today, most of the proposed solutions seem to have a common frame of reference, and that is to suggest that the males confront their issues using feminine methodologies. In other words, be more like females. These include, therapy, talking to others about your problems, asking for help, and inner soul searching. Just because it works for females doesn’t mean it will automatically work for males and vise versa. We resolve problems in different ways. It’s OK for Bill to run a few laps around the track by himself just to let him cool down and think things through. Don’t make him talk and share his feelings just because that’s how Ashley handles her problems. These methods don’t necessarily help him solve his problem. It doesn’t mean that you don’t try, it just may not produce the same results. Just because John doesn’t want to share his feelings doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with him.

Anyway, this is just my observation. I think that the social pendulum has over-corrected and hopefully some level of balance can be had. It’s time to accept the notion that males and females are different (duh), and we don’t always have to bend over backwards to make everything fair. So let’s lighten the hell up and just do what is right for a change. If we need separate classes for boys and girls so be it – who really cares? If Mary wants to take 9 months off to be with her newborn – fine, her job will still be there, but she should also accept the discounted raise because she wasn’t at the office 100% of the time like Monique and Ahmed were. Let’s get over all of our various group victimizations, shut the hell up, and apply a little common sense. Life isn't a zero sum game.

I think it’s way past time for this giant to awaken. 38 years is a long time to sleep...

Idle hands are the Devil's playground

Jinkies! It’s been eight days since my last confession, er, my last blog, and boy have I sinned! Not really. My lovely wife is in Alabama for the week so I should be up to my eyeballs in all sorts of debauchery and mischief, but alas, nothing scandalous to report as of yet - I’ve been way too busy at work to even think about it, let alone participate. The cats are taking exceptional care of me in my wife’s absence.

As the twisted and evil one said in his blog recently, we did get our docking station (finally) and should have some teaser snippets up starting tomorrow. They’re taken directly from rehearsals, so they’re a little raw but are accurately representative of our new "sound". We hope you’ll be intrigued and wanting for more. We have finished tweaking the studio setup configuration and are now ready to begin recording the real stuff this week! We’re planning on getting the drum tracks laid down first and then all of the melody instruments will be recorded separately later. Fortunately, all of us have our own home recording equipment so we’ll use the “real” drum tracks and melody instrument scratch tracks as a guide to record our own parts at home and then integrate our individual tracks back into the master ProTools file. Rich, Scott, and I have some pretty interesting ideas in mind when we record our parts. I’ll keep you all abreast of my recording process and methods. It should be a fun and interesting learning experience.

Time for another refill of an exquisite Southern Rhone white blend (yummo) and read a chapter or two before I fall asleep.

Please keep the Alvarez family in your thoughts and prayers.

What ever happened to Lincoln and Washington?

Happy MLK holiday everybody. If you had the day off, I hope you enjoyed it, and if not, at least there was less traffic out there to contend with. I’m not going to say too much about this topic except that we all should take a moment to remember and celebrate the accomplishments of Dr. King, Jr. His words were meant for everyone and as a society we should strive to adhere to their meaning. I honestly think that modern day civil rights “leaders” have strayed from the path of Dr. King’s original intent because frankly, I haven't heard his optimism in their words for many years, just the same whining and victimization. I could go on a lot more, but enough about that - I don't have the patience for it today.

This weekend a very close friend of ours suffered a minor stroke. Fortunately, the stroke was extremely mild and he did not sustain any permanent damage, although he was in the hospital for a few days for observation. I don’t know what to add to this other than to make sure your affairs are in order because anything can happen at any time. Take care of yourself and those around you.

Sorry, I’m a bit on the melancholy side today. You can always check out the latest fascinating lecture from Professor Evers...

Whatever...

The Über one chastised me today for not being as prolific in the blogosphere as he. Well, I’ve been busy at work and to be bluntly honest, I really haven’t had anything noteworthy to opine about. No use spewing typefaces if they’re all for naught or just for window dressing. Hmmm...

As just mentioned on our NEWS page, we’re starting the official recording sessions for the new CD this week or next. We’ve been in a great groove lately at rehearsals. It’s as though we’ve prepared, prepared, and prepared some more for the upcoming big game and we’re experiencing this amalgam of confidence and restlessness, yet at complete ease and we can weave ourselves in and out of the pocket at any given time. It could almost be described as an out-of-body experience - to be able to close your eyes, switch yourself on autopilot, and mentally step back a few paces and just listen. When you can do that, you can actually feel the ebb and flow of the music’s pulse, pinpoint all of the crests and empty spaces, and freely let the music take you along in its journey. OK, enough of the hippy, new age, harmonic convergence crap. We hope that what we’re experiencing from our side translates through the bits and bytes into something worth listening to for you.

Got to go, time for grub.

Time for a little ejumakayshun

Happy New Year, kids! How are those resolutions, going? Be sure to digest Scott’s sage advice on New Year’s resolutions – I couldn’t have even have perceived a better dissertation on the subject (seriously).

Anyway, I thought I’d take the opportunity to begin 2006 with a much-needed mini refresher course in vehicular law and etiquette. Let us begin, shall we?


This is a STOP sign. When one comes upon one of these, it means that you actually have to STOP your vehicle before continuing onto the next leg of your journey. If your next intention is to turn right - believe it or not – you still are required to STOP your vehicle, observe traditional right-of-way etiquette, and then turn right. Someone else who is at the same intersection may actually be expecting you to follow legal protocol - you know those inconvenient “rules” I referred to back on my 12/12/05 rant.


This is a RED LIGHT. These are commonly observed at many of your local traffic intersections. See STOP sign above for more information as to their purpose and funtion. If there also happens to be a sign posted nearby that says, “NO TURN ON RED" or similar verbiage, there is probably a damn good reason, you flippin’ idiot!


This is a SPEED LIMIT sign. These innocuous signs that are littered about on our roadways are more than just tax expenditures of government-sponsored graffiti. They actually are meant to convey to the driver some very important information, which is (up to) how fast one should be driving on this particular traffic path, because – oh, who knows - maybe there are young children congregating around this certain length of road and there is a distinct possibility that you might just slam into one! Besides the customary 1000 points each, you may also go to jail, ruin both your family and the family of the child(ren) you squished, and will probably be emotionally and financially devastated for many years to come. I realize that most of you out there seem to be under the impression that these are just suggested speeds, but I’m afraid that it is the maximum speed that you’re legally allowed to go without special permission from the authorities. I’d like to offer this tidbit, this intellectual nugget, to help you better comply with such a foreign concept. Those numbers posted on those speed limit signs actually correspond with those numbers found on the speedometer of your vehicle! Isn’t that neat? The automakers and the government actually came up with a nifty method for you to monitor the vehicle’s velocity so you can drive at a safe speed around your children, neighbors, pets, and each other.


This is a BICYCLE. If you happen to drive one of these on roadways primarily designed for motorized traffic, please be extra careful because you’re often difficult to see (even with the annoyingly stupid jester outfits) and oh, yeah – the signs mentioned above (and all of the others) apply to YOU as well, jackass! Damn, those pesky rules are getting in the way again...

Thank you for your undivided attention and this concludes the lesson for today.