Album of the weekend

Seether-Disclaimer II

I saw them live in New Hampshire and was deeply disappointed. They missed notes, Shaun Morgan forgot lyrics, and the set wasn't very long. It didn't work out for anyone and many people left early. It was one of the bigger disappointments in my concert going life because I really like this album.

Saying it is post grunge doesn't give it enough credit. It's alternative with a healthy dose of metal that doesn't fit into the nu-metal sound of Korn or Limp Bizkit (thank God). It also deals with more mature content. "Broken" the incredibly powerful duet with Amy Lee is about a failing relationship and you can feel the pain that both characters are going though. I think "Fine Again" deals with the mundane aspect of living a life after rehab-but it can be read several ways. That's one of the signs of a good song, for sure.

Seether peaked with this. Like Bush with Sixteen Stone this might have been all they had but it's a very good album.

Giraffe watch

No, I'm not terribly interested in a pregnant giraffe. That doesn't mean I'm anti animal, that doesn't mean I'm not compassionate, it just means I have no interest in waiting for a giraffe to give birth. I'm much more interested in the slight controversy around it.

Some people are complaining that it's a needless distraction and that people watching it are weird. To me, I think distraction is a part of life.  Even though I'm not interested in it, I'm sure that many people are-or else no one would be talking about it or watching it.

I'm also pretty sure that it's a harmless distraction, and we need those things badly in life. Distraction from our problems, stresses and issues keep us sane. Some people watch sports, some people read, some people spend hours of time on the internet-no matter what we do, odds are it's harmless and even necessary. You'll burn out very quickly if you spend all your time in super serious activities and never learn to relax.

Tomi Lahren

While I did hear about her in passing, I never paid that much attention to her. She recently had the audacity to think for herself on the dreaded issue on abortion. For many years, I used to think it was the more radical left that always had a problem with dissent-and I still do-but I find how she was treated by Glen Beck to be incredibly disturbing. 

First off yes, Glenn Beck has every right to fire whoever he wants from his network. He can sack an employee for them saying they like the Yankees or don't like Mormons. I don't expect much from Glen Beck, I've always questioned his mental stability-so it doesn't surprise me that he fired Ms. Lahren. 

it disturbs me though. I get it, abortion is a tough issue, incredibly polarizing and controversial-but if Glenn Beck demands idealogical purity for all of his employees, than he's going down a dark and dangerous path. I can 100% guarantee you that not all writers for the National Review thought like William F Buckley on every issue. He didn't care, he still let them write for one of the greatest magazines in human history. Glenn Beck is no William F Buckley (more true words have never been spoken) and this is another step towards him hopefully becoming irrelevant. 

Johnny Rotten defending Trump

Johnny Rotten (yes, that one) is hardly a conservative and he's hardly a member of the establishment. He's also defending Trump in this interview.

First off, Johnny Rotten is legitimately insane. So I take what he said with a huge grain of salt. He could change any minute. I do love the guy though. 

But, he makes several good points. The "left" (Labour, Democrats) used to be for the working man but that changed after Blair/Bill Clinton. While neither man was publicly for the Brexit, I can easily see them privately being for the Brexit. They are much more blue collar than Jeremy Corbyn or Barack Obama. The left now represents a more elite group of people that sneers at working people and their values. So his Brexit point was dead on. 

His points on Trump are valid too. There IS a left wing media establishment that wants to take him down.Thus, since punk is inherently antiestablishment, nothing is more punk than sneering at the establishment-which is like I mentioned, left wing and elite. So like the legendary Johnny Ramone said, "Punk is right wing" and it appears to be true again. 

Defeat of the health care bill

So, Trump and his Trumpers are learning very quickly what some of us already attempted to tell them.  Business and politics are vastly different and require different skills sets. Like I said before, a businessman can say "Do as I say or I'll fire you." The president can't fire Paul Ryan if he doesn't get his work done. Yes, that's an over simplification but it's still correct.

To me, it's hardly a tragedy and democrats gloating are doing a foolish thing. Trump is still president and the GOP still controls everything. I get it, some leftists are grasping at straws here and I don't blame them-but Obamacare was "repealed" 40 times in the last few years and I'm confident it'll be repealed again. At least the attempt will happen again.

The process of governing is much more complicated than just telling everyone you can govern. 

Scripture Sunday Ether 12:6

Going through a trial of faith? I hesitate to advise you to read a scripture verse-if you are struggling with faith it doesn't make much sense to go a book you might not believe in. It might help though, so here it is.

Faith is hard for people who are skeptical by nature. Some of us need evidence and logic-just having "faith" doesn't work. After all, you can in theory have faith in anything. If you don't believe that the moon is made of cheese, someone who thinks it is might ask you to have "faith". If someone wants you to invest money into their failing business-they might tell you to have "faith" that it will recover and start making money. Faith is, of course, hoping for things that are not seen.

Smoking age being raised to 21?

Like I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'm in favor of legalizing marijuana. I'm also in favor of keeping the smoking age for tobacco products 18. 

Again, "legalization" doesn't mean "approval". I've smoked cigarettes before (haven't smoked in years) and I've smoked marijuana before as well. Even though I don't think doing either is healthy or a good idea, I don't feel particularly guilty or ashamed about either one either. Like everyone else who smoked I found it annoying and hypocritical when an obese person told me to quit smoking for "health reasons" or someone downing a six pack in college told me how dangerous pot was. 

I've always found it amusing that people who want to legalize weed generally want tobacco to be banned or the smoking age raised to 21. At eighteen you can drive a car. Join the armed forces. Be tried in court as an adult. Enter into a legal, law abiding contract. But you can't choose to have a cigar with your friends after a hard days work? That doesn't make any sense to me. 

Obviously as an LDS I try not to partake in those activities anymore, but my religion doesn't make the rules for everyone in the country. Eighteen should be the magic age-many things become legal then. It's probably best to legalize marijuana and keep tobacco legal as well-cigarette smoking is plummeting in America we need to let it decline naturally. By upping the age or banning it outright, you'll just make it taboo and flood the black markets. Not a wise or good idea at all. 

Album of the Weekend

Godsmack-The Oracle

Godmack can be hit or miss with me. I accept that no band will always release wonderful albums where you will like every song. Even your favorite bands have some bad records. Pearl Jam is the classic example of this. Their good albums are legendary but when they are bad they are very, very bad.

Godsmack is a bit like that, though even at their best they are no where near as good as Pearl Jam. The Oracle is when they stopped experimenting with a different sound and got back to what made them good in the first place. For an established band this album has a raw, energetic sound that I really like. "Whiskey Hangover" could appear on the first Godsmack album-it has that kind of aggressive feeling. The entire album has the same sound. 

Welcome back guys. 

Shaq joins the flat earth society?

Say it ain't so Shaq, say it ain't so.

Shaquille O'Neal is one of my all time favorite athletes. Growing up I watched him play for the Magic, the Lakers, the Heat-and I sadly watched his decline with the Suns, Cavs, and finally my favorite team, the Celtics. I really enjoyed watching him play because he was so dominant and I really enjoyed listening to him off the court. So many athletes are (sorry world) sort of boring, giving only answers that they want you to hear. Others can only talk about their stats or sport and have a hard time remembering what happened five minutes ago, much less a year ago.

None of that is true with Shaq. He can be moody and difficult to deal with, but he's almost always interesting and you never know what he'll come up with up next. He doesn't give canned responses, he is always himself and always original and bright.

So he should know better. Is he trying to be funny? I strongly suspect that he's often "in on the joke" and only saying things for his own amusement. I can be like that too. I hope this is one of the times he's doing so.

Ideas for the sequel to Mallrats

In the sequel to Mallrats, the movie by Kevin Smith, the main character Brodie would get stabbed by the homeless psychopath in the otherwise abandoned mall. His screams would be unheard because all the other stores are closed. Jay and Silent Bob would get hungry, wander to the food court, than get in their car and drive off because all the restaurants in the food court have closed. In other words, malls are quickly becoming a relic of another time.

I liked Mallrats when I was in college, but I think Clerks and Chasing Amy are better movies. In fact, I think Chasing Amy is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Every time I watch it it gets better. Mallrats? Not so much. Doesn't age well at all. 

Sears recently announced that they might be closing the entire chain. Sears is also a relic of a different era, and those feeling nostalgic about it need to accept that Sears is fading away.  Sears can't compete with Target, Wal Mart, and Amazon. Heck, even Wal Mart and Target can't compete with Amazon now.  Sears is an anchor store for many malls, so when Sears closes it'll be another big blow to malls. 

Like I've mentioned before when it comes to nostalgia I find it strange in some cases. When malls really do become a thing of the past, people will miss them and care about them much more than they do now. You would think that if people cared that much about them in the first place, they wouldn't go under in the first place. 

Coming to a prison near you...

A transgender inmate in California is getting the taxpayers of California to pay for his sex change operation.   I go a step further. Why not make the family of his victim get a second and third job to pay for it themselves? After all, if they are taxpayers of California they are already paying for it.

Before you say "Wait, Punk-you support Catylin Jenner?" Yes, I do. I support all transgender people. The big thing though is that they should be forced to pay for it with their own damn money. Or, if they can get their friends and family to voluntarily and freely pay for it, that is fine too. If you take out a gun and force people to pay for something they are opposed too, that is morally wrong.

The situation gets much worse when you remember something sort of important-this dude killed someone. No, really-this guy is a murderer. He's not some kid in there for a car theft or robbing a bank or a drug charge. He horrifically took another persons life. Even if you don't support the death penalty (I do) you might have an issue with a convicted murderer getting something that a transgender person who works hard and follows the law does not.

May your life be as wonderful...

Jealous much? Note-I'm using the word "you" in the universal usage. Not "You" as in "the individual reading this."

This meme really bothers me. Posting this on Facebook shows what a bitter, jealous asshole you are. I'm truly sorry that people don't post things that meet with your approval-would you rather they post pictures of them weeping on Friday night about how alone they are?

Look, if Facebook bothers you this much, maybe you should take your bitterness somewhere else. Is there such a thing as bragging too much on Facebook? Of course there is. You don't want to constantly talk about how much your life is better than everyone else's. But guess what? Some of us really do have nice lives and want to share it with our friends. If you don't like it, there is always the button marked "block".

Scripture Sunday Mormon 8:5

Solitude and loneliness can be miserable feelings, and I find this passage to be one of the more heartbreaking ones in the entire Book of Mormon.

Moroni was all alone at this point, having lost everything. At least Paul had Timothy to write to at the end of his life-he could at least hope that Timothy received the letters and was on his way to visit before Paul was executed. Moroni had no one left to write to. He had just suffered such a tremendous lost in his life-his society, his family, his friends-everything. The only thing he had to cling on to was hope that one day the Book of Mormon would be found and restored.

This passage can hit home for many of us-many LDS have felt alone before and our only hope is found in the Book of Mormon.

Exotic Pets

"Only get a pet whose ass you could kick."-Greg Gutfeld. I don't go that far, but he makes a good point.

Libertarianism is a funny thing. Generally, most libertarians have the "live and let live" philosophy and "Don't bother me, I don't bother you" way of thinking. For the most part, I agree totally. When it effects the innocent lives of other people-that's the issue that we have. Having a pet tiger, alligator or bear does at first seem harmless to others. After all, you are only putting yourself and your family in immediate danger. Then it escapes, and you are solely responsible for the mayhem and destruction it causes.

I don't think it's a good idea to have "exotic pets" that are deadly. Sure, a golden retriever in theory could turn deadly but the odds of it being so are incredibly small. The odds of your pet rattlesnake suddenly getting bored and deciding that it wants to find out what human flesh tastes like are much greater. Alligators, lions, tigers and bears are in the same category.

*This post is dedicated to the people of Ocala, Florida. Who are currently dealing with a Cobra on the loose that some jackass let slither away from his home. If this snake kills someone, the guy who owns it and the guy who let it out should be charged with murder. Will they be? Of course not. 

Click here for the snake story.

Album of the weekend

Iron Maiden-The Number of the Beast

Many people think that metal is Satanic, and this album feeds into the stereotype. It's not in the least, but if you already believe that something is "Satanic" nothing I can say or do will change your mind. Surely over 85% of the people who think this album is Satanic only do so because of the name. 

It's an amazing album. If you don't like Iron Maiden, you don't really like metal. They didn't start it but they did perfect it. When it comes to aging metal bands I personally prefer Anvil and Judas Priest-but Iron Maiden is still outstanding. This is their best album. 

I had this on cassette tape, and it was one of the first tapes I had where I listened to the side two more than the side one. "Number of the Beast", "Run to the Hills" and "Hallowed be thy Name" are three great songs. "Children of the Damned" on the first side is also great. On mix tapes I'd put all four together and it would start out a great metal mix tape. I prefer "Hallowed be thy Name" because it's longer and you can sort of get lost listening to it. That is great music-where you can close your eyes and let it take you away. 

Sexism in the Chronicles of Narnia?

I just finished the Chronicles of Narnia again. I love the series-I've loved it since I was a child and even as an adult, I've tried to read the series once a year or so. To me, Lord of the Rings was about singing, walking, and nothing else. Chronicles of Narnia has it all. Yes, I know that's the most controversial thing I've ever said on this blog and I apologize. Sorry everyone, it's just how I see it.

Remember in The Last Battle when it's referenced that Susan only thinks about "lipstick and nylons?" It's widely considered by some people that CS Lewis was a horrible sexist for that line, and his work is anti-feminst and horrible towards women. I've always found that way of thinking very confusing. The Narnia series has some incredibly powerful women, Susan being one of them. Same with Polly and Lucy. Two villains are also women (arguably the two toughest in the series, certainly two of the most interesting) so Lewis is hardly anti woman.

He is in a catch-22 though. Create a strong, powerful female villain and people want to know why she is female. Create a strong, powerful male villain people want to know why the villain is male. No matter what he did, he'd be critiqued by people who want to look for "evidence" that supports what they already believe. Welcome to what qualifies as "analysis" in critical theory today.

"Don't Judge Me!"

That phrase always means "I know I'm doing something wrong."

No one ever says "Don't judge me, but I'm faithful to my husband." Or, "Don't judge me, but I take care of my children, go to church weekly and don't use drugs."

See my point?

While it's true, we can't judge the state of your immortal soul (and I do believe there is a soul, most of the time) before God (and I do believe there is a God, most of the time) we certainly can and will judge your behavior, your drawing, your music, your movie taste-welcome to the real world kid. Here is what separates adult life from childhood: in the adult world, you don't have to listen to people who judge you. You should be able to click on the "ignore" switch you have. If you don't have one, you better develop one fast.

Feud

Joan Crawford and Bette Davis live on-it's 2017 and there is now a TV show depicting their famous rivalry. I'm probably one of the very few straight men under 70 who was looking forward to watching it.

I think it's obvious to everyone that Hollywood has lost a lot of it's glam, mystique and intrigue. Part of it is the culture we live in today-when you have stars like Kim Kardashian who are just "famous for being famous" we are bound to lose a respect for talent and ability. Andy Warhol was exactly right when he said, "In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes." While I don't think fame is what we should all be aspiring to achieve, our culture has cheapened it. In the 1920's-early 60's it's hard to believe that someone could attain a very level of fame without a high level of talent. These two women had immense talent. 

I think that "Feud" is off to a great start. I'm hardly an expert in judging acting ability, but Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon are both spectacular in their roles as Davis and Crawford. I'm sure it must be difficult for an actress playing another famous actress (not making a sarcastic comment)-so that alone takes a big jump and massive skill. It's also great seeing a dramatic interpretation of the making of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" a classic horror film.

This is one of the very few scripted series that I think is worth watching.

Samantha Bee and her cancer jokes

Personally, I thought the joke wasn't funny but she doesn't need to apologize for it. It shows that there are right wing snowflakes as well as left wing ones. If you say you've never made a botched joke or said something stupid, you are either lying or delusional. Samantha Bee is not lying or delusional, and she did apologize-so she's doing the correct thing. 

The right wing snowflakes are dead on about something. If a republican comedian said something like this, the pitchforks would come out. Don't mention Ann Coutler-she isn't taken seriously by anyone and doesn't have the credibility that Samantha Bee does. While it's true, there are no right of center (or even libertarian!) late night talk show hosts or comedians (outside of the Heaven sent Red Eye and it's former host, Greg Gutfeld) that shows more on the entertainment industry bias that it does conservatism.

It's important on this one to ask yourself "If I agreed with the comedians politics, how would I feel?" that's a good step to see if you are being honest with yourself and morally consistent. If Ann Coulter was a leftist, I'm guaranteeing you that she'd be given a lot more room from the media with her disgusting and nasty comments. 

Scripture Sunday Alma 42:25

This passage might sound severe, but that's only because we live in a very thin skinned and fragile world. I get the feeling that many generations ago, the thought of God being just was comforting. It is to me. Sure, while I'm a sinner just like everyone else this verse reminds me that justice in the end, will of course be applied fairly. Talking about how unjust the world is today isn't being able to see the entire picture. The philosopher Peter Kreeft said "Complaining about justice being delayed in the world today is like reading half of a novel than complaining that the author didn't resolve the plot." I love that quote, and I love this passage. 

Comic books

I had the missionaries come over for dinner a few weeks ago. Since I've relocated they don't come over much. Mileage counters can be a real pain in the ass when you live rural.

One guy mentioned that he loved comic book movies even though he admitted that he never owned or read a comic book in his life. I found that odd, but I did grow up in a different time. Back when I grew up comics are only for geeks and nerds. Good luck getting a girlfriend in 1992 if you could name all the original X-Men or worse, if you could explain the difference between Uncanny X-Men and the original ones.

I have a large collection of comic books and I'm very glad that nothing happened to them in times that I've moved. Like most people who collect comics and baseball cards I don't collect them for the investment (I've probably lost money in the long run) and I'd never dream of selling them. I probably couldn't get much for them either. It's strictly for the enjoyment that they bring.

Album of the Weekend

Beastie Boys- Licensed to Ill

Back before the days of Eminem, white rappers did exist and didn't talk about things that were extremely vulgar and disgusting. Instead, they had this amazing thing called talent, style, fraternity boy humor and didn't need to rely on being vulgar. Of course I'm talking about the Beastie Boys, and their debut landmark album.

Not every band has an anthem to what they believe, and at this time in their career "Fight for your Right" was exactly that. Instead of being super serious (that would come later as they got older) these guys knew how to party and were quite good at it.  "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" is a homage to where they came from and in some ways it's another anthem-it unites people with a specific message as to what a certain band believes in.

I'm not the biggest rap fan but this is a good mixture of rap-alternative-rock that ages very well. 

Casey Anthony

I read an article about her a few days ago and I've been thinking about it recently. Casey Anthony is the woman (I won't demean the term "mother") who was acquitted in the murder of her child. The verdict produced widespread outrage, and I understand why. Sadly though-it highlighted the education gap in our culture.

I'm not a big supporter of education. You read that right. A girl with a high school diploma is often ten times smarter than a dude who went to college. Your college degree (and I graduated college so I'm obviously not jealous of those who did. We'll talk about jealously and envy in another blog, for sure) means you had different opportunities than a person who didn't go. In fact, I've seen more people whose learning stopped the moment they got their BA then those whose learning stopped in high school. Many times a self education is much more important than a formal one.

I noticed that many people who couldn't understand why Casey Anthony was found not guilty lacked knowledge of how the legal system works. It's not education per se, the more I think about it-it's wisdom. The two are vastly different as we all know.

In our criminal legal system the state has to prove that you did something. They can't just say "I think you did it, so let's give you the death penalty." Prosecutors can't be trusted-they'd indict the world for their own political gain. The state has unlimited resources and the ball is already in their court. Thank GOD the founders created a system where the burden of proof is on them to prove that something happened instead of the accused proving something didn't. The prosecution decided to arrogantly lecture the jury about what a bad mom Casey Anthony was (and she was, for sure) and assumed the jury would just go along with them because after all, the prosecution is always the good guy and the defense attorney are always the bad ones.

People were outraged over the verdict-and those who were didn't understand how the justice system works. They wrongly thought the state didn't have to prove anything.

When I explained this (or tried to) on Facebook right after the verdict I was, not surprisingly, attacked for being "anti-child" and "pro-Casey Anthony". That's garbage of course-I think Casey Anthony will burn in hell for eternity if she did it and she should-but I would still have voted not guilty because the state didn't prove it.

Women Day General Strike

I've heard some rumors that there is talk of a Women's Day strike that's going to happen today. Sure, I haven't paid much attention to it-in fact, I'm not sure if it's a strike, a protest march, or what it is.

Will it change much? Yes, but for the wrong reasons. Most women won't participate-they need their jobs. A women working at Wal Mart or in a day care will probably get in trouble with their workplace if they participate. I'm very confident that most women care about their rights-but they also care about feeding their families and paying their bills. In fact, my concern is that this will turn into an "entitled women who can afford to skip work" strike. If you can skip work and not get your ass fired, then you are entitled and shouldn't be striking in the first place.

The day without immigrants didn't change much. People went on with their lives and some people who participated in the strike lost their jobs. In the long run, it only hurt them.

Trump, Jessie Ventura and Ronald Reagan

After watching the speech Trump gave a couple nights ago, it finally began to sink in to me that "Wow, this guy is actually president." I imagine it's how Minnesotans felt when former pro wrestler Jessie Ventura was elected governor of their state and how Californians felt in the 60's when former B-list actor Reagan was their governor. I get it, if you disagree with the person nothing will make you respect them or the office-but to rest of us, it's still odd to think of.

Very, very few people took these men seriously before they ran for and won their offices. I don't blame people for questioning the credibility of these guys. Reagan? Silly, shallow and washed up actor. Ventura? Former pro wrestler. Need we say more? And Trump? Like him or hate him, Trump is a man who it's easy to mock and ridicule. Three marriages, multiple business failures, more over exposed and forced than Kiss merchandise, etc, etc. Yet he's our president.

I do respect the office of president, no matter who holds it. Even if you don't agree with someone at all, many people say they respect the office suddenly when their guy/girl is victorious. I try not to be like everyone else, but I'm just as guilty. It's still strange to me that Trump won the election, but his speech a few nights ago showed that he just might be up to the job.

Teacher scandals and double standards

I was reading an article online about another teaching aide who was sending dirty pics to a student. Luckily they got arrested and the child is in counseling. Nothing is worse than a predator who preys on children-like everyone else in society today I find it repulsive and want to see the predator locked up for life.

Notice that I played the pronoun game? I didn't give genders of the above story, which happened in Vermont. If I give genders, many people will change their attitude about what happened.

If it's a male teacher sending pics to a girl, then people want to see the male teacher executed-and I agree. I support the death penalty for predators. But if it's a female teacher sending pictures to a underage man (especially in high school) than stupid movies are made about it and jokes are cracked (hey, how come I never had a teacher like that in high school? Haw haw haw). Funny how there is a double standard like that, huh?

I know I'm not the first person to bring this up or mention the double standard. It is obnoxious to see it in effect so often though.

Scripture Sunday Alma 43:45-47

War isn't pretty. By the grace of God, I haven't experienced it personally and I would never attempt tell you what it's really like. However, sometimes it is necessary. In fact, the Book of Mormon sort of demands it with these quotes.

The theory of a just war was first thought of by St. Augustine, and these scriptures could be an LDS case for one too. The Nephites "we're not fighting for monarchy or for power but instead were fighting for "their wives and children and their right to worship." The Lord even told them that "You will defend your families even unto bloodshed." That certainly sounds like a justification for self defense, and even war.

Trying to get in better shape

My resolution for this year was to try and get in better shape. I'm not going to turn this into a fitness blog, but my last doctors appointment was depressing and shocking to me. I weighed the most I ever did in my life. It was a wake up call.

I am a naturally lazy person who doesn't like effort. After adjusting my eating habits I decided to start walking a bit every day. Like the screen shot indicates, I'm up to about 4.5 miles a day. Going from 0.5 miles a day to 4.5, I have to admit that I'm proud of myself.

This past week, I've tried running for about two minutes during my walk. What I've noticed is 1) I don't get out of breath so easy and 2) there are some serious assholes out there. I've told very few people about this, but the people I have told break into two different types. One-people who say "Oh, 4.5 miles a day? I do 8 miles. You are so out of shape! I laugh at you!" then "You only run two minutes a day? What a pathetic loser!" Then there are those who say "Wow! 4.5 miles! That's amazing! Wow! Two minutes of running! Hope you can push it into 3, than 4, than 5!" Eventually, that's my goal. To start running 4-5 minutes a day, than work from there. 

In case you can't tell, I have utter disdain for the first type of people in my description and huge love of the second type of people. Being the first type of person will get you no where in life.  After all, who likes to be around them? 

Album of the weekend

Ted Nugent-Cat Scratch Fever

Ted Nugent is an arrogant jerk who is hated not just because of his views, but also because he's an arrogant jerk. He reminds me of Gene Simmons-A guy who will listen carefully to what you say, pretend to take it under advisement and then completely ignore you. Both guys are obnoxious, and both men are extremely talented and forever shaped rock music.

The title track, "Cat Scratch Fever" is deservingly thought of as "iconic". It's not just a great song, it's an instantly recognizable rock anthem. It's up there with "Rock and Roll all Night", "Rock you like a Hurricane" and "Don't Stop Believing" (I don't like Don't Stop Believing at all, but I admit it's probably a rock anthem. Aren't I wonderful?)

Nugent is a guitar virtuoso. The guy is incredibly innovative and has influenced a huge amount of people. This album was not my first but for many people Cat Scratch Fever was their introduction to the dangerous side of rock and roll. The album is full of sexual puns and euphemisms. I know of people who stole it from their older uncles/cousins and giggled while listening to it.

The title song is of course the best song on the album. I'm not a huge fan of anything else on it but I strongly suggest buying it just for the title song.  

Ash Wednesday

So on Ash Wednesday (yesterday) I wished all Catholic a prayerful and restful day on my Facebook page. I should have seen it coming, but it was (of course) misunderstood and taken totally out of context. Some LDS asked why I left the church (I haven't) and some Catholics didn't understand why I wished them a happy day while I wasn't Catholic.

This is what I hate about religion.

Thankfully, the majority of people on my friends list who "liked" the post understood what it was. Just someone from another religion wishing people from a differnet religion a happy and prayerful day. Sadly, the people who took it out of context simply can't understand why someone of one religion could possibly wish someone else good will. You don't have to agree with people to wish them well. In fact, if you claim to be religious you should wish most people well, even if they aren't your own religion. 

Fans yelling at athletes

It's always interesting to me when fans heckle professional athletes. I understand why-sports can be a passion for many of us and it's easy to get emotional during games

But it is a terrible idea, in fact it usually shows that you know nothing about sports. Even the worst guy on the worst team in college or pro sports is better than you are. That's why he or she is playing and you are not. If you think you could do better, I strongly advise trying out for the team. I am one hundred percent confident that you will find out very quickly that no, you are not better than the 15th man on the Orlando Magic.