Elder Tom Perry, RIP

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/elder-l-tom-perry-does-at-age-92?cid=social_20150530_46721736&adbid=10153275854666550&adbpl=fb&adbpr=18523396549

RIP Elder Perry :-( 

Gavin McInnes is pure gold

1) This contains some language but you need to get over it and listen. 

2) Agree verbatim with everything he says 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rrtttOCtq8

Not looking good for Tom Perry.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/elder-l-tom-perry-thanks-members-and-friends-as-health-worsens?cid=social_20150529_46655036&adbid=10153205203912013&adbpl=fb&adbpr=53305042012


Praying for Elder Tom Perry. It doesn't look good. :-(

Weekend Album...

Rancid-And Out Come the Wolves-Sure, Ruby Soho tells the cliché story of a person having to end a relationship because one of them wants fame and fortune while the other one is seeking stability, but that song will always make me tear up. It’s one of the best punk love songs of all time. The whole album has a ska like feel to it-one of the many things that make this one a classic. Best songs are Ruby Soho, Time Bomb and She’s Automatic (one of my favorite songs of all time). 

Think for yourself.

Rule of thumb:

Penn from Penn and Teller has a good rule: If you can accurately guess every single one of a persons views within five minutes of knowing them, you don’t have to talk to them to know they are boring. 

It's a good rule-we should be able to think for ourselves. In other words, don't read things that just you agree with. Read the Daily Koz-and Breitbart. Read Ralph Nader and William F Buckley. The God Delusion-and Mere Christianity.  

Don’t be “that guy” who claims to be a free thinker and then spews out just talking points from   only one side 

Thoughts on punk cover songs

We all know cover songs are not as good as the original. I generally agree with that statement-it’s usually a good idea to take a bad song and make it better than to cover a great song. Sometimes though, covering a song from a different genre can lead to good results. Some of my favorite punk covers:

Ring of Fire –Social Distortion. Original by Johnny Cash. Bluntly put, there is only one man in black. Social Distortion covers this song beautifully by making it their own style yet it still has the original sound of the Cash classic.

Judy is a Punk-Joan Jett-Original by the Ramones. Everyone who can play the guitar a bit can cover the Ramones due to the simplicity of their style. Joan Jett is correctly considered the first lady of rock and you can see the love she has for the original while singing this one.

Don’t Stop me Now-The Vandals-Original by Queen-The Vandals are a funny band. It’s impossible not to laugh while listening to them sometimes. That’s a compliment because punk can sometimes take itself too seriously (I exempt classic Jello Biafra). With this cover The Vandals are basically asking someone to stop them than laughing in their face while doing so.

I Fought the Law-The Clash-Original by The Crickets-You don’t get much more punk than fighting the law, in parituclar when the law wins which (both for good and bad)  it always seems to.  The Clash version seems to amplify it and add more than the original but it’s still a great version of a classic rock and roll song.

One of the more famous punk covers is the NOFX version of “Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac.  I like NOFX and the song but not this version. This is a song that has to be sung by a couple that is still in love but won’t work out for practical reasons. Having only one person sing it completely strips the song of everything that makes it interesting. 

Cynics....

I’m generally a cynic. I don’t really believe things unless they meet high standards. I called myself a “skeptic”. Ironically, since most believers are actually more skeptical than atheists (further blog entry) I’ve always thought of myself as one. I’m too hard headed to believe something if I can poke holes in it. However, while reading David Berlinski’s excellent “The Devils Delusion” , in the first chapter he talks about a reporter and scientist engaged in a debate about atheist. “In the end, one was left  skeptical? Is there a point where skepticism becomes a like a slippery slope? I’m not skeptical of everything. When a 6,000 ton heavier-than-air-power-by-an-explosive liquid device flies through the air at 850 mph? Count me out of that one. Wait, what? This happens? How? I’m too lazy to explain propulsion, lift, and how planes fly. It’s called science. There’s a lot of evidence that if we build things the right way, we can basically ignore the laws of gravity. That’s amazing if thought about. We know this stuff based our experience and evidence. That’s called a posterioi knowledge. There’s also a priori knowledge. That’s a perfectly valid form of evidence as well.  It’s a much more complicated form of evidence so people often have a hard time explaining it. It’s an evidence based on innate knowledge. Does the thought of eating a turkey sandwich bother you? What about a human child sandwich? That surely is repulsive, but thankfully no one ever has had to teach me that. I “just know”. Evolution would teach me that eating children has its benefits-I have a constant food source that I can create, after all. So, why don’t eat them? Because it’s repulsive. Even a little sickening to write about. We “just know” it’s wrong.  That’s a good example. Lot’s of moral questions and our legal system are like that. Am I skeptical that eating baby sandwiches is wrong? No, I’m fairly confident about that one.   I’m a libertarian and generally against laws, but that is one I support. Albeit grudgingly. So where is all this going, and what am I talking about? I’m trying to inform you about the evidence that lead me to believe in the Book of Mormon. It’s a priori evidence. In my personal reading of the book of Mormon,  I “just know” it’s true. Every word, actually. Does other evidence count? Of course it does. We’ll talk more about it later. 

Memorial Day weekend album...

Green Day-Dookie-Everyone my age, even those who don’t like the style, has this album. Aside from being one of the most influential albums of the 90’s, this album is just flat out amazing. Green Day has fallen apart since then-I am no fan of their musical and think it’s incredibly overrated. It’s what people think punk is, not what punk really is. However nothing can take away from this album-it is truly outstanding and a landmark in punk history. Best songs are Sassafrass Roots, Longview, Coming Clean

Cool convert story.

http://ldsmissionaries.com/from-book-of-mormon-musical-to-mormon-convert/

I love stories like this! A person saw the Book of Mormon musical (which is really funny, giving credit where credit it is due) and became a Mormon! 

About me

I’m in my mid 30’s, from the northeast but in the process of relocating down south. I hate it up in New England and I am a born again southern boy.

I’m obsessed with music, in particular punk and metal-and I go out of my way not to watch modern movies. The only good movies are from the 50's and 70's. There are exceptions here and there. 

No matter where I am, odds are I’d rather be at mosh pit or a bookstore.

I’m married, and that’s incredibly odd to me because I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life that would ruin even the strongest marriage. To quote David Bednar, I am the weakest of the weak. I’ve hurt many women in my life, and I’ve certainly the hurt the ones closest to me the worst. 

A quote by Nabokov sums me up pretty well. “My loathings are simple: Stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty and soft music.”

Politically I lean towards the right though I’m not a conservative in the least. I am a firm believer in the rights of the individual and I don’t like tradition or authority.

People who join a lot of clubs baffle me-like Groucho Marx said I would never join a club that would have people like me as a member.

Changing a tire is beyond my capacity; I can barely pump my own gasoline.

Hiking and cycling are two of my favorite “outdoor” activities but the two weeks I spent at summer camp were the worst two weeks of my life. One of my first church callings was as a den leader in Cub Scouts and I felt bad for the kids. Thank God I didn’t have to go camping with them, it would have been a disaster.

After getting my first tattoo at age thirty I got hooked and got five more within a few years. Even though the church frowns on them I love getting tattoos and will certainly get more. The American traditional style is my favorite style.

 I’m a very liberal Mormon in some ways. I have no problem with either gay marriage or women having the priesthood. However I believe that the prophets know more than I do and I accept that they run the church and not I. 

Paradoxically I’m a very conservative Mormon too. I believe the Book of Mormon tells the history of a civilization that actually existed in reality, even though it’s obvious that you can be an LDS in good standing and believe otherwise.