Album of the Weekend

Vinnie Vincent Invasion-Self titled

Vinnie Vincent is among the most underrated guitarists of his generation. For a brief time, he was one of the best alive, and if you don't think so-listen to this album. That doesn't take away from his bizarre and self destructive behavior, and that says nothing about his abilities at this time in his life. Tragically, whether due to age or that he hasn't played in decades, the man can no longer play guitar. However, if you are into glam rock that sounds very close to metal, this album is for you.

It's a sleazy album, and would certainly be rated R-the lyrics have a lot to do with sex and they don't hide that fact. So only listen to it if you can handle that. I hope you can, because if you can get past all that it's a classic for it's era and very underrated. This album is also a little sad to listen to, given what would become of Vincent in the future. Some people are unlucky in life-they have bad things happen to them beyond their control. With Vincent, he brought it all on himself, and knowing this brings a macabre feeling to this album. Still great though.

Aaron Rodgers and his family issues

I'm not a big professional football fan, and I haven't kept up with the story a great deal, but I heard that the Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has some personal drama with his immediate family, including his brother and parents. I don't wish family estrangement on anyone, even though I've gone through my own in the past. However, not talking to cousins/aunts/uncles is totally different than prolonged estrangement with your immediate family.

We are all human, and we all have flaws and weaknesses. Human relationships are complex and nuanced, and sadly, often times run by emotions. Harsh words can sometimes take years to heal. The other truth is that sometimes we just get along better with our friends-they are family we can choose. I'm not naive, I know that Rodgers is a celebrity and therefore-tragically-his private life isn't private. However, he deserves privacy when it comes to such deeply personal matters.

Could the best college team beat the worst pro team?

This question comes up from time to time-whenever a really great college team comes around (Alabama for football, Duke for Basketball) people ask if they are so good that they could beat the pro team going though the worst season at the time. People who don't understand sports or reality seem to believe that a group of amateurs could beat a group of people who are getting paid huge amounts of money to do a job. Simply put, there is no way a college team, even a great college team, could beat a pro team. None. 

None. 

Even on the best college team, only a few players will go pro. They aren't good enough to go pro. In the professional leagues, even on the worst team, all of them are good enough to go pro. They are faster, stronger,  meaner and more importantly-more experienced than the any team of college players. In college, the players are still kids. In the pros, you are dealing with grown men. The mentality difference is huge. 

So no, Duke couldn't beat the Cavaliers and Alabama couldn't beat the Raiders. There is no chance of that happening. 

The band Queen

Yes like I mentioned before in my album of the weekend post on their music, they do have some good songs, even though their biggest hits aren't really my favorite. To me, when you only like the greatest hits album of a band that's a sign that you don't really like their music. It doesn't mean their music is bad, just not your thing.

 Before I go any further, like I've said before I know people are incredibly thin skinned about their favorite band.

"Your mother is a whore."
"No big deal."
"I don't like your favorite band."
"OH MY GOD YOU BASTARD. HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?"

I'm only semi kidding.

I don't get how popular Queen is. While I have respect for any musician who can get someone to pay money for their artwork, I will never understand why Queen inspires such devotion. The level of devotion is usually only seen by Grateful Dead fans and fundamentalist religious people talking about their religion. In fact, some religious people might be more open to dissent than Queen fans.

Someone please explain this to me.

Tae Kwan Do diares

So, after taking karate off and on my entire life, I decided to take a three year break, clear my mind, and start over from scratch. This time, taking a totally different martial arts form-Tae Kwan Do. I stopped by a karate studio in my town and while the instructor seemed incredibly nice and friendly-it seemed vastly unlike the Ed Parker style that I recently took and feel the most comfortable in. So I rolled the dice, and decided to start completely fresh.

Previous training helps because you speak a little bit of the same language-you know the basic blocks, the basic kicks, and the basic (key word, basic) strikes. It's a bit humbling to put on a white belt again (I was at the brown level in my last school, right before black) but I expected that and frankly, it's part of the fun. Wish me luck everyone, here we go.

Scripture Sunday 2 Nephi 2:28

I've heard Jesus called many things, but I still don't understand why He is called "the great Mediator". I think the redeemer of our sins and savior of humanity deserves more than being called "a great Mediator". However, I agree totally with everything else in this passage. We should, of course look unto Him for our redemption, and we should always remember his great commandment, to love one another as I have loved you.

I'm not saying it's easy-in fact, like you, I don't love everyone I meet. If you say you do you have a juvenile and shallow definition of the world "love". However, making the attempt to love someone, no matter their flaws, or at least see them as humans with potential, is a good start to loving everyone.

Non-LDS missionary killed by remote tribe

A non LDS missionary was killed by a remote tribe when he trying to visit them to preach. Apparently the tribe is so violent that they won't let police recover the body.  I say "non-LDS" not as an insult, but because I wanted to be clear that it wasn't someone in a white shirt/black tie-the typical missionary you might think of being talked about on an LDS blog. To be clear-I'd feel the same way about the situation regardless of what kind of missionary he was.

While his death was tragic, this is a stunning lack of common sense. Relying on God to protect you is noble, but that doesn't mean He wants you to walk into a war zone, walk into a dangerous neighborhood, or walk in to isolated tribes known for their violent behavior. Regardless of how dangerous it is to you, these tribes lack natural immunities and could be completely annihilated by diseases that someone brings them. No matter how noble your intentions, wiping out an entire tribe of perhaps the last non-contacted people on this planet is horrific.

Did this guy deserve to die? Of course not. Foolishness should not be a death sentence.

Album of the Weekend

Nirvana-In Utero

It's odd when one of your favorite bands releases an album that you don't like. Imagine going to your favorite restaurant-one you've dined at for years-and they burn the steak, forget the wine and kick you underneath the table when you order dessert. It's not a good experience. That said, at least the waiter was a nice guy and the appetizer wasn't terrible. This album is not a bad album, but it's like dining at the restaurant I described.

No album can be bad with the songs "Rape Me" and "Pennyroyal Tea". Two great songs. Sadly, that's pretty much it. While it's true, no artist or band can achieve longterm success album after album-either financially or creatively-this album might have showed that the end was near for one of the greatest bands of all time. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Bill Maher II

Bill Maher is getting slammed for what he said about Stan Lee. It's not a surprise-Bill Maher gets slammed for things all the time. I disagree with with Maher 90% of the time, and this is no different. However, the hate he is getting this time makes me sick. And tragically, the hate is coming from people who I love-my fellow comic book fans.

Now that geek has become chic, we have nothing to complain about, aside from geek becoming chic. Everyone is attacking Maher for what he said, and they've become totally out of line. Threatening his life and personal attacks on him just because he said something stupid is repulsive and incredibly disturbing. Like you, he has every right to express himself, even if I disagree with it, and I do, strongly.

Stores open on Thanksgiving

Last year, I wrote that I think certain stores should be open on Thanksgiving because not everyone celebrates the holiday and not everyone is close to their families-either geographically or emotionally.  I said the same things on my Facebook page, and needless to say, 75% of people disagreed with me, strongly. That's fine, no one has to agree with what I say and I'm blessed to have friends who disagree with me. Luckily, I have family members that I'm extremely close with-they live only about three hours away and I visit them frequently.

But not everyone is that fortunate.

For whatever reasons-and those reasons are none of your business-it's difficult for some people to be with their families today. Maybe there is no drama-they could be Jehovahs Witnesses or otherwise not celebrate Thanksgiving-but they might want something to do while everyone else is celebrating with their family.

The "one size fits all lets close all stores" ideology doesn't fit. It's not fair to the people who want to work Thanksgiving for whatever reasons they might have.

GoFundMe fraud

Some stories are too good to be true. Some stories are too good to fact check.This was one of them. Last year a story went viral about a homeless man and former veteran helping a woman who ran out of gasoline on I-95 in Philadelphia. Turns out, none of it was true.  It all fell apart when the homeless guy sued the couple to get a larger share of the money. Most of the money was spent at the casinos-I think this couple had a serious gambling problem.

It's a tragic story because it'll make us more skeptical of legit GoFundMe stories. The only thing worse than believing everything you read is believing none of it, so I hope and pray that we don't see this story and simply stop giving to GoFundMe stories. A healthy dose of skepticism is one thing, but believing that everyone is out to screw you and get money is different. Some people do need a legit hand out-nothing wrong with that, life can kick all of us down. I'm hoping that the veteran in this case gets help for his drug addiction and that the guy and girl who seemed to be the masterminds here pay their debt to society.

Scripture Sunday Mosiah 15:11

I think that many churches claim to speak for God in some degree. While it's true, I'm not a theologian and yes, there are exceptions, the majority of Christian Churches claim to be speaking the word of God, and some many claim to be the only church that speaks in the name of God. Those that speak in the name of God or claim to are often called prophets-and the LDS church is one of the few Christian churches that claims to have modern prophetic revelation. In fact, the leaders of our church are referred to as "prophets".

This passage says that those who listened to the prophets are heirs to the kingdom of God, but you have to do more than listen. You also have "to believe that the Lord would redeem his people, look forward to that day, and ask for a remission of your sins." Wow, that's a lot of stuff.

I wonder how many people only do part of that. How many people listen to the prophets on Sunday than ignore them from Monday-Saturday. Or, how many ignore the prophets but believe in the Lord. And I'm sure that not many people look forward to the day where God pulls the curtain down and the second coming begins. This passage seems simple at first but upon second look is incredibly complex.

Vinnie Vincent postpones December concerts

In a move that didn't surprise the cynical, Vinnie Vincent has postponed some concerts from December to February.  Some people are expecting this, because Vincent has had serious problems with being unreliable in the past. I'm disappointed in him, but I'm quite glad I didn't get tickets because I was very close to getting them-I was there in Atlanta during his first public appearance in over two decades back in January.

I'd like to think people  change, and I still think they can-but apparently Vinnie Vincent can't. While I'm sure he has logistical problems getting his back band to preform, my fear is that he just doesn't want to do it anymore. Or, my bigger fear is that he's trying to screw over fans that already paid their hard earned money to enjoy hearing him play his music. He's claiming to be able to bring in some big names for February, but I don't believe him or his promoter.

No one wanted to believe that he would appear in Atlanta-but he did. So he got our hopes up. He got our hopes up again, and this time went right back to his old tricks.

Sad.

Album of the Weekend

Mr. Bella-Cross My Heart 

I saw them when they opened for Stryper in Orlando back in September. They had an unusually short set, and I liked it enough to watch a couple of their videos on Youtube. I downloaded this album, which was released back in 2009. This is one of those albums where it's not my personal taste, but it might very well be yours. 

Many of the songs sound the same, and I'm not sure if that's because of style, production, or how the band wants to sound. For example, while listening to the album on my bike ride I thought I heard the song "So Lost" before, but it turns out I was listening to Rag Doll or Webs. Not a good sign. The album does have a few good songs on it though-I do like the song "Tragedy".

If you are looking for an album that sounds like it should have been made around the year 2000, this might be right up your alley. 

Utah marijuna laws

In a bit of a surprise, it looks like Utah voters have approved Medical Marijuana, even though the church has spoken out against it.  I'm in favor of full decriminalization and legalization of marijuana, so I disagree with the political views of the church. In a way, it doesn't matter. The voters approved it, regardless of what the church or I think.

Utah is clearly changing. Salt Lake City has an openly lesbian mayor. The medical marijuana bill passed. I can't imagine these things happening three decades ago, and it's hard to believe that they are happened now. The influence of the church is in decline, maybe due to people leaving the church or people moving to Utah from another state.

Greyhound racing II

Florida recently overwhelmingly voted to ban greyhound racing. Like 69% of my fellow Floridans, I voted in favor of the ban-after some internal struggle. The issue is a bit more complicated then I originally thought, and it turns out it might have some serious unintended consequences. A story in the Tampa Bay Times reported that thousands of dogs are going to be up for adoption. I'm fairly confident that many of those dogs won't find homes and have to be euthanized.

Of course I blame the sport in the first place for treating these dogs terribly, but the ban (Which again, I voted for) might not have been the best way to combat the mistreatment of the dogs. Now, a large amount of dogs will have to be killed simply because they no longer can be put "to use". Both outcomes-banning and the sport and allowing it to continue have tragic unintended consequences.

Stan Lee

The man behind so many comic book heroes has finally passed away. We all knew it was coming but it doesn't make it any easier. Born Stanley Martin Lieber, the man known to the world as Stan Lee has passed away at age 95. Yes, we all know time waits for no person and we all know that everyone eventually has to pass away but he was so full of life up until the very end. It deluded us to some degree. Our denial kicked in and we thought he'd never leave us.

Childhood is not easy on many of us, especially comic book fans growing up in the 80's/90's. Now that geek has become chic, it's hard for people to understand this but for a time (not too long ago) anyone who was into comics sometimes found it hard to find friends. That gets worse when you are in a smaller school where no one, absolutely no one shares your interests or hobbies. Stan Lee gave us characters we could relate to. Peter Parker is a shy kid, socially ill at ease.  Matt Murdock is blind, but he sees the world better than anyone with sight can thanks to his radar sense, which no one knows he has. Even the villains are sympathetic, to some degree. Magneto is a political idealist who correctly sees that mutants are mistreated in their society and wants more than civil right-he wants equality then eventually, superiority. We could relate to the characters better than anyone else in our world. They gave us an outlet for our own insecurities and worries.

This hurts like it did when Lemmy or Johnny Ramone passed away.

Pete Davidson update

Pete Davidson ate a little crow and invited the veteran who he made fun of on Saturday Night Live this weekend. I admire that and he deserves major credit for it. Sure, the backlash probably had something to do with it, but I don't care. He showed major backbone by admitting he went a bit too far, made fun of a target he shouldn't have, and then let the veteran basically make fun of him right back. In a world where we are all getting more and more thin skinned, Pete Davidson just showed major class.

My favorite part of this (and I didn't see it but I read about it) was how Crenshaws ring tone was apparently a song by Davidsons ex-girlfriend. Damn!

Scripture Sunday

The Korihor saga has ended, and we will be back next Sunday with a fresh, new Scripture Sunday passage. 

Jeff Flake trying to primary Trump

Jeff Flake, the senator from Arizona is attempting to primary Trump in 2020. I wish him the best of luck, but attempting to take down a sitting president is a near impossibility. Just ask Ronald Reagan-who tried to take down Ford in the seventies but sadly failed. The power of the presidency is just too much to overtake.

I'd actually love for someone to primary Trump, but it's nearly impossible. Like it or not, the majority of republicans would still vote for Trump, and Flake would do nothing but split the party. I have zero confidence that Flake would just lie down for the general election-he seems arrogant enough to run as an independent-so he'd split the vote and therefore, virtually assure a democrat would take office. Flake doesn't care about that, he only cares about beating Trump.

Album of the weekend

Ace Frehley-Spaceman

Nearing 70 years old and still making new music, that alone is respectable. The former member of Kiss has always been the most musically talented of the foursome, and he doesn't disappoint on this album. It's not as good as is legendary solo album released in 1978, but it's up there and certainly worth a download. It's always bothered me when someone people just dismiss him as a former member of Kiss. If you can get over that, then get this album.

"Rocking With the Boys" is his answer to the wretched song "Beth". It's a rock song instead of a ballad and it's talking about the same thing as "Beth" did-someone talking to his girlfriend at home while he's playing music. There are some problems with the album, and the most irritating is how he still views himself as a 17 year old street kid from the Bronx. "Bronx Boy" is like that. We get it, you are tougher than us, but it seems like you are trying to convince yourself rather than the rest of us. My personal favorite song on the album is "Your Wish is My Command"-I find myself singing that one around the house more than any other song.

If this is his last album, and I understand why it would be, it's a great one to go off into the sunset with. 

An Indian statue is being removed

My parents live up in New Hampshire, and they told me about a large Indian statue that was going to be removed soon because it's basically rotting away.  Apparently, people are devastated by this. So devastated that when someone started a GoFundMe account to fix the statue, it raised a grand total of about $1,000, no where near the amount needed to actually you know, fix the statue.

I had to chuckle. People love being depressed and outraged over things, but they don't love it enough to actually open their own checkbooks to try and stop it. Sure, the people who donated money have every right to be depressed about it, but no one else does. If you didn't donate your own money, then you obviously don't care enough to fix the problem-so move on and try to find something else to be nostalgic about.

It reminds me of Sears/JC Penny/every other dying retail store. People act nostalgic about it, but if they cared enough about it in the first place, then the store probably wouldn't have gone under in the first place. It's the same (more or less) with this statue. People care about the statue, but if more people cared about it, then it would have gotten the repairs needed to fix it so it wouldn't go anywhere.

Pete Davidison on Saturday Night Live

Okay, true confession time. I don't know who Pete Davidson is, and I haven't watched Saturday Night Live in decades. When I say "decades" I'm not kidding. I think I saw it once when I was 16. A comedian decided to make fun of veteran running for political office. Are we getting too sensitive when it comes to jokes? Absolutely true. Did the veteran running for office basically just shake it off? Yes he did. So it's not about the joke-that's fine and everyone has moved on.

If someone made fun of a liberal woman running for office over her weight, would that be funny? Would the comedian (espcially if the comedian was a man) be able to keep their job? No, of course not. Would people laughing at Pete Davidson laugh at the this hypothetical comedian? No. Pete Davidson (and again, I have no idea who he is) can keep his job and further his career because the guy he made fun of is veteran who isn't cool and hip in his eyes. If Davidson was brave, which he isn't, he'd make fun of someone who his friends all like and admire.

Lenny Bruce was the greatest comedian of all time. He slaughtered scared cows on the left and the right. There are no Lenny Bruces today.

Bike riding work out and age

I got a new bike for my birthday and I've been riding it at every chance I get. Recently I rode 20 miles in one day which no, doesn't mean I'm ready for the Tour De France but is a decent workout for someone who hasn't ridden since he was about 19. I'm 39 years old and when I posted about the workout, someone said, without any sense or irony or humor, that doing that "at my age" was impressive. Again, I'm only 39. This guy is one year older than me. I told him that I pass people on the trail that in their 50's and 60's. He didn't respond. 

I'll never understand people who act prematurely old. 40 is the new 35, and 35 is the new 30. Acting like 40 is the end of your life shows an extremely depressing outlook. You are hopefully going to be around for a lot longer than forty years, and complaining about how old you are and how you can't do things that you used to is not only foolish, it's sad. If you take care of yourself and eat right, you can be in great shape at whatever age you are. I feel better at 39 than I ever did at 21. 

Washington DC might lower the voting age to 16

I thought this would be an idea so stupid that only California would embrace it, but DC has it's share of stupid ideas as well.  Lowering the voting age to sixteen won't get kids more civically involved, it'll just prove that kids don't know enough to make an informed decision. Oh sure, if you lean to the left you'll love the idea, because kids lean leftward too. It's partially because kids don't know how the real world works, and it's also because they are easily influenced by their friends, who also don't know how the real world works. There is a lot of sad truth in the old saying, commonly but mistakenly attributed to Churchill, that "a man who is not a liberal in his twenties has no heart while a man who is not a conservative in his forties has no brain." It's over simplified of course-yes, liberals can be intelligent and yes conservatives can have compassion, but for me and many others it's been more or less true.

What's sadder to me is that forty years ago, even ardent liberals would see what a terrible idea this would be. Kids don't know how the real world works, you didn't at 16, I didn't at 16, and no one did. The folly of youth is that we think we know how the real world works. Hopefully when we get older, we see how wrong we were.

Scripture Sunday Alma 30:30-50 part four

The conversation between Alma and Korihor is easily one of the most interesting parts of the entire Book of Mormon, no question. It's a debate between a believer and an atheist and I'm always stunned how both sides are presented in a decent and reasonable way. Give that the book of Mormon is a holy book written for believers, it should be no surprise that at the end of the passage Korihor is the one punished and he's the one who is struck silent. Did you expect something else?

Korihor is nothing if not honest, at least at first. Alma asks him if he believes in a God, and this time, Korihor says no. Alma asks him if he (Korihor) believes that the holy men deceive the people, and Korhior says "Yes". Eventually Alma asks Korihor if there is proof to what he says and Korihor flips the question around. Alma, in a very beautiful passage mentions his proof-the words of the prophets, the testimony of the brethren, the scriptures, the earth and the planets-to Alma, it's interesting that he uses the earth and the planets and the order that they provide as proof that there is a God.  Believers still do that today.

Finally, Alma has enough and Korihor tries to hedge his bets a bit. Korihor says that he, "does not deny the existence of God but I still don't believe in one. If you don't show me a sign, I won't believe." So Alma gives him a sign, and Korihor is struck silent. This seems to violate his freedom, and it does trouble me a bit. Even if Korihor is wrong, and I believe he is, he should have the right to speak his mind.

More thoughts on genealogy

I've mentioned before that I find genealogy sort of boring. Look, if it's your thing, then knock yourself out. I'm sure you might find some of my interests boring. I love history, in fact the last book I finished was the book by Paul Johnson, A History of the American People. A fantastic book, by the way. So it's not because I don't like history that I don't get into genealogy. I'm adopted, so perhaps subconsciously that's the reason I don't like genealogy either. Whatever the root causes and reasons, genealogy still bores me.

If you claim to be descended from some famous person that's interesting, and I hope it brings you peace. Hate to break it to you, but it doesn't make you special in any way, shape or form. Charles II from England had dozens of mistresses and a staggering amount of illegitimate children. We're probably all related to at least one of them in the end. If you are from Utah, you are probably related to pioneer stock. If you are from New England, you might be related to someone from the Mayflower.  Those kind of facts might have gotten you respect in the 1800's, but now, no one outside your family probably cares.

Album of the weekend

The Struts-Young and Dangerous

Released in 2016, their first album "Everybody Wants" was one of the best albums of the last decade. The Struts epitomize a musical style that is sadly, unknown. Glam Rock. Retro, 1970's New York Dolls style glam rock. They have released some singles in-between the albums and those have been great. "Primadonna Like Me" and "One Night Only" are not on this album, but you should download those two songs right now if you like glam rock.

Should you download this album? It's good, but not as good as their first album-and that's okay. The first few songs are great, "Body Talks" , "In Love With a Camera" and "Bulletproof Baby". The album tails off after that, and unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't match up to the fantastic first three songs. The exception is "Tatler Magazine" which is quite good. A few songs on the album sound remind me of Beatles songs, like "Tatler Magazine" and "People" has an almost Eleanor Rigby style sound.

In another era, the Struts would be the biggest band in the world. In 2018, they are a much needed breath of fresh of air.

Election predictions

After 2016, I don't listen to anyone making election predictions. None. If you think my candidate will win, lose, draw-I don't care. You shouldn't either. Remember when the New York Times had the chances of Hillary winning at close to 100%? (Yes,  they said 92%, but that is close to 100%). 

The Trump election in 2016 made all predications irrelevant. Even the ones that said Trump would win. If you thought Trump would win you either guessed or you had this amazing ability to be psychic. Predictions were saying that Trump would lose Texas, much less Michigan and Pennsylvania. Trump won for many factors- democrats stayed home, and people wanted a "Change" from the 8 years of Obama rule. 

Granted, none of that is in play this election and yes, in most elections the party in power does suffer some losses. So you can make some vague guesses, but we all need to be careful not to make any sweeping predictions about this.