The times change, like record shops....

A story:

It was the summer of 2002. I had just returned from Europe where for the last three weeks I had been relentlessly seeking out vinyl records. I had made the decision during my time in Holland that I was going to become a vinyl geek and simply put there are no shortage of good music shops on the continent. Utrecht, the city I lived in, had at least 4. Anyway, when I got back to the states all I wanted to do was find vinyl. I found several stores via the phone book and searched them out. The most incredible and the only one I even remember was Orpheus in Clarendon.

Orpheus was awesome because (1) it had a pretty incredible selection of used and new vinyl, and (2) it was run by the weirdest looking dude I'd ever seen: A hippy who always seemed to be wearing the same denim shirt and pants every time I went in, and who was known locally for never wearing socks or shoes over his hideously unmanicured feet. His hands weren't that much better. I figured at some point in his life someone had told him about the beauty of nail clippers, but he had decided to ignore this advice in order to more closely resemble Gollum.

...to each their own, right?

Well now Orpheus is closing. I haven't been back there in a long time, mainly because I never replaced my record player after it broke three years ago, and hence didn't see a point to purchasing new vinyl. But I rode by there on my bike today and saw the "Everything must go!" sign and my heart sank.

I mean, what will replace it? Seeing how the Clarendon area is developing the space will probably be rented out to some asshole who wants to open a boutique of some kind. You know, the kind of place that sells handbags. Or pants. Fashionable pants. Made of dead cow skin. The kind of place that necessitates that you call it a "boo-TEEK", which will annoy the shit out of me because I hate that word. And when people tell me about how awesome the new store in Clarendon is I will cringe. I will cringe because I will remember how years ago I walked into that space, which smelled of mildew and hippy feet, and bought a used copy of Motorhead's "Overkill" that rocked my balls off so much I never wanted to listen to the CD version again, hence finally forcing my conversion to music snobbery. I will cringe because it will remind me that Arlington is now, and will forever be, populated by soul-less, workaholic automatons that DO NOT ROCK. I will cringe because one more part of the world that was unique won't be there anymore, and one part of me will be gone with it.

The Sanctions Trap by Scott Ritter

Kucinich is out.

Dennis Kucinich has bowed out of the Democratic Primaries. He said he will not endorse another candidate. Neither will I.

Dennis' candidacy teaches all of us a sad lesson. If you want to get nominated for President in the United States, you've pretty much got to be a foot soldier for business associations, the war industry, and the pro-Israel lobby. You'd think that organized labor, the anti-war movement, civil libertarians, and mainstream environmentalists would flock behind a candidate who has so forcefully supported them in the past, but they are so locked into supporting candidates who are "electable" that they sacrifice everything they are fighting for in hopes of maybe getting a voice. That Ron Paul has been so successful at getting votes from traditionally leftist anti-war voters is only further proof that there really isn't a "Left" in this country anymore.

935 lies (so far) and counting.....

Report details administration lies.

SHOWS I'M IN!!!

The Good Woman of Setzuan
By Bertolt Brecht
Performances – March 27 – April 20, 2008

AND

The Oresteia
Freely adapted from the original by Aeschylus
Performances – May 8 – June 1, 2008

At the Constellation Theatre Company!!
Check out the website for ticket info.

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Garbage Day...

Anybody notice how it's not really cold outside? I mean, it's chilly, but it's not the type of cold I feel is typical of January. Then I read in the Express this morning that the Antarctic ice sheet is melting faster then expected (though still a long way from melting completely), and I think to myself "I need to buy some land up in the Blue Ridge mountains.... Could be valuable beach front property one day."

The Brazilian sun, for those that don't know, is not the same sun that rises above the rest of the world. That sun is at the center of a solar system, and the earth revolves around it. That sun is responsible for the various seasons on earth, that sun is both warm and cold. The Brazilian sun is a special sun that rises from the earth only for Brazil, and lays upon this country the unbearable heat found only at our planet's core.

Seriously, it's hotter than me, nude, with chili sauce.

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Conversations with my family here are very interesting. Everybody has an opinion on everything, and they relate these ideas to you at the exact same time as everybody else. My ears work overtime while I'm here to take in all the information. Considering I can't hear very much over all the clamor, I should probably consider learning how to lip-read.

Also, I have new family members. My cousins are marrying and popping out children at an amazing rate. So watch out, United States of America, Brazilians are breeding. Soon they'll be looking to buy just as many stupid products as we do.