Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, Ltd.

• Woke up early and am now waiting: gas company ('all day' appointment is not an appointment) and internet (1 to 5 is closer to appointment). #
• Amazingly enough, Time Warner is here early to install THE INTERNETS. Hopefully it won't take too long… #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• I'm listening to The Choir's new album, Burning Like the Midnight Sun. It is really good. #

Powered by Twitter Tools

I’ve been listening to The Choir for years; in many ways, their music has been more influential on me than any other band. Their Speckled Bird album began my transition away from traditional “Christian rock” which, while often competently and expertly played, lacked any real personality, to music that came more directly from the personal experiences of the members. With Burning Like The Midnight Sun The Choir continues to create deeply personal music with a distinct, original sound. Each of the members is at the top of their game musically, and I especially like hearing more of Dan Michael’s saxophone. Lyrically, The Choir continues to present issues of faith and relationships in a way that is not preachy or candy-coated, but rooted in real life. For fans, this album is a welcome return of The Choir, showing that they haven’t lost anything in the years between albums. For new listeners, this is an accessible album that will give them a good start in looking into the rest of The Choir’s work.

Originally published at Puddleglum Music

• Yay! I have been recommended for a teaching position in the San Antonio area! I still have to interview with the superintendent, though. #
• This is our last night in Lubbock. Hooray. (@ The Park Apartments) http://4sq.com/694R3X #
• We are officially out of Lubbock and in Stonewall; I have my final interview with the superintendent tomorrow at 2. #
• I am officially hired! #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• I'm at Garcia's Mexican Restaurant (3820 FM 3009 # 136, Schertz). http://4sq.com/chvUte #
• I'm at Panda Express (11220 Huebner Road, San Antonio). http://4sq.com/cMnWkW #
• Panda Express fortune: "Your most memorable dream will come." Translation: Prepare for the Zombie Apocalypse. #
• Good thing about packing: finding things you thought you'd lost or forgotten you had. #
• From the Soup (actually some soap opera): "No more wondering what's for breakfast… It's more like, 'What's for life?'" #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• The Doctor playing football (soccer) = superbly brilliant. I love episodes where the Doctor has to be "normal" and totally fails at it. #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• @ryan_connolly agree in reply to ryan_connolly #
• Best line from the Soup (from the show True Beauty) – "I'll accept bottom place, but I won't accept losing!" #
• I just ousted @jtyost2 as the mayor of The Park Apartments on @foursquare! http://4sq.com/694R3X #
• Pictures from a Russian edition of The Hobbit: http://ow.ly/1XEAz (from @geeknights) #
• I just found out that L.S. Underground's _The Grape Prophet_ is available for download at http://lsunderground.bandcamp.com for $9. #
• A CD copy of _The Grape Prophet_ on eBay goes for $50-100 last time I checked, by the way. #
• What do you do when a monument like Stonehenge misbehaves? Blow it up! #

Powered by Twitter Tools

I’m going to do a proper article (or two) on our quick trip to Roswell and Carlsbad (June 7-8), with pictures and slideshows, but this will do for now (it’s well past sleepy time).

Roswell: UFO Museum is not the only reason (or the best reason): Art Museum much cooler; zoo (peacocks especially) is cool too (though small); wish we could have gone to more museums: historical and contemp. art.

Carlsbad: Caverns are well worth the trip; walk is long (and hard on knees, well on my right knee because I tend to put more weight on it) but a great experience. In town we ate at the No Whiner Diner, which was good. (We both had chicken fried steak). The whole place has a snarky attitude we appreciate.

65 speed limit in place where it should be 70 (why?)

New Mexicans are almost indistinguishable from Texans (apart from only needing one license plate).  We spotted our first authentic New Mexican in Tatum and I couldn’t even tell the difference.

We thought Texas was boring between Sweetwater and Lubbock; eastern New Mexico is generally worse (not even farmhouses or small, almost-dried-up towns every 10-15 miles) with occasional spots of brilliance (ie Carlsbad and the sand dunes on US Hwy 380).

Lubbock to Roswell: Beth Orton (Comfort of Stangers, Central Reseravation, and the Best Bit EP); Ben Folds Five (Whatever and Ever Amen)

Roswell to Carlsbad: The Decemberists (The Crane Wife and The Hazards of Love)

Carlsbad to Hobbs: The Beatles (White Album)

Hobbs to Lubbock: Metallica (Death Magnetic) and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster (II)

• RT @ryan_connolly: This really sucks! Guillermo Del Toro is no longer directing 'The Hobbit'! – http://bit.ly/bqTcmT #
• RT @RawRock: what the crazy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5RYCWgY7-o #
• I'm finding the tendency of documentaries to use the same footage over and over (especially stock footage with little relevance) annoying. #
• To all the veterans who read this: Thank you for your service; I'm glad this day is not specifically for you. #
• Those who blame others for their problems and look to others for solutions are easily manipulated. #
• @StarShipSofa We had a grapevine when we lived outside Memphis, TN, but we never had to do anything with it but make grape jelly. in reply to StarShipSofa #
• Bill Nighy + Doctor Who = Brilliant! #

Powered by Twitter Tools

This afternoon I was watching a panel on CSPAN from the Brookings Institute about election & campaign finance reform. One of the key points the panelists made is that many individuals feel that they are cut out of the system; that their “voices are not being heard,” etc. This is certainly something that we have seen regardless of party or political orientation; one of the panelists stated that it’s not a Democrat-Republican divide, but a top-bottom split. While it is very true that our elected officials in Washington, DC are supposed to represent their constituents (I think referring to a vague “the people” is misleading), I think the problems stem not so much from the way campaigns are financed, although that is certainly part of it, but from the expansion of federal power.

The federal government has been steadily, with great jumps in times of crisis, expanding its powers at the expense of the states. We see this in the overuse of the Interstate Commerce clause, in federal departments without constitutional authority (such as the Department of Education), and in the overly-broad interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment. One result of this is that the individual who wishes to be involved in politics finds their attention being drawn ever toward Washington. It is no wonder, then, that many individuals find they are not well-represented by the 536 most-public faces of the federal government.

This shouldn’t be a problem given the way the Constitution structures the federal government. The federal government is supposed to be concerned primarily with external matters (treaties, defense) and internal matters among the several states (interstate commerce). Those issues of the most direct impact to the individual are, according to the Constitution, under the power of the states or the individual people. If the federal government were still within constitutional limits, then, people would find themselves in a better position to be represented. The mayor of a city, the city councilman, the county, the state representative: these should be our primary focus for representation in government.

How can a president personally represent 300 million people? How can a senator represent every person in a state individually? They can’t, and they shouldn’t be expected to do so. But this feeling of not being represented in Washington is a direct result of the expectation that it should be so. And that expectation is itself a result of the encroachment of the federal government into the everyday lives of citizens.

Our direct contacts with the federal government should be few and far between; our contact with local and state governments frequent and often. If people want to be represented by government, they should call for a return to constitutional limits on federal power and return power to the individual and the states.