I would like to thank my high school english teachers Mr. Clancy and Mrs. Debs for making me read and report on Carl Sandburg. He stuck with me and he makes a lot of sense. Check out this poem everyone.
Hey,
Some things on my mind. I had an interesting time at the NACA conference. I saw some old friends and made some new ones. I hope to be branching out into the college market more. Currently writing some new stuff and look to have a new show by Fall. Plan on using some multimedia and tightening up the game a little.
Man I had a great show in Pasadena. The students there were great. Got a standing “O” and everything was sweet. Talked to this kid afterwards from Lebanon. Really interesting conversation. This was an intense school where a lot of the kids are pressured to go to college. And the right college. It was intense when as the character of “pi” i said “my father has his own addiction. Its called success.” There was a dull roar of laffing approval and the faculty smirked a little too… cuz they know what these kids are feeling. It was just intense.
Anyway, I’m off to Illinois this week. 5 shows in two days. OH MY!
Stuff that affected me this week to 10 days:
1.Melissa Etheridge singing at the grammys. In the middle of chemo and the struggle of her life she came out bald and beautiful singing Janis Joplins “Take a little piece of my heart”. Chills. tears. Shouts of “yeah man!”
2.Just escaping the landslides in Pasadena. Made it out of town as the thunder was clapping and the rains were coming. Lots of rain. There were two giraffes and two llamas sitting next to me on the arc…err uhm plane.
3.Hunter S. Thompson killed himself. Wicked sad. One of the great ones. A true independent voice. I read some of his stuff growing up and it always challenged me…and if there was ever a time that we needed his voice…its now.
4.I watched the NBA all star game. It sucked. The opening ceremony lasted 45 minutes with Ciara dancing around all the players. Then the worst part. The national anthems. I’m an american and a patriot but when will this bogus false nationalism subside. When will this red, white, and blue smokescreen stop. The canadian anthem was very tastefully done. Just a nice solo sung by this sweet lady. Then the american anthem kicks in. 50-100 soldiers march out. Full color guard. Drums beating. High leg kick march. Square jawed von trapp looking band. Guns firing. Salute the troops overseas. Pagentry. March. March. The air force band sings. Sparks fly. Crowd goes ape. So overdone. I swear the march was like a goose step. This is out of control. I no longer recognize my country. The lies continue from GW. Let me shout something here.
SOCIAL SECURITY IS NOT GOING BANKRUPT!
TAKING MONEY OUT OF THE SYSTEM WILL NOT “SAVE” IT BUT KILL IT.
YOUR PRESIDENT IS LYING TO YOU!
Social security has problems but it is solvent until 2048. The way to get more money in the sysyem is to REPEAL the bush tax cut. He cut taxes for the wealthiest of the wealty. (The top 2% saved millions while the rest of us got a $300 rebate/hush money) The fact is if we repealed just 25% of the tax cut It would add 15 years onto the life of social security. If we raised the tax wage cap from 87,000 to 115,000 it would add even more years. (Did you know that people who make over 87,000 only pay into social security on thier first 87,000? That means a guy making 2 million a year pays the same amount into Social security as a guy making $87,000..How is that fair) Its simple economics. He wants to take money out of the system and put it into the stock market so that the rich will get richer. He calls it a “personal account”. Its a lie. Americans can already have a personal account. Call fidelity, or bank of america and open an IRA. Its simple. Social security is not a retirement account. Its an insurance policy which has served my elderly parents well for years and will serve you and me with a little tweaking and asking americans to do their share. (Ya remember JFK right? Ask what you can do for your country. This president has not asked one rich person to do ANYTHING for this country. He has however asked poor people to DIE for it)
I can’t say it any clearer. HE IS LYING. HE LIES ABOUT HOW BAD IT IS IN IRAQ. HIS POLICIES HAVE KILLED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OVERSEAS AND HE SHOULD BE TRIED FOR WAR CRIMES.
Why am I shouting? ‘Cause back in 2000 I voteed for him:-( I am like a scorned lover who finds out he’s been betrayed. In the old days the blues songs sang about the “woman whose been messin ’round” and the “man who done did his woman wrong. ” Well people. I done been had. Please know that I am not against republicans necesarily. And I know that both parties have flaws. I am against bad policies that hurt people. I am against a leader who refuses to tell the truth. I am against a leader whose policies have treated addicts like 2nd class citizens even though he himself is a recovering addict. In my state of Massachusetts our governor cut the amount of state funded beds available for detox patients from 1,700 to less than 500. So I speak out. My Governors name is Mitt Romney and he is running in 2008. Beware. I love my country. I love my family. I love my neighbors. I love the young people I perform for…and I think we deserve the truth. Like John Lennon said “Gimme Some truth”. Read “1984″. Read “Brave New World” Read your newspaper. Watch C-Span. Stay informed. Notice the strange pose of W in this picture. Raising his arm and hand. Remind you of anyone?
Sorry I have been so bad about keeping up with this. I’m in Minneapolis for the next few days. My friend mykee and I have combined forces for a conference called NACA. Off to Pasadena after this is over. Below is a picture of our booth and Mykee making friends.
