today was long. earlier on the way to buy 75 earplugs at guitar center, we got in an accident. not serious, but serious enough to leave a crack in the front of our plastic car. on the way home from back to back rehearsals, my toyota broke down a half mile from my house and I pushed it home. i think it's the alternator.
in other news, the film love song for bobby long is not very entertaining. here's a video from the overdubs show at full circle brew co.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
World AIDS Day
Tonight, a couple of us participated in a Broken Bread Poverty meal for World AIDS Day, we fasted during the day and ate the corn/soy porridge blend dropped by the
UN during emergency situations. I was struck once again, by the scope of the global pandemic and by the generally tepid response from those of us in America. Granted, we generally tend to rely on celebrities and corporations for our information and advocacy. Sometimes these campaigns turn into enduring and effective organizations, see ONE, the campaign to make poverty history. Sometimes these campaigns are less than effective, see the RED campaign which seems to exist to make multi-national corporations look responsible. (Although, to be fair RED Wire music looks pretty cool)
Regardless of what the rich and famous do, it is time for those of us average Americans to do more and that's what's so encouraging about Acting on AIDS, a grassroots organization that began with college students in Seattle and eventually became an off shoot of World Vision. I had the opportunity to meet James Pedrick, from the national team for Acting on AIDS. Pedrick has recently relocated to Washington DC. When I met him last year at the Global Summit on AIDS, shortly before Mrs. Clinton's speech, I was very impressed not only with his grasp of the issues (to be expected for an expert in the field) but also with his thoughtful, philosophically sound approach to AIDS advocacy in post-modern youth culture. Engaging young adults will take more than a facebook page or a targeted campaign (see the RED product line) Also, kudos to World Vision, for having the flexibility to take in AOA without taking it over and saddling them with a bunch of fund raising goals.
Below is some text from the Advocacy Petition, which you should consider signing if you are a human being.
Considered the greatest humanitarian disaster of our time, the AIDS crisis is leaving a generation of children in jeopardy. In 2006 alone, AIDS killed an estimated 380,000 children under the age of 15. By 2010, there will be 15.7 million children orphaned by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and 20.2 million children orphaned by the disease globally. AIDS destabilizes families and entire societies, leaving children without the care and support necessary to survive, grow and thrive.
In order to continue exercising leadership on this issue, the United States must:
>> Fully fund the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief over the next five years by providing at least $7 billion in fiscal year 2009;
>> Commit to setting aside 10 percent of AIDS funding for orphans and vulnerable children;
>> Given the deadly synergy between HIV and AIDS and malaria, fulfill the commitment to providing $48 billion over the next five years HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
America has become a strong leader in the fight against HIV and AIDS. I, along with World Vision, ask that Congress continue to increase the U.S. contribution to the global AIDS fight and ensure that AIDS-affected children are not forgotten.
UN during emergency situations. I was struck once again, by the scope of the global pandemic and by the generally tepid response from those of us in America. Granted, we generally tend to rely on celebrities and corporations for our information and advocacy. Sometimes these campaigns turn into enduring and effective organizations, see ONE, the campaign to make poverty history. Sometimes these campaigns are less than effective, see the RED campaign which seems to exist to make multi-national corporations look responsible. (Although, to be fair RED Wire music looks pretty cool)
Regardless of what the rich and famous do, it is time for those of us average Americans to do more and that's what's so encouraging about Acting on AIDS, a grassroots organization that began with college students in Seattle and eventually became an off shoot of World Vision. I had the opportunity to meet James Pedrick, from the national team for Acting on AIDS. Pedrick has recently relocated to Washington DC. When I met him last year at the Global Summit on AIDS, shortly before Mrs. Clinton's speech, I was very impressed not only with his grasp of the issues (to be expected for an expert in the field) but also with his thoughtful, philosophically sound approach to AIDS advocacy in post-modern youth culture. Engaging young adults will take more than a facebook page or a targeted campaign (see the RED product line) Also, kudos to World Vision, for having the flexibility to take in AOA without taking it over and saddling them with a bunch of fund raising goals.
Below is some text from the Advocacy Petition, which you should consider signing if you are a human being.
Considered the greatest humanitarian disaster of our time, the AIDS crisis is leaving a generation of children in jeopardy. In 2006 alone, AIDS killed an estimated 380,000 children under the age of 15. By 2010, there will be 15.7 million children orphaned by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and 20.2 million children orphaned by the disease globally. AIDS destabilizes families and entire societies, leaving children without the care and support necessary to survive, grow and thrive.
In order to continue exercising leadership on this issue, the United States must:
>> Fully fund the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief over the next five years by providing at least $7 billion in fiscal year 2009;
>> Commit to setting aside 10 percent of AIDS funding for orphans and vulnerable children;
>> Given the deadly synergy between HIV and AIDS and malaria, fulfill the commitment to providing $48 billion over the next five years HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
America has become a strong leader in the fight against HIV and AIDS. I, along with World Vision, ask that Congress continue to increase the U.S. contribution to the global AIDS fight and ensure that AIDS-affected children are not forgotten.
Monday, November 24, 2008
mallonee videos
Dug up two videos: The first, a video for the haunted, cracked beauty of "Resplendent", a song that seems more appropriate today than it did in 2000, now that we are at the tail end of the Bush-era.
How much of this was meant to be?
How much the work of the devil?
How far can one man's eyes really see
in these days of toil and trouble?
How much of this is failing flesh?
How much the course of retribution?
My my how loudly we plead our innocence
long after we've made our contribution.
The second is a Bob Dylan cover, by way of the Byrds more pop version. "My Back Pages."
How much of this was meant to be?
How much the work of the devil?
How far can one man's eyes really see
in these days of toil and trouble?
How much of this is failing flesh?
How much the course of retribution?
My my how loudly we plead our innocence
long after we've made our contribution.
The second is a Bob Dylan cover, by way of the Byrds more pop version. "My Back Pages."
vigilantes of love, bill mallonee
I stayed up way too late last night pondering/researching/ruminating on the life and times of a certain songwriting hero of mine, Bill Mallonee formerly/currently of Vigilantes of Love. See Wikipedia article.
Bill has fallen on some hard times recently, so if you like what you hear, please consider purchasing some of his records. Also, there are some good deals available. I just got Audible Sigh from Amazon mp3 for $6.99 even though I own the disc somewhere. Part of me feels like editorializing on Bill's uniquely American story but I'll leave that up to this excellent piece in CT and instead recommend that you give his music a chance.
I recommend the songs, "Resplendant" and "Goes with Saying" from Audible Sigh but my favorite VOL record is "To the Roof of The Sky."
Bill has fallen on some hard times recently, so if you like what you hear, please consider purchasing some of his records. Also, there are some good deals available. I just got Audible Sigh from Amazon mp3 for $6.99 even though I own the disc somewhere. Part of me feels like editorializing on Bill's uniquely American story but I'll leave that up to this excellent piece in CT and instead recommend that you give his music a chance.
I recommend the songs, "Resplendant" and "Goes with Saying" from Audible Sigh but my favorite VOL record is "To the Roof of The Sky."
Friday, October 17, 2008
missed blog action day of course, boho alien article
ah crap, for the second year in a row, I missed blog action day...
this year's theme was global poverty, a topic that I am incredibly passionate about so you can imagine my dismay when I logged on one day late and was too demoralized to even post earlier this week. however, I can take solace in the fact that I am involved in some concrete efforts to reduce poverty, both locally and globally and this is at least a small part of the reason that I have been such a poor blogger lately.
regardless, in honor of blog action day, which I missed, I thought that I would reprint the article I published a while back in the bohemian alien, which is currently offline for a while. here it is if you're interested.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about toothbrushes and bicycle crashes.
My boss, the honorable Rev. Bob Willis, has a saying related to biking for transportation safety-related issues. “Respect the Ride,” he says. About a year ago, iPod in hand and helmetless, I managed to hit a rock (or a bottle?) and wound up getting my face glued back together in the emergency room at Clovis Community Hospital. I did not respect the ride. Fortunately, my injuries were relatively minor but in response, I now wear a helmet (O.K., most of the time, I wear one) and I try to ride unencumbered by objects like fountain drinks or textbooks in my hands.
A couple of months ago, I was privileged to spend some time in the countryside outside Ensenada, Mexico with some very poor indigenous Indian children whose families could not even afford proper food, much less toothbrushes for their large families.
Many of the families we met there had come up from the Oaxaca province in southern Mexico to find a better quality of life and instead wound up as indentured servants, indebted to farm owners who leverage the families travel costs against any meager wages they earn. They live in refugee-style camps, bathing outdoors and sleeping in chicken coops or plastic tarps draped over trees.
These living conditions were shocking and brutal, rivaling anything I’ve seen on television or elsewhere. In my life, I’ve been fortunate to travel all over the world, from South America to Asia to Eastern Europe and more, and I have never witnessed up-close the poverty that I saw there, only 70 miles from the U.S. border.
Tragically, the children themselves are often victims of discrimination and have little-to-no educational opportunities. Many of the Indians from Oaxaca are non-Spanish monolingual and are unable to adjust to the culture of Baja California. The children live in the rural camps, far from the Mexican school system, and often work all day in the fields with their parents. These families who come from far away in search of opportunities are then stranded without opportunity.
As accurately as I understand it from my western perspective, these families are de facto slaves.
On the same trip to Ensenada, my wife Bekah and I were given the opportunity to speak for a group of about 20 local pastors and their wives. I talked about Amos Chapter 5, pointing out that the culture of the day was filled with wickedness and oppression because the people had lost their commitment to justice and the Kingdom of God. I shared that unless we who are the church repent and return to remembering the poor, we will never see transformation in culture or fulfill our missional calling to be the hope of the world.
As you might imagine, I felt some discomfort at telling a group of ministers in Mexico, many of who sacrifice every day for their calling and who are likely poorer than I am, to remember the poor and to pursue the call of justice.
Many of the pastors had teenage children and were anxious to hear about our own experiences growing up in the church. As a group, they were concerned about the destructive trajectory of youth culture in Mexico and its effect on their kids. We agreed that much of popular culture is rotten. However, it is not just popular culture that is damaged; our culture within the church has been equally shaped by the forces of materialism, greed and selfishness and is in need of transformation.
Which brings us back to bicycle crashes and toothbrushes.
There was real joy evident in the faces of the children when we distributed toothbrushes and hygiene items. I believe that our ministry there, both relational and relief oriented, was an act of compassionate and pleasing worship.
But the systematic cycle of poverty for migrant farm workers is a multi-faceted and complex problem, one that will take decades to solve. Advocating for the outcast, the marginalized, the oppressed and the poor will require a lifetime of patience, willful determination and the cultivation of Christ-like attributes. If I am going to commit my life to following the commands of Jesus and to his calling to be part of his mission to redeem the world, than I need to learn to “Respect the Ride.”
Meaning that it is a hard road I and my friends are called to. Meaning that a missional calling on behalf of the poor will be a hard sell in our often morally bankrupt “Christian” culture. Meaning that I have no choice but to get rid of some things that might encumber me.
Like bitterness, anger and despair.
The blatant injustice of things I have seen might make me angry. When I feel like a second-class Christian in my job as a pastor because I don’t have Red State political beliefs, I might get bitter. When I am confronted with the scale of global poverty, of 25,000 children starving to death today, I might be overwhelmed by despair.
Arturo Paoli says “We can move in the direction of justice, but if our personal relationships don’t become more human, we haven’t moved in the direction of the reign of God and, in the long run, we will discover that our point of arrival is just another form of tyranny.”
When I read that, I am convicted.
Because the cause of Christian Justice is a marathon, not a sprint, and putting aside my own minor frustrations and tribulations (honestly, they are nothing compared to the concerns facing malnourished children without clean drinking water) is not only recommended, it is a requirement.
this year's theme was global poverty, a topic that I am incredibly passionate about so you can imagine my dismay when I logged on one day late and was too demoralized to even post earlier this week. however, I can take solace in the fact that I am involved in some concrete efforts to reduce poverty, both locally and globally and this is at least a small part of the reason that I have been such a poor blogger lately.
regardless, in honor of blog action day, which I missed, I thought that I would reprint the article I published a while back in the bohemian alien, which is currently offline for a while. here it is if you're interested.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about toothbrushes and bicycle crashes.
My boss, the honorable Rev. Bob Willis, has a saying related to biking for transportation safety-related issues. “Respect the Ride,” he says. About a year ago, iPod in hand and helmetless, I managed to hit a rock (or a bottle?) and wound up getting my face glued back together in the emergency room at Clovis Community Hospital. I did not respect the ride. Fortunately, my injuries were relatively minor but in response, I now wear a helmet (O.K., most of the time, I wear one) and I try to ride unencumbered by objects like fountain drinks or textbooks in my hands.
A couple of months ago, I was privileged to spend some time in the countryside outside Ensenada, Mexico with some very poor indigenous Indian children whose families could not even afford proper food, much less toothbrushes for their large families.
Many of the families we met there had come up from the Oaxaca province in southern Mexico to find a better quality of life and instead wound up as indentured servants, indebted to farm owners who leverage the families travel costs against any meager wages they earn. They live in refugee-style camps, bathing outdoors and sleeping in chicken coops or plastic tarps draped over trees.
These living conditions were shocking and brutal, rivaling anything I’ve seen on television or elsewhere. In my life, I’ve been fortunate to travel all over the world, from South America to Asia to Eastern Europe and more, and I have never witnessed up-close the poverty that I saw there, only 70 miles from the U.S. border.
Tragically, the children themselves are often victims of discrimination and have little-to-no educational opportunities. Many of the Indians from Oaxaca are non-Spanish monolingual and are unable to adjust to the culture of Baja California. The children live in the rural camps, far from the Mexican school system, and often work all day in the fields with their parents. These families who come from far away in search of opportunities are then stranded without opportunity.
As accurately as I understand it from my western perspective, these families are de facto slaves.
On the same trip to Ensenada, my wife Bekah and I were given the opportunity to speak for a group of about 20 local pastors and their wives. I talked about Amos Chapter 5, pointing out that the culture of the day was filled with wickedness and oppression because the people had lost their commitment to justice and the Kingdom of God. I shared that unless we who are the church repent and return to remembering the poor, we will never see transformation in culture or fulfill our missional calling to be the hope of the world.
As you might imagine, I felt some discomfort at telling a group of ministers in Mexico, many of who sacrifice every day for their calling and who are likely poorer than I am, to remember the poor and to pursue the call of justice.
Many of the pastors had teenage children and were anxious to hear about our own experiences growing up in the church. As a group, they were concerned about the destructive trajectory of youth culture in Mexico and its effect on their kids. We agreed that much of popular culture is rotten. However, it is not just popular culture that is damaged; our culture within the church has been equally shaped by the forces of materialism, greed and selfishness and is in need of transformation.
Which brings us back to bicycle crashes and toothbrushes.
There was real joy evident in the faces of the children when we distributed toothbrushes and hygiene items. I believe that our ministry there, both relational and relief oriented, was an act of compassionate and pleasing worship.
But the systematic cycle of poverty for migrant farm workers is a multi-faceted and complex problem, one that will take decades to solve. Advocating for the outcast, the marginalized, the oppressed and the poor will require a lifetime of patience, willful determination and the cultivation of Christ-like attributes. If I am going to commit my life to following the commands of Jesus and to his calling to be part of his mission to redeem the world, than I need to learn to “Respect the Ride.”
Meaning that it is a hard road I and my friends are called to. Meaning that a missional calling on behalf of the poor will be a hard sell in our often morally bankrupt “Christian” culture. Meaning that I have no choice but to get rid of some things that might encumber me.
Like bitterness, anger and despair.
The blatant injustice of things I have seen might make me angry. When I feel like a second-class Christian in my job as a pastor because I don’t have Red State political beliefs, I might get bitter. When I am confronted with the scale of global poverty, of 25,000 children starving to death today, I might be overwhelmed by despair.
Arturo Paoli says “We can move in the direction of justice, but if our personal relationships don’t become more human, we haven’t moved in the direction of the reign of God and, in the long run, we will discover that our point of arrival is just another form of tyranny.”
When I read that, I am convicted.
Because the cause of Christian Justice is a marathon, not a sprint, and putting aside my own minor frustrations and tribulations (honestly, they are nothing compared to the concerns facing malnourished children without clean drinking water) is not only recommended, it is a requirement.
Friday, September 12, 2008
tired and stuff
it's been a long, long time since I posted a proper blog, Jul 23rd to be specific. this entry is not a return to form, rather it's just a chance to say that I am excited to play some overdubs shows with my new guitar and pedal board and that I felt compelled to share this unreleased video.
many good things are in the pipeline (not the oil pipeline though, that's just black death).
many good things are in the pipeline (not the oil pipeline though, that's just black death).
Friday, August 8, 2008
Big Oil in Ecuador
I haven't had much time to blog lately, but I thought I'd share this illuminating quote from Big Oil. You too, can get this kind of stuff from Sojourners magazine.
"We can't let little countries screw around with big companies like this—companies that have made big investments around the world."
- a Chevron lobbyist, who asked not to be identified, speaking about a lawsuit brought on behalf of thousands of Indigenous Ecuadorian peasants over the dumping of billions of gallons of toxic oil wastes into their region's rivers and streams. Chevron is pressuring the Bush administration to eliminate special trade preferences for Ecuador if its government doesn't quash the case. (Source: Newsweek)
"We can't let little countries screw around with big companies like this—companies that have made big investments around the world."
- a Chevron lobbyist, who asked not to be identified, speaking about a lawsuit brought on behalf of thousands of Indigenous Ecuadorian peasants over the dumping of billions of gallons of toxic oil wastes into their region's rivers and streams. Chevron is pressuring the Bush administration to eliminate special trade preferences for Ecuador if its government doesn't quash the case. (Source: Newsweek)
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