OFF TOPIC THURSDAY.........dear Gawd! it's a revolution........

Welcome to Off Topic Thursday..........each week in this space, i choose not to limit myself to the subject of AUG music......so you'll take whatever gruel i hand ya.....and you will LIKE IT...............

At home we have a wonderful relationship with NETFLIX.........between that wonderful service and the library, we never ever have to be bothered with the vast majority of the tripe that is network television.......or any other television for that matter.......the world gets dumber by the minute watching MTV..........

NETFLIX has a wonderful feature called "Watch It Now"........and through that feature a large selection of movies and media are available to watch instantly on your computer..........and since my monitor is bigger than some tv's and gets a better picture than our tv, i use it alot..........

I just watched a documentary via NETFLIX called JESUS CAMP........it is without narration of any kind........it just films these folks as they talk and allows you to form your own conclusions about the subject matter..........i sat mouth agape through most of these proceedings.........it takes the viewer into the world of evangelical christians........more specifically, it shows how their children are trained(read indoctrinated)to become "warriors" in Christ's army....you see they go to summer camp....the brainwashing that proceeds is disturbing enough.........how warped is a kid going to come out if you don't let him make up his own mind?.........but there are several things even more disturbing about this doc...........

These misguided misguiders proceed to involve American politics into the brainwashing process.........it's interesting to see a 10 year old kid spout off about what's wrong with our country...........WTF?..........how on earth does HE know?.......there is even one segment at the KIDS ON FIRE summer camp in Devil's Lake,ND(how's that shit for irony) in which a preacher brings up a life size cardboard cutout of George W. Bush(ptooey) and has the kids pray over it...........IN TONGUES!.........i have never witnessed such horse shit in my life.........and there was that other moment in which a preacher screamed at the kids for an hour about abortion..........and how GW needed to get his Supreme Court justice approved so they could end abortion in America..........these are complex issues and far beyond the understanding of children.........shit, i'm still struggling to understand alot of things.........

The film also included a segment in which a kid named LEVI(imagine that) who harbors notions of becoming a preacher one day spent time talking to Ted Haggard after a service at Haggard's mega-church in Colorado Springs......Haggard tells the kid to "use" the cute kid preacher thing until he's thirty and that by then he will have something worth listening to on its own merit.........the kid looked pissed.......funny..........after the documentary was filmed, Ted Haggard was busted for paying to fuck young men in the ass and doing cocaine.............

You think that's disturbing?..........what about the children's minister who spoke with clear envy about how some muslim kids are raised from an early age to shoot guns, hurl grenades, and strap on dynamite vests in the name of Allah.........this bitch is looking for the same sort of dedication from our kids........kids who will be willing to "lay down their lives for Christ"..........it was kinda funny when this stupid cunt started talking about how Muslim kids are so devout that from the age of 5 they willingly fast through the month of Ramadon(sp?)....and that American Christians should be that devoted..........strange message coming from a cow that only fasts from one McDonald's to the next........

If you believe what these Bible thumping idiots say, then evangelicals are raising up an army to take over the government in this country......and their message of intolerance and cruelty is heading towards you like a Mack truck.......if you're part of the movement, you're okay.......if you're a young man or woman, you're okay........be sure and join the military so you can be a part of the Republican death machine........and if you're a fetus, you okay.....they will protect you..........if you don't fit into those categories.......you're on your own.......

God bless us every one...........Jesus wept..........

See y'all at the rock show.......

Stak

BACK TO BATTLE!...........i need my personal space too!

Look how big that Aidan has gotten........and if that photograph doesn't give you a clue as to the vibrancy of his personality, then you are blind......as a bat.....fruit bat, whatever.........I've decided to return to this page.......i've spent the last forever working rather hard at a music-centered blog(if you read a few posts down, it'll all become clear).........my music blog does not give me much lee-way to do some of the sillier stuff i was fooling with here.........plus i just like the name of this monkey cage........plus it was way fun to get into my cups and post goofy shit with Trixie late at night(remember the dysfunctional super hero draft?)...........

I don't suppose anyone.......or many.......will read this blog going forward.........guess what..........don't.give.a.fuck.


Rock it like you're in love with your life........

Stak

IT AINT A HOCKEY GAME UNLESS THERE'S BLOOD ON THE ICE!..........

This is how Russian hockey players get down........i mean this is just plain ridiculous........talk about gang warfare..........sheesh...........



This thing is all over the internet........and for good reason.........just wow...........

Stak

HOLY SHIT...............i love HEART so bad........

Can't help it.........i just do........

HAPPY HAPPY...........and what not..........

NEW ADVENTURES IN BLOGDOM.......i'm spreading myself way thin.......

I've heard it said that in blogging, you need to have a theme and stay dedicated to it......now in my estimation, this is only partly true......sure, lots of folks probably aren't interested in hearing my opinion on sports in my personal blog.......and then there are folks who could care less about the poetry train stuff........but i've gotten great pleasure from having a live diary online where i get to make all the rules.........it's been satisfying to this point........and i will be continuing to do so......thus, you'll forgive me Rhi if a scathing rant against the deceitful behavior of coach Bobby Petrino is forthcoming........you'll get over it...........

HOWEVER.........there is one thing i am most passionate about is music......and having been a member of the small community that is the Augusta,Georgia music scene, i feel strongly about it...........therefore, i've decided to begin documenting the goings on within that scene.........other folks do so on a sort of irregular basis and that's great........but i wanna add my voice.........and on a very regular basis.....and the flexibility of the blogger platform is a dream for folks who used to read fanzines that were written on typewriters and cut and paste together and published with Xerox machines.........

So allow me to welcome anyone who reads this monkeyshines to my new blog.........


CONFEDERATION OF NOISEMAKERS


I hope to offer more than my running commentary in the future.......the staple of this blog will be show reviews,news,album reviews,interviews and any other sorta silly views you might want about music in my hometown..........

I think it's important........


Rock it like your in love with your hometown.......be demonstrative......

Stak

THIS KID OWNS MY HEART.........he is so incredible.....

THIS THURSDAY NIGHT IMMA MAKE EM BLEED........ears that is.......

IN PIECES.........my response to a local tragedy....

A gas station restroom
Is no place to die
One year old
Three years old
Is no time to die
At the hands of your own mother
Is no way to die
She left you in pieces

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/120207/met_175193.shtml

My heart absolutely aches for the children of a young,struggling mother who was clearly mentally ill when she exacted a death sentence upon them....and i can't help thinking of my little one.......and that just makes my heart ache more......it's a sad time in my community...........




Rock it like you love your children.......PREVENT harm..........

Stak

SLEEPIN' IN YOUR DRESS BLUES........i'm mailing this one in with a tear or two........

Jason Isbell recently left THE DRIVE BY TRUCKERS............and he proceeded to write one of the most poignent songs about the war in Iraq i've seen..........i can't sing along with chorus without choking up...........because i can't help putting myself in the shoes of the first person no matter how i try...........and the continued loss of life over there makes me shiver.....do yourself a favor and seek out this music.......i won't include a link......you do the work....



What can you see from your window?
I can't see anything from mine.
Flags on the side of the highway
and scripture on grocery store signs.
Maybe eighteen was too early.
Maybe thirty or forty is too.
Did you get your chance to make peace with the man
before he sent down his angels for you?

Mamas and grandmamas love you
'cause that's all they know how to do.
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
or sleeping in your dress blues.

Your wife said this all would be funny
when you came back home in a week.
You'd turn twenty-two and we'd celebrate you
in a bar or a tent by the creek.
Your baby would just about be here.
Your very last tour would be up
but you won't be back. They're all dressing in black
drinking sweet tea in styrofoam cups.

Mamas and grandmamas love you.
American boys hate to lose.
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
or sleeping in your dress blues.

Now the high school gymnasium's ready,
full of flowers and old legionnaires.
Nobody showed up to protest,
just sniffle and stare.
But there's red, white, and blue in the rafters
and there's silent old men from the corps.
What did they say when they shipped you away
to fight somebody's Hollywood war?

Nobody here could forget you.
You showed us what we had to lose.
You never planned on the bombs in the sand
or sleeping in your dress blues.

No, no you never planned on the bombs in the sand
or sleeping in your dress blues.

DIRTY LEFT HAND TO FILM VIDEO...........news at 11; Stak to miss movie premiere........

IN LOVE WITH THIS KID............and i love my other kid too, but he's not as cuddly........

That kid sliding into the door there is Aidan.........he's MY kid........and the depth of my adoration is immeasurable to be certain...........

Tonight when i came in late from band practice, Trixie asked me go in and make sure he was covered up with his blanket.......it's become very cold here over the past day or so............i went into his room and rested my hand upon his back just to feel the rise and fall..........and i spent 10 minutes just feeling this boy breathe.......

It touched me deep down..........again, i cannot express in words how much i love this boy..........my heart overflows.............it overflows............

Stak

ASHES TO ASHES...........somma dat poetry train carras..........

My girl is entirely unrepentant
"Gimme a light" she says
As she fires up her second filterless
Camel in the past 10 minutes....
Upon the little short table
People insist on associating
With coffee
Lies the overflowing ashtray
Atop a People magazine
With this years' next top model
Cover bare.......
The ashes spill over the edges of the butt-tray
A pile of vile,poisonous shit for a head
With a magnificent pair of tits
I sigh

I notice as she smokes
That the smoke is a beautiful blue
Coming off the end of the cigarette
AZURE
As she exhales
It's a musty brown
As if the lungs of the smoker
Have corrupted the smoke
Despite your pre-conceived notions............
I really don't give a good Gatdamned
What you think of me
And my chain-smoking Molly.......
Nyahhh!!!!!!

Stak

CAN CAN.........i can't bear to watch it...

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

EARLY MORNING WARNING..........i'll be playing out in the clubs again soon.........

Rock it like you're big pimpin'.........color coordinate,bitch...........

Stak

HOLY GAWD!!.........anybody seen Jibjab.com?........here's my movie........

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

SUSHI GOOD...........is it lunch time,yet.......pass the saki....

Tracy has a happy food dance that she does whenever she eats sushi.........

CREEPING GREEN.........poetry train car........

Progression unchecked
Choking out telephone poles
Trees and brazen plants
Too presumptuous to get out of the way
The South yielded to the unending creep
If only i had a car that runs on Kudzu
I did hear it makes a tasty salad though


Stak

CARNAGE ON CANDYLAND AVE......poetry train car ?......

The boys at the precinct will never believe
This one
They'll think i'm a loon
Thought Sgt. Goose
Tables turned
The murder scene
The sheer madness of it all
The Wolf(aka Big Bad)lay disemboweled
Trees garnished with his guts
The one section twisted as
Though used for a jump rope
The blood used as paint
Tinting tree bark with images of garnet daisies
Thoughtlessly or brazenly
The evidence left conspicuously clutched in
The right paw of Big Bad
The Little Red Riding Hood




Rock it like the underdog........win anyway!........

Stak

BULLDOG NATION, YOU'RE BIGGEST FEAR AWAITS YOU......time to face The Gators....

That's Tim Tebow, the quarterback for THE FLORIDA GATORS.......they're crowning him a football god down in Florida at this point......and to be sure, he is as fast as he is big.......a true game breaker........Tebow and THE GATORS await THE GEORGIA BULLDOGS today in a game of unmatched tradition in The SEC......it used to be called The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, but now you have to sneak your bevvies into the stadium at the "neutral" site at Jacksonville........thus preventing riots and such......

My awareness of the importance of this match came in the amazing game in 1980 in which THE DAWGS came back at the last seconds of the game with a miracle pass to LINDSEY SCOTT! LINDSEY SCOTT! LINDSEY SCOTT!...........

THE GATORS have owned THE DAWGS for the past 17 years, winning 15 times in that span.....

Hence, the most important game of the year to this point never fails to make me feel a little queasy........i'm queasy right now.........even though to this point, Georgia sacked Tebow on the first play from scrimmage and picked up a fumble and is now preparing to score first from the 3 yard line..........i should be thrilled.......but i almost can't look.........

I'll update later.........ugh........

Stak

It's 12 minutes into the first quarter and i'm nearly breathless........this is a slug-fest already........and so far, THE DAWGS are on top 14-7......going on top with the first pass of the game, which just happened to be an 80+yard laser to Massaquoi(sp?)........there have been numerous penalties for taunting to this point......THIS GAME IS HEATED......and shows exactly why THE SEC just overpowers the rest of college football in terms of intensity.........more penalties on the ensuing kick-off.......these guys are trying to KILL each other.......
Stak