No Regulation Accepted

Monday’s Diane Rehm Show on NPR had a discussion on civility in politics. Former Virginia Representative, Republican Glenn Nye, had this to say about gun control.
[audio:http://dogratcom.s3.amazonaws.com/Audio/2011/Jan/DianeRehm.mp3|titles=Diane Rehm Show: Jan 18, 2011]

I think we should be cautious in how quickly we move in terms of policy discussions, like gun control, right now. The reason is because we understand it’s an emotional issue. It’s an emotional debate. If we’re going to have a thoughtful discussion on gun control, I’m all for it anytime. But I think it — I think that we shouldn’t rush right now.

Oh, come on. How can anybody rush into a discussion on gun control, when there’s nothing to be said that hasn’t already been hashed over a million times for decades? Honestly, to say in one breath that he’s “all for it anytime… but we shouldn’t rush right now,” does nothing but prove why Nye is an NRA-approved candidate.

The NRA operates on the same “slippery slope” premise as pro-abortion activists — the assumption that accepting any compromise is equivalent to taking another step closer to losing everything. The difference is, that the NRA insists that gun laws don’t work. If they honestly feel that gun crime won’t be reduced by restricting legal access to guns, then prove the point by letting semi-automatic, as well as automatic weapons, be banned — except for the police. But even there I have a concern, and here’s an example why.

Don Kirshner dead!

This just in — Pop music impresario Don Kirshner has died. In more than one way, “Sugar, Sugar”, with Ron Dante and the non-existent Archies, is Kirshner’s ultimate accomplishment as a music publisher and manager.


The Archies – Sugar Sugar
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In the 70’s, “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert” featured an eclectic mix of bands. Here is a fantastic set with the Ramones at their Punk Rock peak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6o_t2Q_gkg

Weather is not climate

This is the “maybe an inch” of snow that was predicted. In the spring this will be good, because the area needs more water, but right now it’s a major pain.

When I was a lot younger, I had a do-or-die attitude about snow. One time, while on a business trip, that attitude nearly killed me when driving from Denver to Fort Collins, Colorado. In heavy snow, with very poor visibility, I almost drove off the edge of a cliff. Today I’m sitting this one out at home until the snow lets up… which… it seems… it has just done. One thing I won’t do is mistake this weather as proof that global warming doesn’t exist. Tell it to the polar ice that’s melting.

British brass band themes

“Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records” has some real surprises on it, from the never-released “King of Fuh” (can you say Fuh King?) to this 1968 gem by Paul McCartney, the theme song to a TV show called “Thingumybob”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlV6A_7ZSV0

The Black Dyke Mills Band dates back to 1855, long before John Philip Souza, who wrote the “Liberty Bell March”, that is best known as the theme for “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yfm2HSoD50

Years later, Julian Nott wrote the delightful brass band theme for Nick Park’s wonderful “Wallace & Gromit” series.

That blogged down feeling

I’m not writing much because I’m spending a lot of time looking into behind-the-scenes changes to this site, including a different look, a different video player and, most of all, a much bigger and better bucket to hold all of my multimedia files. Since being forced to make an emergency switch from iPower to Bluehost way back in March — what a terrible weekend that was — I have restored only a small percentage of the sound and movie files that I had posted, out of concern that I will once again use too much of my “unlimited” storage. By using Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service), my hope is I will be soon able to put the old MP3, FLV and MP4 files back online, but before I can do that there are some technical considerations to work through.

The Boss isn’t boss

“Boss” was an expression in the mid-60’s, before “groovy,” that meant something was very good. The most recent equivalent is to say that something “rules.”

Whenever I reveal that I’m not a Springsteen fan, I get surprised and/or disappointed looks. What can I say? I’ve never felt a connection with The Boss, the hero of the working man. Yes, I know how dedicated he is, and sincere, and hard-working but, sorry, the feeling just isn’t there for me.

What got me in the late 70’s was Punk and New Wave, although I never lived a lifestyle even remotely reflecting the external manifestations of the rougher element of the genre. I remained purely a drug-free nerd, with the visceral, therapeutic intensity of listening to Elvis Costello’s “This Year’s Model”, in particular, being something that has always stayed with me. Here are two tunes from those days that conveyed more to me than anything I’ve ever heard by Springsteen.

The Ramones album “Road to Ruin”, with Marky taking over drums from Tommy, who helped produce, was a stunning accomplishment — this achingly heartfelt song, most of all…

…and the great “Union City Blues”, from Blondie’s ultimate achievement, “Eat to the Beat”…