Zombie Parody Video of the Week

Incompetech.com: For all of your royalty-free music needs.

Just a quick post to set you hip on something I found. If you have a project (film, podcast, etc.) and you need some free musical scores, check out Incompetech. I just started recording a web serial that I wrote some time ago. I think background music will add a little something, and a search brought me there. You can search by genre or, get this, "feel." I searched under the "eerie" feel, sampled some of the tracks, and they were quite good. All of the guy's work is free, though donations are appreciated.

Have fun.

"...or should we be a little more sophisticated here?"

I saw President Bill Clinton speak at SUNY-Albany last night. I knew I missed him, but I'd forgotten how much. As much promise as I believe President Obama has, I'd take Clinton back in a heartbeat. I had a mini-fantasy about a ticket in which Obama would be able to learn directly from The Man (specifically on how to get out of his own way), much like a promising assistant coach studying for years under a genius head coach. Eh.

To the speech:

The SEFCU Arena seats just over 4500, and it was predictably packed. He came out to a rousing ovation, chilled the crowd out, and got down to business. As a whole, it was a very engaged and respectful crowd, with one glaring exception.*

I heard two primary themes being referenced time and again: 1) that the current state of the world is too unequal, too unstable, and too unsustainable, and, 2) "Who are you, where do you want to go, and how are you going to get there?"

He spoke for a little over an hour (about thirty minutes longer than he was supposed to, I was told on good authority, not that anyone minded). He gave some numbers about graduation rates (the U.S. has dropped from #1 in graduation % to #12), the impact of expansive alternative energy programs, and how the American taxpayers could save billions with a health care model similar to other countries'.

He spoke at length about Obama's perceived "failed" stimulus program and explained how it wasn't meant to fix everything, just "put the brakes on." Once again, he used numbers to prove his point.

The use of facts in place of rhetoric was obvious, as was his clear disdain for the current state of political "fact-free" dialogue. The one thing he said that struck me the most (and caused me to start taking a few notes on my phone) came at about the midway point. He spoke of a dialogue of extremes, e.g. all tax cuts are good vs. all tax increases are bad, or all government regulation is bad vs. anything unfettered is good. His response to this? Does that help solve our problems, or "should we be a little more sophisticated here?"

The speech itself was decidedly non-partisan, with him taking a few lighthearted, but relevant, jabs at both parties, and also speaking in glowing anecdotal terms of his friends in both parties.

After the speech proper, he sat down for a brief (mostly fluff) Q & A, where he surprised the crowd by saying he "kinda likes" Sarah Palin, even though he disagrees with her on everything.

All in all, it was as informative, entertaining, and inspiring a monologue as any other I can recall at the moment.

Lastly, he was at his most animated when he answered a question about the importance of humor in humanizing a politician. He related another anecdote which, in my opinion, nicely summed everything up: During his term, NASA presented him with a moon rock that had been carbon-dated at 3.6 billion years. He placed this rock on one of the tables in the Oval Office. Whenever the debate got too heated, he pointed and said: "Hey, see that rock there? It's 3.6 billion years old. We're all just passing through here. Relax."

* Until we heard the announcement of the last question of the night, that is. At that point, hundreds of people in the crowd embarrassed themselves and the school in general by heading for the exits as Clinton was answering, as if the home team was down twenty with three minutes to go. I remarked to my wife, "I don't care if he's the janitor, that's disrespectful." Way to make an impression, folks.

At least I'm not this clueless.

23February2011: The day I got completely worked by my three-year-old.

This afternoon, I went to pick my son up at daycare. When I got there, I found that he was trying to hug one of the girls in his class (to protect the identity of the unhuggable, I'll call her Betty) without her permission. No matter how many times I told him he had to ask her permission or the teacher showed him how easy it was to get Betty's permission, he flat-out refused. He kept trying to hug, we kept stopping him, rinse, repeat.

He got bored of this game and started to run around the room. He passed by Betty and put a shoulder into her...not enough to hurt her or knock her down, but enough to be rude.

So what does Dad...the boss, the smart one...do?

I tell Nate that he has to go apologize to Betty. And he does the standard apology, of course: an "I'm sorry" accompanied by...

...a big hug, of course, met with open arms.

To recap: After several minutes of refusing to let my son hug a girl without permission, he decides to Jedi mind trick me into ordering him to hug her.

1-zip, Nate.

Things That Shouldn't Be on Vehicles, and Yet Are on Vehicles

 

10) Cat stuffed in trunk: Doesn't really bother me, but don't you let my Mom see this.

9) CDs: You're not fooling the radar gun; watch a Mythbusters from time to time.

8) Your political/religious views: So I'm a liberal hippie babykiller and I'm going to Hell. I get it. I don't care, but I get it. I'm guessing that you really don't want anyone to actually engage you in logical conversation over this, and I'm happy to oblige, but could you at least scrape off the "Bush/Cheney '04" sticker and get current?

7) Vanity plates: SPOKN4. CYA BYE. MY TOY. U WSH. 2FAST4U. QT(girl's name here).* Ih8u.

6b) Your car's model in six-inch letters on your windshield: We know it's a Sentra. It already says "Sentra" on the back, dude.

6a) Your name in six-inch letters on your windshield: No, we didn't know your name was Pablo or Chuck, but that's because we didn't care enough to ask.

5) Ridiculous tint: I'm sure the police appreciate such an overt invitation to pull you over, but I don't appreciate not being able to see oncoming traffic.

4) Dreamcatchers: Hmmmm...an Ojibwa construct meant to be hung above a child's bed, allowing the good dreams to slide down to the child but trapping the bad dreams in the net where they will be destroyed by the coming of the dawn sunlight. If that doesn't just scream, "Hang me on your rearview mirror!" I don't know what does.

3) The Confederate flag - Disregarding that the Confederacy stood for slavery, secession, and gray, it only existed for four freakin' years. Wow, that's a whole year longer than the USFL lasted! So take it off your hood, buddy...the "terrorist hunting permit" says it all. Although I do love the phrase "War of Northern Aggression."

2) Calvin peeing on whatever decal - I just don't feel strongly enough about the superiority of my Dodge to your Chevy, but if I did, I would certainly choose to express it by involving a beloved six-year-old cartoon icon's weenie. That's not creepy at all.

1) Dangling testicles: Answers the timeless question, "How can I best let the other drivers on America's roads know that I'm a douchebag without having to speak?"

* All real plates I've seen over the last few years.

Random Writing Thought from...Stephen King

First son, now father. Just keeping it in the family!